Dead Genesis (2010) User Reviews

Kind of made me wish I was dead too...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 1 June 2012]

I was rather excited to stumble upon the "Dead Genesis" DVD in a secondhand store, as I had planned to purchase it from Amazon. So I picked it up, believing I had made the bargain of the month. Especially the tag-lines on the front cover were enticing: "the must-see indie horror film of the year" and "Romero would be proud".

Romero would be proud? Of this movie? I find that very doubtful. The movie reminded me of something I would have been able to make with my own JVC Everio G GZ-MG130 camcorder. The movie was just one major shaky camera experience. I am sure that some people like these "documentary-like-do-it-yourself-with-a-shaking-hand" kind of styles in movies. But I don't! It gives the movie such a lousy feeling, a feeling of something very amateurish and homemade. And this shaking camera thing, the director thought was the right way to go, was initially what made me turn off the movie about 1 hour into it.

The story in "Dead Genesis" wasn't that bad actually, but it was far from the best and most compelling storyline in a zombie movie though. However, the movie was plagued by some really questionable acting performances. Now I am not saying that everyone was bad, far from it. Most people actually did good jobs, but there were a handful of 'actors' in the movie that were so bad that I sat and wondered how they made it past the screening process. Perhaps they were friends with someone in production? Especially that soldier guy on the pickup truck, who was shooting zombies. Wow, that was without a doubt the lousiest acting performance I have ever had the unfortunate pleasure of beholding.

"Dead Genesis" does have a fair share of blood and gore, which is what makes it almost worth to sit through the movie for. Almost! The zombie make-up was adequate, some painfully fake prosthetics here and there, but overall fair make-up and effects on the living dead. One of the better things in "Dead Genesis" was actually one of the first scenes where as woman was gorging on the entrails of a child. That scene was actually the one thing that stuck with me after turning off the movie after 1 hour.

Normally, I rarely turn off a movie before it is ended, so a movie have to be really, really boring of uninteresting before I do that. And being the zombie aficionado that I am, I have to say that this movie was bad, even for low-budget zombie standards.

It is now standing on the shelf of my DVD collection, bagged and tagged, and I know it will never get picked again and put into the DVD player. Not worth the effort, sadly.

Dead bad

[ArchieIsCool · 2/10 · 11 June 2012]

I was really disappointed in this film, the acting was awful especially the lead girl, talk about unmoving she was useless The beginning sees a woman eating her sons guts and his dad looking on until he shoots her, then the young lad turns and his dad had to kill him too, I did not like this due to it being a child.

Then we move on to weeks later and zombies are everywhere and groups form to kill them. Enter the reporter girl she joins a team based in a wood and wants to make a documentary on what they are doing. Here the acting is awful and pointless.

One scene where some of the team go to a bar run by this man with the most hideous voice I have ever heard! The whole film is just a waste of time and the zombies are dumb not too scary.

Give it a clear miss.

The nadir of the zombie genre

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 28 January 2014]

Another rubbish no-budget zombie film that makes you wish that the genre had died a death for real. This one tries a slightly different approach to the genre than usual, which means we get some harmless and over-obvious philosophising and moralising along with the cheesy gore effects and repetitive zombie attacks. But whatever way you look at it, this is a mindless shot-in-the-woods outing no better than the equally poor NAZI ZOMBIES.

The slimline plot sees a would-be reporter infiltrating a group of zombie hunters who are camped out in the local woods. These guys call themselves Dead Heads, which I thought was a nickname for fans of the EVIL DEAD movies, which gives some inkling of the paucity of imagination on offer here. What follows is badly-scripted, with flat, boring characters every which way you look, and "direction" which consists of somebody shaking the camera about in a cinema verite style. Don't get me started on the amateur hour acting or other poor technical qualities; instead, skip this one entirely and try something else.

Awful and not in a good way

[toadwarrior · 1/10 · 31 May 2012]

I saw this at the local shop and thought it looked good. First thing I noticed is the movie's look is nothing like the images on the back of the box. It is almost as if they photoshopped it to look edgier and hide the fact it looks like a very poorly made home movie.

The audio is poor. It doesn't sound right, it's not synced. Some of the voice acting (especially the barman) is painful. There just isn't anything good to say about the sound quality.

Visually the movie looks exactly like something some kid's made on a camcorder. I wouldn't mind the amateur colour and lighting. That's OK but what's really annoying is the excessively shaking of the camera. The idea behind the story is that a woman is following around some undead hunters to make a propaganda video to support the war on the dead. So it's like they want to really shove it in your face that this made on a camcorder and the camera shakes far too much. It's like they hired a drunken crackhead to film this.

The act is even worse. It's not really worth talking about. If you have a puppy and he's a bit slow in the head I would imagine he could still do a better job.

