They came from the grave … Now they’re going back!
Four friends return to suburbia after camping out in the local woods. It’s early morning and the streets are empty, as you’d expect. But all is not as it seems. A horrifying disaster has happened in their absense. What follows is a fight for survival against the living dead and a desperate journey to the only safe place in town. However, a more lethal threat arises: the whole town is a time-bomb waiting to explode, and none of them knows it!
A film by Andrew Harrison, Darryl Sloan, and Khris Carville (1993)
Full Movie Stream (65 mins)
Reviews
“This no-budget zombie film from Northern Ireland, while technically a bit crude, has a lot of heart. The filmmakers, obviously inspired by every zombie movie ever made, borrow liberally from the mythos to create an enjoyable zombie film that definitely has its moments of suspense.”
– Cult Movies magazine
“The film is made as a tribute to goreflicks like Night of the Living Dead, Driller Killer and The Evil Dead, but on a budget that’s not so much shoestring as threadbare. Yet it still manages to conjure up some genuinely scary moments.”
— The Blizzard of Odd (RTE Television)
“Made in 1993 on a shoe-string budget, it’s their first serious film and their least professional (literally shot and edited as it happened ‘In Camera’ – oh the days before editing PC’s….). But bizarrely it’s the most talked about and the most highly thought of, for it’s innocent charm and sheer ‘no budget’ ingenuity … You will soon find yourself immersed in a suburban time capsule of racing bikes, computer games, tracksuits and parkas, before you know it. I was surprised to find that I would laugh throughout the film and loved it so much I couldn’t wait to recommend it to others … You’ve got to admire their dedication, to take three years of filmmaking at the crack of dawn each weekend, to get it finished! To think that these guys made it off their own backs, with little professional assistance and were originally selling it for the price of a cheap blank VHS tape and postage, rather than trying to flout it as anything more than good fun, is a real testament to the heart that went into this fledgling effort. If you don’t mind watching a home-made less-than-polished production and you love to collect Zombie films, you must get hold of a copy now. I can assure you these guys have moved up to bigger and better things and this may well become a nice obscure collectors item in the future.”
– The Rumour Machine
“It’s the first zombie film to come from Northern Ireland, and it’s a cracker. Shot entirely on camcorder and edited together, this is much better than you might expect at first, thanks to plenty of special effects, and a fun plot which pays close homage to Romero’s Dead trilogy. From the excellent opening sequence, shot in a cemetery and with plenty of atmosphere, to the final downbeat and downright bleak ending, this is what all amateur films should be like … Thankfully the makers weren’t prudish when it came to the gore and this adds a lot to the proceedings. We get one zombie drilled in the skull, authentic screwdrivers to necks and cheeks in wince-inducing scenes, gunshots to the head, stabbings, impalings, you name it. There’s even a nice severed arm. It’s easy to take the mickey out of a film like Zombie Genocide, but the obvious retort is ‘if you can do better, do so!’. It’s certainly inspiring, I feel like going out and filming right now. This film proves that imagination goes a long way, and the effort involved is phenomenal. Kudos all round for this great mini-movie, everyone involved should be proud.”
– The Grim Reaper’s Ghastly Grotto
“This movie is a very good dedication to the many zombie movies that we’ve seen, especially those from the master, George A. Romero.”
– Cinescope magazine
“The town is fabulously deserted, and one can only applaud the filmmakers for the large number of very early summer mornings they must have used – indeed, the zombie-infested housing estate is a neat idea on its own terms … As with all such works, a certain mind-set is required to get the most from it. Pay no attention to the fact that the undead are almost all blokes in their 20’s! Ignore the mysterious parka’d zombie, no doubt another member of the cast doubling up! Wonder at the wisdom of staging dawn shootouts in N. Ireland, circa 1993! Spend at least one scene trying to read the titles on the collection of video tapes lurking in the background! In a commercial product, all these would likely be unacceptable, but with fan-flicks, they become part of the fun. I think my favourite is the way thezombies politely tap on doors rather than smashing their way through: hell, when shooting in your own home, you want to avoid collateral property damage at all costs … So this is like a party to which you must bring your own booze, but nonetheless turns out to be good fun: I’ve been far less entertained by far more allegedly ‘professional’ productions.”
– Trash City
Darryl Sloan 