Zombie Rampage (II) (1992 Video) User Reviews

Starts nicely, but ends up poorly

[RectalGORE · 3/10 · 23 March 2005]

*** This review might contain some minor spoilers that in my opinion won't spoil you all the "fun" *** Zombie Rampage is a very low budget zombie flick with loads of gore, however ,its plot sucks. Morever, its acting is awful and so are the last scenes. It has loads of gore and violence and some nudity which make this film watchable, while its directing is horrible.

I have seen Zombie Bloodbath 1 and 2, and I think that they are much better than Zombie Rampage. It seems to me that Zombie Rampage is Todd Sheets' first attempt to direct a solid zombie. I can certainly tell that this attempt has failed miserably.

The thing that made me dislike this film was the lack of dominant zombies at its ending. The zombies actually lacked there. There were always "there", but I couldn't any of see them.

In a nutshell, Zombie Rampage is a worthless film, I can only recommend it to die hard fans of zombiefests. However, a fan who has been in the field for a while will certainly agree with me on the fact that its ending lacks of zombies and pretty much everything that a good zombie film ought to include. 3/10

Wow, absolutely horrible.

[ftsl · 1/10 · 15 February 2005]

I'll start out by saying that I am a HUGE fan of gore movies, ESPECIALLY low budget gore movies. I prefer the rough, gritty atmosphere to anything big budget and stream-lined. With that said, this is possibly one of the worst movies I've ever had the displeasure of viewing. It borders on the fine line between "bad" and "absolutely, positively deserving of cancer". Also, I only watched approximately 30 minutes of this flick before turning it off - it's THAT bad.

The storyline is almost non-existent. The leader of a gang (hilariously 80s-esque) is attempting to resurrect three slain members. The movie introduces some other characters and we are treated to a disorienting slur of images, mainly pointless. Anyone with a brain would assume that the gang leader's "resurrection book" (a book he purchased from some vendor) would be responsible for the zombie rampage, right? WRONG. The zombies exist before the book is even read, further contributing to the overall sloppiness of this movie. Anyway, the last part I saw consisted of several zombies trying to break into buildings, while the gang leader, his gang, and some random guys seek shelter in some warehouse.

The acting is horrific. I'm not lying when I say that I, and almost every single person I know, could act better. There is usually no emotion delivered in the lines whatsoever. Even then, the dialogue is just plain stupid. Some of it is muffled and incoherent. To conserve space, I'll also throw in the fact that the music is completely sub-standard. Anyway, my favorite actor is the gang leader, mainly because he likes to throw around vulgarities a lot. Aside from him, every other actor is completely disposable and cardboard.

The cinematography is vomit-inducing. This seems to be shot on VHS, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The choice of angles, however, is frequently bad. A lot of shots are shaky, making the movie seem even more amateur. The actual quality is VHS, through and through. Thin lines are blurred, lights bleed into large globs, and a thick level of grain hangs over everything. The image quality didn't bother me so much as the shoddy shot choice did. On that note, the editing is the real fault of this movie - shots jump around a lot. Particular shots are shown without reason, perhaps for effect (like steaming man holes, or an American flag flapping in the cool night air). Whatever perceived effect is quickly smothered by an abrupt jump, like a pillow over an elderly man's face. Shots of a scene will change constantly, with almost no style or common sense whatsoever. One minute, we're beside the actors - next, we're looking up at them - now a closeup. Ugh.

Aside from all of that, the gore was above average for a low to no budget flick. I caught one zombie feasting scene, where a mother and her baby are devoured. Standard gore and guts. Used quite effectively, although the sound effects (cheesy squishing sounds) kinda detracted from it all. Maybe I'll get around to watching the rest, since this was the only redeemable quality of the movie.

So, keeping all of that in mind, it was a pretty bad movie. I've probably turned off a single movie - if that - in the last six months. From the beginning of this movie, I was contemplating its demise.

Zombie '89: Extreme Hostility

[Tromafreak · 5/10 · 2 September 2009]

Here's one for the record books, A movie that'll make you wonder exactly how bad does this Z-grade Horror stuff get. A movie that makes Hell Of The Living Dead look big-budget, a movie that makes Redneck Zombies look... well, at least a little better. You have officially reached the bottom of the barrel of the Living-Dead sub-genre. It's not too late to turn back.