The action is non-existent. There are a couple very tame scenes at the beginning where zombies are shot. But the rest of it pretty much them sitting in what appears to be the same field (or the bar). You'll consider yourself lucky when you then get to see the very rare poorly done tame zombie shootings later in the film.

You'll see better entertainment on Youtube for free. I would thoroughly recommend forgetting this movie even exists.

Another SCS victim. (Shakey Cam Syndrome).

[Den23 · 16 July 2011]

While I commend a very low budget Canadian production for actually getting distributed, and I can over look most production issues due to shooting on a shoe string (been there).

I couldn't watch more than 25 minutes of this movie due to shaky cam syndrome. It was like watching a video shot on full zoom, held with one hand.

I watch movies on my 80" projected 16x9 screen and the excessive shaky cam look made me ill. (SCS seems to occurring more and more in low budget productions lately. Very sad.) Unfortunately the above issue didn't allow me to see enough to critique plot/acting.

annoying shaky cam

[martyngevans · 5/10 · 20 August 2012]

after an original, but very gross opening sequence, wont spoil the movie but it made me watch the rest of it, the camera shake starts, if it was all supposed to be shot by the reporter it would be almost acceptable, (but any one who shakes that much would have big problems), the camera shakes even when the reporter is not filming which really does get annoying.

the story itself isn't to bad and the acting is above average with most of the key characters being very good, the zombie effects are good, the gore levels are not excessive, but wont disappoint.

this film would have scored higher, but for the camera shakes this would have made a 7 or 8, if you can put up with the camera shake (warning, it is very close to headache/vomit inducing), this isn't a bad zombie movie & is well worth a watch

Graphic Mutilation of Child As Torture Porn

[dianerpessler-46164 · 1/10 · 17 July 2015]

A sadistic, immoral film that is utterly contemptible and repulsive. To say this is sick cinema without any redeeming elements at all is an understatement. The beginning sequence is one of the most morally offensive ever filmed. The consumption of a living child by a zombie, dining on the innocent's stomach while the child blinks his eyes uncomprehendingly, is the definition of torture porn and possibly the sickest sort of child pornography. The exploitation of a child and depiction of the worst child murder imaginable is beyond anything ever portrayed in a so-called legitimate film. Of all the disgusting, repulsive, and sick movies made, this one is about as depraved as possible. There is the freedom to express an artistic vision and then there is the graphic mutilation of a child for no other reason than to gratify the film maker's mentally deranged fantasy. There is no artistic justification for such savage exploitation. Those responsible for this production should seek the help they desperately need and never be allowed access to cameras again.

Terrible

[richardson12 · 1/10 · 14 December 2013]

The fact that movie producers think killing a child is entertainment is disgusting. Find another way to shock us. Any other way. Leave the kids out of it.The last thing I want to see is a kid being killed. It starts the movie off with a terribly disgusting way.I seriously question anyone that finds the first scene of this movie entertaining. I enjoy horror/thriller movies and do not like any that involve kids. I recorded this one on the chiller channel and had to turn my head on the first scene just to turn the channel. Now I have that image in my head. I hate it!!! Who could ever think this is entertaining?? What happened to the good scary movies that protected the children and didn't involve them in the violence?

Too bad to be good...

[grey-morgan · 1/10 · 27 October 2016]

I watch a lot of zombie movies. Bad ones, good ones, TERRIBLE ones. Dead Genesis definitely falls under the terrible heading. First, I'll address the opening scene. Yes, it depicts a zombie mother eating her child. It is not as jarring as the filmmaker intended. Mainly, the child (and I don't like to pick on kids) is an atrocious actor. It was pretty cringe worthy. It looked like the kind of performance you'd expect from a couple of 12 year old's messing around with dad's video camera, not an actual movie that people pay to see. And, believe me, it's only down hill from there. The audio is horrendous. The acting, amateurish would be a compliment. The story, lame and derivative. The only thing that could have saved it would have been some over the top violence and tits 'n ass. Unfortunately for Dead Genesis, there is neither. As for the reviews praising the films "deep, philosophical story". I can only imagine those individuals have an invested interest in the production. Sucks to be them. Skip this piece of garbage. Go watch: Exit Humanity, Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead, The Horde or even the new season of Z- Nation is kind of promising. Don't waste your time with Dead Genesis. Thank me later...

could have been so much better

[authormorganblayde · 4/10 · 20 August 2013]

first i wish they camera work was not so shaky, it made it really hard to watch it. some of the actors did a good job, but others should not even be in from of a camera at all, the dialogue felt unnatural, together with the bad acting made it really hard to keep watching but the story looked okay to i kept watching and did like some of it. if a second one is made and i hope it is ( i like zombie movies) please work a little more on the dialogue, don't dumb it done so much, don't bring back the bad actors who over acted, please don't shake the camera so much it would have been so much better if even that was done, and i don't think zombies make sounds of pain when they get hit, that really got on my nerves. some of the actors did a very good job for a low budget movie, better then most movies out there, the flow of the movie was also good.

