Now available on DVD and Digital HD is the horror/comedy film Dead Rising: Watchtower.
Dead Rising: Watchtower stars Jesse Metcalfe (TV’s Dallas and Desperate Housewives), Meghan Ory (“Red” from ABC’s Once Upon a Time), Dennis Haysbert (TV’s 24), Rob Riggle (The Hangover) and to my surprise, Virginia Madsen (Sideways). Virginia Madsen doesn’t strike me as a horror film actress.
Dead Rising: Watchtower is a film about a local news reporter, Chase Carter and his assistant/camera person Jordan who are inside a quarantined area in the city. They are there to report on the latest zombie outbreak and to speak with those inside the quarantined zone about their personal experiences.
Those who are not yet infected are being administered an anti-zombie vaccine called Zombrex. However it quickly becomes evident that the vaccination no longer works against this strain and instead of protecting people it’s turning people into zombies.
Jordan manages to escape but Chase it trapped inside the walled off quarantine zone. Chase and Jordan act as each other’s “eyes and ears,” via the telephone. Chase tells Jordan what is going on inside the quarantine zone and Jordan is keeping Chase up to date on what is being done to rescue him and other survivors – especially after the military shows up and takes over.
While trying to stay alive Chase joins forces with a mystery woman named Crystal and a grieving mother, Maggie, whose daughter recently turned into a zombie.
Not only does the trio have to survive against the zombies, they also have to keep away from a group of motorcycle bikers who are also terrorizing the quarantine zone with their own unique way of getting rid of the zombies and any other unfortunate soul who happens to cross their path.
Will the trio survive before the military firebombs the quarentine zone, or before the motorcycle gang finds them? To find out you need to pick up a copy of Dead Rising: Watchtower. Look for it where ever movies are sold.
I refer to this as a horror/comedy film because it’s a mixture of both. There are plenty of creepy zombies and blood all over the place, but there are also plenty of comedic scenes too. Especially between the anchorwoman following the zombie breakout and her special guest, a man who survived a zombie outbreak and wrote a book about it. He thinks he’s “Mr. Joe Cool” and you can tell that his antics are frustrating the anchorwoman.
This is a bloody film. If you don’t like blood, guts and body parts all over the place you may want to skip this film. It’s your typical “gorefest.”
There were some inconsistencies in the film that die hard zombie fans will pick up on. Take for example the zombie Police officer that knows how to shoot a pistol (although not with great aim) and the zombie clown (something that nightmares are made of) that knows how to wield an ax. It would seem like these were intelligent zombies. Most zombies are mindless creatures that shuffle all over the place looking for food. Where as these zombies seemed to have some human intelligence left, at the same time a hoard of zombies couldn’t figure out that to open the gate they just need to remove the screwdriver Chase shoved in where the lock would go?
The movie did have some truly off beat moments, like when Virginia Madsen’s character finds her daughter (he daughter looks like a zombie doll) and the head of the motorcycle gang is certainly off his rocker too.
Over all the film was entertaining – more so for the laughs and foolishness than the zombie action, blood and gore. Die hard horror finds should find it amusing too. Those where who as easily frightened or terrified of zombies in any capacity should enjoy this film too.
There is some bonus features on the DVD version (not sure about the Digital Download version).
DVD Bonus Material:
- Rob Riggle Blooper Reel
- The Weapons of Dead Rising: Watchtower
- Genesis of Bonzo the Zombie Clown
- A Behind-the-scenes Look at an Epic One-Take Shot
- Filmmaker Commentary
The blooper reel was funny and I found the feature about the cool MacGyver-like weapons used in the film interesting.
Don’t watch the one about Bonzo the Zombie Clown if you are afraid of clowns. Zombie clowns can be something nightmares of made of.
Here is the film’s trailer for your entertainment.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.