Yeah, Zombie Rampage was definitely shot on video by a fellow named Todd Sheets. If Mr. Sheets were actually known for something, it would be the worlds worst Zombie movie maker. This particular one, possibly being the worst of the worst. This disasterpiece starts out and ends up as incoherent as it could possibly be, which is fine considering the paper-thin plot. Two rival gangs and one's plot to raise its fallen members from the dead. The other gang, believing they'll control them if they raise them first, perform the ritual instead. The zombies, of course, are controlled by no one, and are somehow up and around long before any rituals take place, which is kinda weird, come to think of it. And a whole lotta sound issues, camera issues, continuity issues, screwed-up lines, and not to mention, a rather humorous amount of angry yelling and screaming. With all that said, Zombie Rampage actually turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for, which honestly makes me question my own state of mind.

Todd Sheets once said that he considers Zombie Bloodbath, a movie he made four years later, to be his first film, which is completely mind-boggling if you've seen them both, I'll just leave it at that. Sheets may not put it on his resume, but Zombie Rampage, at the very least, is a movie. While even most bad Horror movie lovers might despise this misunderstood garbage, there are redeeming qualities to be had. For example, it's not every day you get to see a baby ripped apart by zombies, as fake-looking as it may have been. And don't even get me started on the gore, there's more than enough to go around. Ultimately, Zombie Rampage is a heart-warming homage to anything from Lucio Fulci's Zombie to Romero's Night Of The Living Dead, Sheets even steals music from them, among others, which is just sad. I'd love to say it's not as bad as it sounds, or as it looks, but the truth is, it is so much worse. Reserved for the ones with zero standards, unlimited patience, and a blinding passion for Living-dead cinema. And remember, regardless of what Todd Sheet's tells you, Zombie Rampage is definitely a movie, and nobody can take that away from it. 7/10

A bit confusing.

[bfan83 · 1/10 · 27 March 2004]

The movie was a mess! Being a fan of Todd Sheets movies, I was a little disappointed. I guess I should've been since this was one of his early films. I couldn't hear a lot of what the actors were saying because the sound was horrible. And the zombies were already walking before the gang did their little "spell" to raise the dead. Also, the ending was abrupt. It left you with a disatisfied feeling. I guess I need to find the sequel to see where the first one left off. If it did that at all. I give it a 2 Very confusing. Also, POSSIBLE SPOILER here. And something else offended me about this movie. THEY HAD A BABY RIPPED IN HALF AND EATEN IN IT!!! That was horrible but I guess Todd Sheets wanted to push the envelope and he did. I guess get it if you're a fan of Todd Sheets.

Low-Budget Voodoo Zombies!

[Uriah43 · 1/10 · 14 June 2022]

This film begins with a fight breaking out between two rival gangs ending in the death of the brother of one of the gang leaders named "Tommy" (Dave Byerly). Needless to say, this upsets Tommy--to the point that he spends most of his gang's money on a book that the seller promises will bring his brother back from the grave. Unfortunately, the rival gang leader "Rokko" (Roger Williams) learns of this and decides to purchase another copy of the book from that same seller in order to raise his own army of the dead--mistakenly thinking that they will follow his orders. Meanwhile, a serial killer is also going around murdering women and he is operating in the same location as these two rival gangs. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that there were so many things wrong with this film that it's really hard to mention all of them. For starters, the picture quality is rather hazy, and the movie suffered from poor lighting throughout the course of the film. The action sequences were amateurish, the script needed serious improvement and the acting was equally bad. Likewise, the lack of character development made it extremely difficult to figure out the identities of all but a few of the characters. In addition to that, the makeup was pretty much hit-and-miss with some of the zombies looking passable enough while others required much more attention to detail. Similarly, some of the gore aspects were done quite well while others were much too basic. Be that as it may, considering all of the faults just mentioned, I cannot in good conscience recommend this film to anyone other than serious zombie enthusiasts and I have rated it accordingly.

Funny zombie flick

[zombieoutbreak-74199 · 5/10 · 25 February 2021]

It's low budget but worth a watch I thought it was a decent zombie film with a good soundtrack.

Waow, just waow.

[oliverhurtado · 10/10 · 25 October 2018]

I can't believe /THE/ Erin Kehr is in this movie. What a gem. Spectacular acting, I just wish the character Dave would've been in every scene.

Classic VHS-Era Backyard movie making!

[dbs630-697-952794 · 7/10 · 9 September 2011]

I can remember buying a VHS copy of this movie back in the 90s at a horror convention. The first time I watched it I was a bit shocked at how horrible the whole thing was. However, I recently saw this again in one of those 50-pack DVD deals. I found myself sadly nostalgic about ZR. I watched it, laughed, cringed and nearly cried. I have to say, Todd Sheets is no George Romero but he is one of the pioneers of the indie horror scene like it or not. He and his VHS movies have a place in Horror film history. I think only die hard indie horror film buffs who were born long enough ago to remember how hard it was to make a movie on VHS can appreciate Todd's work.

Todd if you read this, don't go quietly into that dark night. Come back, and come back with a "Rampage!"