THE WALKING DECEASED (2015)

The Walking Deceased (2015)
Directed by: Scott Dow
Written by: Tim Ogletree
Starring: Dave Sheridan, Joey Oglesby, Tim Ogletree

THE WALKING DECEASED (2015)
Directed by Scott Dow

A virus has spread throughout America, after a cook prepared sushi for the homeless without washing his hands first, turning people into flesh-eating zombies. A group of survivors led by Sheriff Lincoln are hiding out at the local mall but hope to make it to the Safe Haven Ranch where they’ll have a better chance of survival, but will the ranch be all its cracked up to be?

Zombie spoof flick THE WALKING DECEASED takes the mick out of zombie films Warm Bodies, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead and especially long-running television series The Walking Dead. With main character Sheriff Lincoln ([played by Dave Sheridan] a nod to The Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln) having awoken from his coma which his son Cahhhhrrrrll Chris (Mason Dakota Galyon) caused, he looks to reunite with his son and wife and take them to the mall where friends Selena Gomez-loving Green Bay (Tim Ogletree), foam crossbow-shooting Darnell ([played by Andrew Pozza] Daryl Dixon anyone?), mute teenage girl Harlem (Danielle Garcia), bad-ass Brooklyn (Sophia Taylor Ali) and Zombieland Woody Harrelson wannabe Chicago (Joey Oglesby) are seeking shelter and protection. They’re eventually joined by kind-hearted zombie Romeo (Troy Ogletree) who has a crush on Brooklyn as he attempts to reconnect with his human side. Together, they aim to reach the secluded Safe Haven Ranch which is rumoured to be untouched by the zombie apocalypse.

I don’t really care for the likes of the Scary Movie spoofs but THE WALKING DECEASED is quite funny in places and does well to poke fun at the zombie genre whilst at the same time, respecting it. Sheriff Lincoln’s urge to utter Cahhhhhrrrlll every so often will have you laughing as Lincoln’s bad-ass strip club owner son (he’s 12 years old) furiously has to repeatedly remind his father that his name is Chris. The entire film has charm and works well in balancing the homage and humour to make it a light entertaining watch. It often resorts to its own jokes too, some dark in humour, that work quite well and it’s plain to see that the cast had a blast shooting the film.

As far as horror elements are concerned, THE WALKING DECEASED relies heavily on CGI for zombie kills, from heads being sliced from the neck to exploding heads, but some pretty grisly-looking make-up work has been applied for close-up shots that wouldn’t look amiss from a genuine horror flick. Whilst the zombie kills are few and far between, there’s enough to keep the threat of a zombie invasion at the front of your mind.

THE WALKING DECEASED achieves what it set out to do and that is to spoof zombie movies in an entertaining way. Whilst some parody flicks prefer to throw in various scenes that nod to the movies of the genre, THE WALKING DECEASED actually brings together a variety of characters directly inspired by popular zombie films and series’ and shows what it would be like if they were experiencing the zombie apocalypse as a group. It’s almost like combining your favourite action stars in one movie to see how they would fare… oh wait, we have The Expendables.

With some laugh-out-loud moments, brilliant homages and general feel-good attitude, THE WALKING DECEASED is a flesh-munching, brain-exploding hoot.

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