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Children of the Living Dead

Children of the Living Dead

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: Watched the new zombie movie supposedly "starring" Tom Savini last night...

I enjoyed the first 5 minutes wherein Savini was actually in the movie. At first I thought we had a nice tribute to Romero's vision on our hands. After Savini gets killed off 5 minutes into the proceedings, the film takes a severe nosedive. It makes one wonder if Savini had been giving some helpful film-making hints to the director during his brief time on the set.

Words cannot even begin to describe what an abomination this movie is... but here's the first clue: The same production team responsible for the reprehensible NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION (the one where they CHANGED the soundtrack and ADDED NEWLY SHOT FOOTAGE(!!!) to the 1968 classic.)

The film itself tries to combine the walking-dead motif with a sort of Ed Gein like character (The supposed "intelligent" zombie, Abbott Hayes). It's a story combination that doesn't really work... it just doesn't make any dang sense at all.

The dialogue is unbelievably stupid. It was so bad I searched the credits for the writer, just to see if it was Russo... no writer was listed (surprise!). Someone actually gets credit though for coming up with a character that's a rip-off of a real-life ghoul (Ed Gein)... not to mention a character that's been done to death (no pun intended) i.e.: Texas Chainsaw, Psycho, Deranged, 3 on a Meathook, etc. etc. etc...

The zombies looked O.K.... and I mean JUST O.K. The gore was O.K. and I mean JUST O.K. There were no real scares and many of the scenes just didn't make any sense... for example: one scene that takes place in a VW bus, totally ripping off Texas Chainsaw, where the teenagers talk about how "dead people don't just get up and walk around". It's later revealed that one of the teenagers involved in that conversation witnessed a zombie attack as a child... it's as if the writers just weren't even paying attention to what they had already written... it's as if they were just making the movie up as they went along.

The "hero" of the film is an annoying yuppie frat guy. Guys like that are supposed TO GET KILLED in movies like this!!!

The whole thing seems as if they had one guy wanting to make a zombie movie and one guy wanting to make an Ed Gein movie and so they just threw the two together with no rhyme or reason.

BE AWARE: THIS FILM HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GEORGE ROMERO'S CLASSIC ZOMBIE FLICKS. DON'T GET SUCKERED INTO THINKING THAT TOM SAVINI REALLY HAS MUCH OF ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS MOVIE... He's in it for like 5 minutes.

If you want a good zombie movie look for NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (not the "30th Anniversary edition" though), DAWN OF THE DEAD, DAY OF THE DEAD, ZOMBIE (Lucio Fulci), THE BEYOND, CEMETERY MAN, heck... even DR. BUTCHER M.D. is better than this garbage!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I really wanted to like this movie....
Review: but the inane story, the dialogue that sounds completely improvised (and post-production dubbed, no less) made it impossible. When I heard the Tom Savini didn't like the movie at all, I resolved to try it anyway. After all, if this one made money, maybe they'd get Romero to film one the right way.

Oh, god this is BAD! Bad story ("Zombies don't care for children") bad acting, bad makeup (Ok, so the zombies in Dawn of the Dead wore similar green/gray makeup...GAR has said that he regrets that choice in makeup).

Just bad. Look onward. Don't buy it. Don't rent it. Run from it. Take that money and spend it on anything else.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: children of the living dead
Review: the plague is still going and its the dead vs the living this is a must have if your a big zombie fan do not pass this one up its great the fxs are wow! its nonstop action at its best and gory, the acting is good and the sets are done great

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This is NOT a sequel to the Romero Trilogy
Review: I've not seen this movie yet, but I know enough about it to know that it is NOT a sequel to George Romero's Living Dead series. Romero is currently trying to raise money to make another.

This film was funded by a man by the name of Russo... who happens to be remaking 'Dawn of the Dead', despite what Romero says because he happens to own rights to the original 'Dawn'. Sad but true.

This film was an attempt to cash in on the 'Living Dead' idea by one of the original producers of 'Night of the Living Dead'. This is the same guy who came in and chopped up the original 'Night' for the 30th Anniversary Edition, which Gorge Romero happens to dislike.

Don't judge this film on the basis that it's a sequel to the series. It isn't. The third sequel has yet to be made, and with a little luck, Romero will have it done sometime in the next two or three years.

