The Dead One (2007) User Reviews

It's Bland But Not Altogether Bad

[gavin6942 · 4/10 · 19 November 2007]

People have been trashing this film, so instead of doing a standard review I'm just going to write a brief defense of this film. Was it incredibly awesome? No. I mean, it didn't have a lot of action or gore or beautiful women or anything that would normally make a horror film decent, but I don't think this was intended as a horror film.

Wilmer Valderrama ("That 70s Show") leads this film and does a fine job. I was never excited with him from TV, playing the part of either a naive foreigner or a trash-talking hoodlum. But here, he plays it pretty straight, just being one of the guys who happens to have a very bad thing happen to him (at least, I consider it bad if some Aztec god wants you to kill your girlfriend). There's a little bit of Mexican stereotype in here, but nothing blatantly racist.

The opening credits had scenes from what I assume is the comic book, or a close approximation. I have never read it, sadly (and in fact never even heard of it until now). Sometimes animation works, sometimes it doesn't ("Hood of Horror"). I liked it here, it seemed very natural -- even better than "Creepshow" in this regard.

I think the biggest problem people have with this film is the focus on a story rather than action and the overtly Mexican tones to the story, which few can identify with. I didn't really have an issue with it. With such notable guest stars as Billy Drago, it was easy to be entertained by this film. Oh well, you can't please everybody.

Now, I'm not suggesting you run out and rent this one right away. It's still not an exciting film. It's bland and little happens. So it doesn't deserve a high rating. But it does deserve better than what some people have been giving it, simply because I can point you to many, many worse films than this if you really want to know what awful is. "The Dead One" is a forgettable film, forgettable because it's neither too good or too bad to be noteworthy. It's the Goldilocks of Mexican super hero films.

The days of prophecy have come.

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 7 January 2009]

This movie is based on the El Muerto comic by Javier Hernandez, and adapted by writer/director Brian Cox. The comic book origins are part of the title sequence.

Of course, I watched it to see the incredibly beautiful Angie Cepeda (Love in the Time of Cholera, Captain Pantoja and the Special Services). I imagine others will be enchanted with Wilmer Valderrama (Fez from "That '70s Show").

Since Diego (Valderrama) died and came back a year later, you would have to call this a zombie movie, but he is not like any zombie I have seen. He has been resurrected by Mictlantecuhtli (Nathan Mussell), the God of Death, to capture souls for sacrifice, and the soul he wants is Maria (Cepeda). Diego has to battle the gos to save himself and his girlfriend.

The special effects are really good, but there is no gore in the film. All the killings occur off screen.

With Michael Parks, Tony Plana, and Billy Drago, it is a good film for fans.

Utter garbage.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 3/10 · 21 December 2006]

Clad in his zombie mariachi costume twenty-one year old Diego is going to a Dia De Los Muertos party.Unfortunately for him he is abducted, sacrificed and resurrected by the Aztec Gods of Death and Destiny."El Muerto" is easily one of the worst so-called "horror" films I have seen recently.It's dull and completely unscary.There is no gore and some CGI effects look really poor.The film is based on the comic book series from Javier Hernandez,which I never read.The production values are surprisingly high and the cinematography is great,but the lack of suspense,gore and nudity can't be forgiven.Avoid this boring mess like the plague-you'll thank me later.3 out of 10 and that's being kind.

Ay Caramba...

[terrible2 · 2/10 · 7 October 2008]

Okay... I get the similarities to "The Crow" and the fact that it's supposed to be a comic book adaptation, and I understand that even "Fez" needs to work these days, but come on... This is the best they could come up with? It's just plain... Silly. I guess our economic frenzy has hit Hollywood just as hard, because it's sad to see great character actors like: Michael Parks, Billy Drago and Maria Alonso reduced to this pathetic piece of garbage. It amazes me, that something this bad could make it onto cable pay channels, let alone directly after the wonderful "Masters of Horror". This belongs hidden from plain site, on the back shelf of a family owned video store, and covered with dust from lack of rental. It sounds harsh, but producers need to understand this, and quit insulting our intelligence. I'll give it a 2 for above average acting and cinematography, but that's it. This is a train wreck from the get go, and doesn't deserve to be aired on something we have to pay for on a monthly basis.

what was this? WHAT WAS THIS???

[mentalhelp2101 · 17 March 2010]

this movie was awful. i think asylum films looks like paramount compared to the company behind this awful piece of crap. seriously, there's a dead kid trying to save his girlfriend from the horrible script? the awful effects? while these ideas are plausible, the story was stupid. it turned out that he was saving her from the aztec gods. the only part i enjoyed was when the old Indian was in the beginning. that guy can act. as for the rest of the movie it.......fails. but not your average failure, an epic failure that makes you regret ever turning on the TV. this movie is like crap that sits in a truck stop bathroom until even the flies wont go near it. my girlfriend fell asleep 2 minutes in and i sadly watched the whole thing.

