FESTIVAL OF THE LIVING DEAD (2024)
Flick is a sequel of sorts to George Romero’s original classic Night of the Living Dead. A music festival is being held to commemorate the original zombie outbreak and concert goers are descending in droves into the area. Teen Ash (Ashley Moore) wants to go and bud Iris (Camren Bicondova) offers to babysit her little brother Luke (Shiloh O’Reilly). There is only one problem…another zombie outbreak has erupted, and the festival is ground zero! Will the girls and their friends escape alive?
Nothing spoils a concert more than zombies!
Flick is directed by The Soska Sisters, Jen and Sylvia Soska from a script by Miriam Lyapin and Helen Marsh. While one appreciates the homage in this well-intended sequel, unfortunately it’s a bit of a letdown. Coming from the ladies who gave us the disturbing and original American Mary and the really effective Rabid remake one simply expects something more than what is basically a routine zombie flick. It’s colorful and loud and has plenty of zombies and gore but is really nothing special in a very overcrowded sub-genre. The cast are fine but the implication that Ash and her little brother Luke are the grandchildren of Duane Jones’ Ben, never really clicks and thus doesn’t have the impact it should. The gore and zombie effects are very well done, but overall, it’s just an OK passing of time with a lot of familiar action and blood spattering. In a sub-genre that has been overplayed in recent years, one simply expects something a little more innovative and outrageous from the Twisted Twins.
-MonsterZero NJ
Photo: Tubi
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