Take the time to watch it, sure - I'm going to - but keep your mind open to the fact that this isn't made by the same cinematic genius that wrote/directed Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good for a sequel nearly 20 years later
Review: This is the 3rd sequel to Night of the Living Dead, was released straight to video and made in 2001. This film dosen't quite tie in brilliantly with Romero's work but it does have some good action scenes which horror fans will like. Tom Savini appears only in the first 10 minutes but gives a good performance. The basic story without spoiling any of it is that a criminal jailed for murder and kidnapping of children dies in prison. Some years later he rises as a zombie but he is an intelligent zombie which is a new idea for a film. This film is reasonably gory and is a bit more violent as the original Night Of The Living Dead film (1968) but not as gory as the other sequels. It is 90 minutes long and is a good debut for a new director. I prefer the original living dead films, but this comes quite close to them. I recommend you rent it first. Another thing: the special effects are done by Tom Savini and are very realistic.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Children of the Needless Sequels...
Review: Night of the Living Dead "sequel" (which ignores the previous two NOTLD sequels). Plot: A superzombie, who has survived undetected by hiding in a house for 30 years, re-animates 5 auto accident fatalities. Subsequently, construction of a used car dealership, built on the site of a graveyard, unleashes the corpses for an evening of mayhem. Although it features Tom Savini (no fx work, just a small acting role) and was produced by John Russo, this is truly a miserable effort. Completely devoid of plot, special effects and production values, it in no way resembles the 1968 shocker.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Stupid Modern Zombie Flick
Review: I think the budget for this movie must have been about $100, because for a movie made just a few years ago, you expect much more in the effects department. Really, the entire movie is quite laughable. There is a mysterious "head" zombie - Abott Hayes - who pops up at random points in the movie, and who apparently has control over his hoard of zombies...And he has little kids locked up in a barn...Or something, I actually forget because I tried to repress the lunacy from my mind. But really, it doesn't make much sense. The story and plot is insane.

The effects aren't horrible, but they're definately no competition to the effects of "Day of the Dead." This isn't a very gorey flick either, some blood here and there, but not enough people get killed for this to be packed with gore. Notable appearance by Tom Savini, who doesn't do the effects, but instead offers a cameo as a kickass zombie hunter at the beginning of the film. I think his short-lived scene was the most excellent and exciting, and it's too bad he didn't play a main character throughout the flick. And WHY did they have Tom Savini in their movie and NOT make him do the effects!? Plotholes aside, it could have been a better movie with greater effects.

Yet I say all this in an endearing way. I think this is the perfect movie to watch if you're bored out of your mind and need something to do. It really is good for a laugh, especially if you're a zombie movie buff and like to point out any flaws that you see in a movie. 3 Stars for the beginning scene with Savini and helping me ease slightly out of boredom on a rainy afternoon. Don't buy this movie though, your local movie rental store probably rents it out for cheap.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Just Dont
Review: This movie only gets 2 stars because it has zombies and is on DVD, other than that it realy realy stinks. I am probly the biggest zombie buff there is and i couldnt stand to watch it but once. At the beging it looks to be the start of a good B zombie movie, but then they move to the "present day" and it stinks from there on out..... the "master zombie" is just a joke. Stick withthe real movies unless you are a TRUE diehard. We write these reviews to save your time. Trust Me STAY AWAY!!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: really awful crap
Review: I love bad movies. Ed Wood is my GOD! I champion the cause of tons of films that many hate because I honestly love them. I'm the guy who found broadly despised flicks like Texas Chainsaw 4 and Return to Salem's Lot to be fun. I thought that this one might fit the same bill. I couldn't wait to see it. Now I have and can honestly say that Children of the Living Dead SUCKS! Why is it so bad? Because they didn't even try on any level. They just figured they could make a buck off the "Living Dead" label. It even seems like they screwed not only us but also Savini, Russo, Hinzman, and everybody involved. The folks in charge of this abortion clearly didn't care one bit about the movie or the audience. They just wanted quick cash at the expense of everything and everybody. Ed Wood was far better than this. Ed at least had decent sound! How hard is it to get semi-decent sound? The dubbing in this is awful! It's lousy on every level.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Absolute Must See For Low Budget and Zombie Fans
Review: Am I in Wisconsin? Cause I smell cheese. This movie is being plagued by bad reviews, I felt the need, nay, desire to step in for its defense. Okay, to clear the air, this film is terrible. Laughably so. The script is attrocious, and it looked like all the dialogue is ADR(and is synced terribly). Our main man, ass kickin, zombie shooting Tom Savini is here doing what he does best: Killing Zombies. Unfortunatly he dies in the first 10 min. Jump ahead 10 years later, and Super Zombie Abbot (Disco Fever) Hayes is scaring kids and knocking model VW vans off of a mini cliff. Jump ahead another year and Hayes is back at it, terrorizing all five people in the town. That's it, that's the plot. Bad Make-up, bad acting, bad story/script, GOOD FUN FOR ALL FANS OF THE GENRE! Ed Wood couldn't have made this movie more cheesy. I recommend watching it as if a bunch of your friends made this movie in a weekend, get drunk and laugh at them. Rent it if you don't feel like buying it, I bought it on vhs and I'm getting the DVD. Somebody make "The Return of the Children of the Living Dead: Abbot Hayes Struts Again". *****BONUS FUN***** Watch the curtain call style credits with the great one liners from the flick that showcase the casts enormous talent, and watch afterward to see a guy shoot two zombies and rob them.


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