Blooper

[azurecielo52479 · 3/10 · 4 December 2008]

Towards the beginning of the movie when Diego has died and shows up at the Day of the Dead festival, he sees his name and date of death on a photo. The year shown is 2004. Shortly after, he is helped by a janitor and asks to see "today's" newspaper with the year as 2006. He then exclaims: "How can this be a year later!" At some point filming was obviously delayed and no one decided to fix this inconsistency. This is as far as I have watched thus far and am not currently impressed. I would hope that the movie improves as it progresses but judging from all the comments, I will not get my hopes up. I do have to say though, that as dumb as this looks, I am surprised that I never heard of it: Wilmer Valdarrrama was at the height of his popularity ("That 70's Show" "Yo Mama") and the dad from "Ugly Betty" is highly recognizable.

Slow starting comic book adaptation...

[dwpollar · 4/10 · 30 November 2014]

1st watched 11/26/2014 – 4 out of 10(Dir-Brian Cox): Slow starting comic book adaptation stars Wilmer Valderrama(from TV's "That 70's Show") as a young man chosen to bring back an old Aztec religion and ends up turning into a healing superhero-like deceased man after his vehicle collides with a tree bringing his demise and bringing his spirit into the current world 1 year later. Valderrama's character is promising by the end of the movie, but unfortunately it takes that long to see the potential and then the movie is over. The film starts with an elderly man dying and presenting to the young version of the main character the fact that he expects him to be the one to bring back the old time religion. There is a lot of hokeyness to this premise explaining that the Aztecs were killed off and will supposedly return to prominence in the future after three days of rain while the sun is shining. During Valderrama's ghostlike return to the world he begins hearing weird voices in his head and starts healing others despite the negative voices wanting him to kill those who might stop the inevitable from happening(the current priests). So what we have is kind of a spirit-world bad vs. evil going on. Valderrama is fine in this character but the timidness early on kind of makes the movie boring. The evil spirit then starts killing the priests initially thru Valderrama's character and then takes over an elderly woman and a confrontation occurs late in the movie. The confrontation is interesting which makes you think there could be an interesting follow-up movie but I don't think this is going to happen. The movie is un-eventful although not horrible, but isn't well made enough for anyone to take notice. I liked seeing Valderrama breaking out of his comedic sissy-like character to tackle a fuller character and he did well considering the lack of depth he was given. This fair at best movie will probably not give him too many other opportunities, unfortunately.

Great Comic to Movie story and characters!

[kuzeh2 · 10/10 · 19 September 2007]

What do Dia de Muertos, Mictlantecuhtli, and Wilmer Valderrama have in common? You have to watch this movie to find out, but let me tell you, even though the movie is for all audiences, you will enjoy the whole experience better if you read the comic book that inspired this too. Honestly I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, knowing before hand that it's an indie film helps understand where this comes from, and how it turns to be a great character driven story about love, destiny and friendship.

Warning!!! Some spoilers ahead!!

Wilmer Valderrama portrays Diego de la Muerte, the ill fated El Muerto, who finds out his destiny is being handled by non other than the Lord of Death Mictlantecuhtli, and Tezcatlipoca, The smoking mirror. Not only that but Diego is sacrificed, and sent back to earth with an unknown destiny while he's trying to get help from his friend Zaak and also to save his beloved Maria from a gruesome fate!

With great photography, awesome costume design, good special effects, a unique soundtrack and great performances, El Muerto ( The Dead One) will easily become an instant cult classic!

An entertaining & interesting str8 to DVD movie

[reeves2002 · 6/10 · 3 October 2007]

I am not familiar with the comic book this movie was based on but it seemed like a decent adaptation.I just stumbled across it at the DVD rental store and knew nothing about it.It has an interesting mythology and the actors all performed well and were convincing.I especially loved Zac's reaction when Diego came back from the dead and how no one believed him or took him seriously. I loved the outfit (or costume) Wilmer Valderrama (Diego) wore in the movie. It's dark & stylish and good for any occasion.I would love to wear something like that. The movie didn't really seem to end so i'm not sure whether sequels are planned,or if it is a pilot for a new series. Either way I liked it and the effects were good.The cinematography was nice and I liked how it was effective without gore and bad CGI effects. I look forward to seeing more movies about these character's if any more are planned and would like to read the comic now also.

