Review: The Video Dead
(1987)
For our second iconic horror film that was made in San Mateo
and San Francisco counties is one of the most unique zombie films you will ever
find…
The writer Henry Jordan receives a mysterious TV set and
soon he learns that the apparatus is a gateway through which undead come to the
world of the living. They kill Henry and the house is sold to another family.
The teenager Zoe Blair comes to house to clean it for her parents that are
traveling abroad. Her brother Jeff Blair comes later to help Zoe and finds the
TV set in the basement. He brings to his room and out of the blue, the stranger
Joshua Daniels knocks on the door. Joshua explains that he sent a TV set
mistakenly to that address, instead of to the Department of Occult Warfare.
Jeff does not believe in Joshua, but soon he leans the truth about the TV of
the undead.
The zombies in The Video Dead are different from any other
zombies in film. These are not exactly real zombies. They are characters
brought to life and set loose our would through a cursed TV set. These zombies
only kill people if they show fear. Also, like anything that comes out of the
cursed TV they are afraid of mirrors because when they look into one they can
see their lack of a soul. Also, únlike your usual zombie these are highly
intelligent and can use tools and weapons to kill people. Also, if you lock the
zombies in a room together they go nuts and eat each other.
In the film we see a couple other decisions from the TV. One
is the seductrice who tries to seduce the teenaged main character. Also there
is The Garbage Man who is a human who found a way inside the TV and has been
spending years hunting The Video Dead in the TV world.
Unfortunately the film itself is an unfinished work. A third
of the film was never finished due to the fact that the people financing the
film pulled their money two thirds of the way through the production. This
caused the filmmaker to have to cut out parts of the film that would have
better explained certain things in the plot, like The Garbage Man and The
Seductress. Still, the filmmaker managed to shoot the origin scenes, and a
usable ending. But thankfully through carful editing they managed to put together
a complete film, unlike the film in my next review.
All in all The Video Dead is a unique and well done cult
classic low budget horror film.
If you are a zombie fan you will not want to miss these zombies…