Earthquakes and Zombies

[ereford · 1/10 · 10 April 2019]

Wait, there wasn't an earthquake?

this is the shakiest film ever made, and to be avoided by anyone who doesn't want to be motion sick in the first 20 min (several times)

If the shaking doesn't get you, the terrible acting and effects may actually come close to destroying any love for the entire genre. I've heard that the UN is declaring this movie to be a crime against humanity.

Cool not so ordinary zombie movie

[FeastOfSaints · 8/10 · 10 December 2011]

I have always enjoyed zombie movies and try to check out as many as I can. I saw this one on the shelves of my local rental store, had a cool cover so I thought i'd check it out. It's pretty obvious that it's a low budget movie, but I thought it gave the movie a neat edge IMO. I watched it once and thought it was pretty okay, but then I watched it a second time and enjoyed it a lot more. It was refreshing to see a zombie movie that wasn't more of the same stuff we are used to seeing in a lot of other zombie movies. It wasn't all blood n' guts, though the opening scene with the zombie kid was one of the goriest zombie scenes i've seen in awhile. Some of the acting is a little iffy in parts but thats to be expected with indie movies. But for the most part the cast seemed to do a good job, better than most acting in some other zombie indie movie fare out there believe me.

Positives: The zombie make up effects were really well done. A few of the actors did a really good job. Loved the three main girls in the movie, they were awesome. Decent story, even for a zombie movie. Had a great first twenty minutes of the movie that established the whole zombie world the characters were in. The soundtrack for the movie was solid.

Negatives: The shaky camera stuff was a little distracting. Some of the audio was so so in parts. A scene or two dragged on a little long.

Overall this is a pretty cool zombie movie. Not like most zombie movies, kind of an unconventional one that favours characters over the zombies, which I liked. Definitely worth checking out at least once. Think it deserves a higher rating on here too. And the special features on the DVD were fun, looked like it was a fun movie to make.

A philosophical Zombie Movie?! Well, That's Different

[tdwillis-26273 · 6/10 · 19 May 2017]

In the first 5 minutes of this movie, I was drawn in. What a great beginning! (That kid must have zombie fan parents!) It was sufficiently and realistically gory and heartbreaking. The zombies looked great. Good make up, realistic blood and guts with good camera use, focusing well on the action, getting a good view! (Only down side I noticed was the skin was a little too elastic) When they "ate" the guts...you SEE them eating the guts!! I loved the new take on the old genre. Taking the zombies and making sport out of them. I have always thought, especially with the slow moving Romero style zombie, how easy it would be to subdue them. This movie is about the morality, of killing. Even if it is zombies. Is it "right" to support the "war on the dead" This is the first movie that really explores, in this direction. I thought it was a little satirical. But I'm a sarcastic person....It IS definitely a philosophical zombie flick, if you can imagine that!! The acting was not Hollywood great, but it was still done well enough I found myself interested and intrigued. It did roll quite slow, and I would of liked to see more zombie action, since it was done so well! Within 20 minutes, the shaky camera syndrome was making me a bit dizzy, but I didn't notice it too much after that. This movie is shown in the view of the lead character, a female reporter and her investigations of a "hunting group" while out in the world, hunting zombies with them. If you LOVE the genre like I do, and discussion/conversation in a movie doesn't bother you ,I think you should give this film a chance.

Bad (and not in a good way)

[jgourd · 4 December 2011]

I was so looking forward to this. I had been following its production, reading the blogs and visiting the movie's Facebook page. I really wanted it to be good.

Most of it seemed to have been shot in the same clearing by the side of the road no matter where in the woods it was supposed to have been. The bartender's voice was ADR'ed - badly. The lips were in sync but no attempt was made to duplicate the acoustic space the other actors were in. I am all for zombie whores but why did they have clothes on? If you are going to use a zombie as a sex machine, cut its arms and legs off and put its head in a box don't just chain it up. The head shots were CG blood spatter and it was obvious.

I give the zombie makeup a B+ rating. Most of the close up zombies were really well done.

Above all else, it was boring. They don't have a FinalCut filter for bad acting.

Total Romero

[TheDead_Zone · 10/10 · 18 December 2011]

This is one hell of a zombie movie. It's been along time since any zombie flick that I've seen has managed to capture the spirit of those classic Romero movies. It's got the social commentary angle going for it and that traditional zombie spirit as well. Dead Genesis also manages to have one of the most graphic and gory openings to a zombie film that I've ever seen. Many have the grand epic openings, this is much more personal and disturbing.