FEZ is a ZOMBIE! El Muerto: George Romero meets Robert Rodriguez

[thescreamingmimi · 10/10 · 4 November 2006]

There have been zombie films, superhero flicks, Latino features and teen romance movies, but this is the first Latino zombie superhero teen romance! And this isn't your uncle's zombie film as El Muerto, unlike other members of the walking dead, can run around during the day, feel love, fight evil and he doesn't have a taste for human flesh.

The motion picture is based on the El Muerto comic by Javier Hernandez, published by Los Comex. It is one of the most faithful transfers of a comic book to the screen as adapted by director Brian Cox. The film's title sequence pays reverence to its origins, featuring art by Hernandez that evokes the opening of many Sergio Leone films (Coincidently the film is produced by unrelated Leones).

Contrary to many comic book films that take forever setting up the origin of the character, El Muerto swiftly unfolds his beginnings and gets to the action, establishing his motivation, his powers and the conflict of being a teen zombie. Young Diego (Wilmer Valderrama, yes Fez from That 70s Show) crosses Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec God of Death and has his still-beating heart (if not his soul) plucked from him. His love for his girlfriend Maria (the beautiful Angie Cepeda) helps brings him back from the Land of Death, much to the surprise of his friend Zak (Joel David Moore of Art School Confidential) and others.

A series of gruesome deaths and some omens lead them to believe the God of Death is up to no good and only Diego as El Muerto can stop him! El Muerto has something for everyone and will even appeal to people who wouldn't be caught dead watching a zombie movie. This is a zombie film for the entire family! It has an engaging action and a romantic theme, believable special effects, great music and sound design. It boasts many incredible actors like Michael Parks (Kill Bill), Tony Plana (now in "Ugly Betty"), Maria Conchita Alonso and Tony Amendola. The underused and underrated Billy Drago (The Untouchables) makes an impression in a stunning performance.

Some cite the character's similarity to the Crow, but they are night and day. They're both black-clad reanimated corpses with make-up on, but that's where it ends. Whereas the Crow is dark and cynical, El Muerto is light and positive. Though hearts get ripped out and there's other gore, it's tastefully done, usually off screen though still with impact.

With Wilmer Valderrama in the lead, it should attract a wide female and teen audience. One gets the feeling that this film will ultimately have long legs on video and become a cult/mainstream favorite as the years pass. It's a great character and should inspire many fun sequels and spin-offs.

Wait a minute!!

[aarond13 · 9/10 · 19 May 2007]

First off this film has yet to be seen in any theater because the Los Angeles VIP premier was but a few days ago. This movie(YES I actually did see this) was utterly excellent because it was a thriller and a comic crossover. This was such a refreshing movie because every "Scary" scene was not gore and random CGI filling the screen until your absolutely disgusted. No, this retraced the steps of all great horror scenes: the music, the absence of gore that makes your own imagination so much more terrifying and vivid than anything that could be portrayed visually, and having an all star cast like: Tony Plana and Billy Drago! Though this film is a comic-to-movie film, it lacked the major budget that most of these types of films have. This movie does pace slow but it is visually stunning... that is not filled with random flying body parts, but with actual plot and suspense. Even without this movie being filled with blood, gore, and CGI it still made half of the audience jump at the premier!!!

El Muerto

[bellesque · 9/10 · 15 October 2007]

This is a great little movie. I love everything Day of the Dead and have been to Mexico several times and really enjoy the festival. This movie captures a lot of the feel of the holiday, set in a border town. The lead's costume is wonderful. I saw this with my boyfriend and while he liked it a lot, he found the ancient mythologies confusing. I figure that almost no one around can tell you a thing about Aztec, Mayan and Inca gods so I just accepted it all that it made sense. The acting is excellent. The eeriness was there, and the settings, particularly the cemetery, worked. I'm so happy to see a film like this out there. It shows that horror is a multi-dimensional genre and that not all films are Jason and Freddie. Kudos to the makers of this soft horror film. I hope it's successful for you.

This is a great movie. I highly recommend it...

[Rick2-5 · 9/10 · 30 March 2009]

I really liked this movie. It reflected a lot of the Hispanic culture and Aztec traditions. The movie revolves around the day of the dead. While the artists make up and effects were not the greatest, the plot totally made up for this and was very original. It is one of those stories that you are drawn into, and you are not sure why. This movie moves a little slow at times, but I thought it was necessary for the story to unfold. The director did a great job with the flow and telling of the story. It makes some interesting statements about love, death,and dying. If you are looking for the high budget thriller than this is not it. But if you are looking for a good plot with great symbolism, and a wonderful original plot then this is movie is worth watching... I am sure that I will watch this movie again. I really enjoyed the who movie from the story, to the acting, to the directing. While it was a movie, it almost made me feel like I was in a theater watching something like the Phantom Of The Opera. This movie definitely has class.