Dorm of the Dead (2009) Movie Review

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Dorm of the Dead (2009) Movie Review

8 January 2012 No Comment

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Dorm of the Dead (2009)
Directed by Tobias Canto Jr. and Tyrel Good
Reviewer: Horrorphilia Jason
Available Feb 7th, 2011
by Midnight Releasing
Official Site: http://www.dormofthedead.com

The Lowdown: Another indie zombie flick that’s slightly above average.

Is the “of the dead” moniker ever going to end? I doubt it will due to the immense popularity of the Romero films. Hell one of my favorite horror flicks of last year was Juan of the Dead. Juan of the Dead this movie is not. It’s another ultra low budget zombie affair starring a bunch of amateur actors. After we break down the synopsis let’s find out if it’s any good.

Will is a college slacker that lives at the campus dormitory, and his little brother Cory comes to visit unexpectedly. A zombie outbreak occurs and Will has to band with a quirky group of college kids to survive. They travel around the campus, from the library, the dorms, the football fields to the dude holed up at the campus TV station to find other survivors and a way out of the hellhole.

As you can tell it’s your basic survival zombie scenario, so the only thing that usually saves a movie like this is either the characters or the kills. The gore is overall pretty sparse due to the low budget nature, but they do a demon eye effect that ended up pretty damn cool. While you get your fair share of zombie mayhem a majority of the movie is dialogue heavy with the characters. This was definitely hit or miss. Some of the characters like the goth chick, the black pretty boy, and the news reporter were kind of annoying but the main two brothers and a nerdy dude with a Thor hammer were very likable. Even though I disliked the black dude’s character I admit he had the best line of the movie when he referenced My Chemical Romance while talking to the goth chick. Some funny shit. Too bad that scene was the comedic highlight of the movie and nothing else quite matched up to that.

I liked they went to a bunch of different locations but they weren’t utilized as well as I hoped. When you use a setting like a library for example, you should use the books and shelves as a way to evade the zombies. Just more creative stuff like that or when they used the field hockey/football field could have served the movie so much better.

To wrap the movie is not terrible but probably not as cool as it could have been or as cool as the title suggest. There’s no frat parties, no beer bongs, no titties, like I was hoping would eventually show up. Instead it’s more of a character driven story with a big brother taking care of his little brother during a zombie outbreak. Awww how sweet. Having said that I was never bored and I’ve seen tons of indie zombie movies that are way worse. If you are a zombie lover then this may be worth a watch.

Final Rating: 5/10