It's a simple story (almost like the flip side of Diary of the Dead) where an attractive documentary filmmaker is making a film about the War on Dead. The War on Dead of course is a metaphor for the recent War on Terror. This filmmaker heads out into the woods and spends some time with a group of zombie hunters called the dead heads. Now this is where the movie slows down a bit. But I like it, it takes a much more psychological view on the zombie apocalypse then other zombie movies do. And based on the ratings here, I don't think many people seem to "get" the movie.

She follows these zombie hunters along for a few days and starts to see that maybe everything isn't what it seems. These hunters (who state numerous times that they're trying to protect humanity) are far worse than the flesh eating ghouls who wander around seeking food. It's a brisk and interesting hour and a half, good bits of dialogue between characters, and plenty of blood and guts through out.

There are a few things that don't quite work. This is definitely and low to no budget horror film. A few of the actors don't exactly hit the mark. It's also obvious that there wasn't much money to work with as some of the locations are pretty bland in parts. But it does have a lot of heart and that's where it counts. I read an interview with the director who said that he was directly influenced by Romero. This is clearly evident while watching the movie. It manages to echo the original Dead trilogy in a way that I haven't seen other low budget zombie films do. This one remembers that it's the characters and story that counts, not the zombies.

If you can find a way to check it out, I highly recommend that you do.

Much more than a zombie film

[zikejl · 8/10 · 3 August 2012]

I know how cliché this is going to sound, but for such a low budget, this film has a powerful message. Zombies. US Civil War. Any Civil War. This film could be a story about any conflict where one side is fighting people who used to be on their side.

The blood, violence, depravity, and gore of this film should satisfy the viewers who just want a straight horror flick.

But the real impact of this film comes from a very basic but profound question-is it excusable in times of war to kill those you used to love simply because they are on the opposite side? And further, what is the emotional and psychological impact on the people at the front lines who have to face that question and rationalize their actions every day? And can anyone who doesn't live it every day ever truly understand or reasonably criticize those who do?

I know how silly this sounds for a zombie movie because, believe me, I've seen and enjoyed A LOT of them. But the truth is that the reason this film could be produced so cheaply and still be so effective is because it doesn't take many special effects or camera tricks to capture reality...it may not be zombies, but these same external and internal battles are happening everyday across the globe and have throughout history.

But just to be clear- this film doesn't make you think too much. You can still enjoy it as a blood and guts horror flick because the bigger message is so obvious that it doesn't really require any deep thought.

I hope you give this film a try.

PS. I disagree with the filming creating motion sickness. The first time i saw The Blair Witch Project it made me sick. This is much easier to watch, especially since most of the film ends up not being on a hand-held cam.

Problematic entry, but definitely enjoyable

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 8/10 · 17 January 2013]

After joining up with a roving band of zombie hunters attempting to rid the world of the creatures, a documentarian following their actions finds that they're far more unbalanced than expected and tries to rely on them to get out of the epidemic alive.

A fairly enjoyable, though pretty problematic offering that manages to feature a few substantial flaws. The main one, the incredibly irritated shaking camera effect that renders the majority of this one's action scenes nearly impossible to make out and thus really renders them impossible to understand which is what you want in that situation. There's also the fact that there's just no accounting for all the unnecessary tangents this goes into at the end, where it seems to be about three or four different ideas at once but not one really meshes with the film's central storyline as a whole and feels really out-of-place. That said, there's some pretty good stuff here, from the numerous shoot-outs with the zombie swarms they encounter along the way, gets in some pretty decent bloodletting along the way with some fine zombie make-up as well. The main thing, though, is the opening which is probably as gruesome and shocking a way to do so as there's been, breaking one of the golden taboos of horror films quite readily and not really making any qualms about doing so, which gives it points as well as for the general creativeness on display, but it's not enough to overcome the flaws.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Full Nudity and violence-against-children.

Powerful Cinematic Metaphor Raises Vital Questions

[jlthornb51 · 10/10 · 12 June 2015]

Dead Genesis is a powerful cinematic experience from gifted director Reese Eveneshen that raises disturbing questions for our time. At heart, this film is a beautifully observed study of the soul draining stress of prolonged combat with an unwavering enemy in a never ending war. Eveneshen's brilliant script is a subtle metaphor for the current geopolitical crisis and the effect such perennial conflict has upon a society at risk of becoming what it fears. Emily Alatalo, Lionel Boodlal, Colin Paradine, Erin Stuart, and Tom Parkinson lead a talented cast, giving deeply moving performances as members of a paramilitary group fighting to preserve their own humanity while participating in exhausting battles that challenge their existential beliefs. The cinematography is strikingly creative and unique, creating an environment of fear and dread while projecting an unsettling surrealistic atmosphere. The imagery is at times truly haunting. As superficially a horror film dealing with a fresh take on a zombie apocalypse that has devastated America, this film has its share of violence and gore. However, the bloody action never obscures the underlying creative message regarding the nature of humanity's struggle to fight evil without actually becoming evil itself.