One of Roger Ebert's criticisms of Day of the Dead (1985) was that the film's characters yell and shout too much, that what they are screaming about adds nothing to the movie. This false description of Day of the Dead's characters (okay, more wrong than false-its just his opinion) can actually be applied to the survivors featured in Undead (2003). Really this movie tries too hard to channel the Peter Jackson films Bad Taste and Dead/Alive, and it fails in that regard. I was entertained, sure, as some of the humor involved does work, yet the overall product is rather disappointing.
Which is a shame, as the film itself looks great and has good FX considering its relatively low budget. The zombies are not particularly interesting or remarkable, however, although there are good zombie movies where that is also the case. Yet the characters-the main strength of any zombie movie-really are nothing more than dull caricatures who substitute over acting and being outlandish for likability, which means the audience doesn't really care about them.
There is something to be said about the movie's weird, unexpected final act that represents a odd yet interesting tonal shift. It does leave some room for a sequel, although I'd rather not see one, even if there's a slim possibility it could be good. There is also something to be said about watching a conspiracy crazed fisherman who magically becomes a gunman out of a John Woo movie overnight, I suppose.
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