The reviews on here are rather gushing of this film and I can only assume nostalgia plays a part because it really isn't THAT good!
Fortunately someone has uploaded it to youtube so I was able to check it out.
On the upside:
As far a TV movies go it's pretty good and seems more like a standard film than something made for TV. It's got pretty decent Halloween atmosphere throughout (it all takes place over one Halloween night), aided by heavy use of smoke. Cinematography is good, lots of nice lighting and the acting was generally good too, especially from LeVar Burton.
Also, there was one excellent scare moment near the end when the horde of zombies/vampires etc are all silently waiting on the stairs for the main characters. It was a very good moment.
Influences from Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' are obvious, as we are given a full-length song & dance routine during the Halloween party, with the characters even singing to camera as if it is actually a music video. A bit odd but fun never the less.
There's also a great use of copious red wine spillage in lieu of bloodshed during a vampire attack early on in the film that was pretty effective.
The storyline is basic but holds together and overall it is a fairly fun and enjoyable watch despite being tame for an adult audience.
A major highlight for me though was the relationship between the Phil and Sandy characters. Sandy (unbeknownst to Phil) is one of the zombies that has risen from the dead though for reasons unexplained she looks like a normal human being whereas all the other zombies are rotting corpses. Anyway, regardless of the fact the film makers avoided any explanation for that one, the relationship that develops and its result is rather sweet, touching and quite sad. Definitely the best aspect of the film in terms of the storyline.
Pacing is good, atmosphere is good, looks good...I've talked myself into giving this a 7 instead of the 6 I originally clicked!
On the downside: I gathered this film was targeted at a younger audience pretty early on when a (rather prolonged) werewolf attack resulted in no gore and little more than a bit of shuffling around.
It's a bit silly at points, not least the 'comedy zombie' that goes around doing daft yet totally un-amusing things.
Lack of blood/gore made the film feel a bit tame and the 'suspense' scenes were totally lacking in suspense.
Most disappointing of all though was that it feels this film had HUGE potential that was no where near fully realised, which is a great shame.
Fortunately someone has uploaded it to youtube so I was able to check it out.
On the upside:
As far a TV movies go it's pretty good and seems more like a standard film than something made for TV. It's got pretty decent Halloween atmosphere throughout (it all takes place over one Halloween night), aided by heavy use of smoke. Cinematography is good, lots of nice lighting and the acting was generally good too, especially from LeVar Burton.
Also, there was one excellent scare moment near the end when the horde of zombies/vampires etc are all silently waiting on the stairs for the main characters. It was a very good moment.
Influences from Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' are obvious, as we are given a full-length song & dance routine during the Halloween party, with the characters even singing to camera as if it is actually a music video. A bit odd but fun never the less.
There's also a great use of copious red wine spillage in lieu of bloodshed during a vampire attack early on in the film that was pretty effective.
The storyline is basic but holds together and overall it is a fairly fun and enjoyable watch despite being tame for an adult audience.
A major highlight for me though was the relationship between the Phil and Sandy characters. Sandy (unbeknownst to Phil) is one of the zombies that has risen from the dead though for reasons unexplained she looks like a normal human being whereas all the other zombies are rotting corpses. Anyway, regardless of the fact the film makers avoided any explanation for that one, the relationship that develops and its result is rather sweet, touching and quite sad. Definitely the best aspect of the film in terms of the storyline.
Pacing is good, atmosphere is good, looks good...I've talked myself into giving this a 7 instead of the 6 I originally clicked!
On the downside: I gathered this film was targeted at a younger audience pretty early on when a (rather prolonged) werewolf attack resulted in no gore and little more than a bit of shuffling around.
It's a bit silly at points, not least the 'comedy zombie' that goes around doing daft yet totally un-amusing things.
Lack of blood/gore made the film feel a bit tame and the 'suspense' scenes were totally lacking in suspense.
Most disappointing of all though was that it feels this film had HUGE potential that was no where near fully realised, which is a great shame.