The Women in Black 2: Angel of Death (2014) - Horror Film Review

Now when I was younger I saw The Woman in Black stage production at a creepy old theatre and stuck in my mind as one of the scariest things I have ever witnessed. When Hammer Horror The Woman in Black film came out (starring Daniel Radcliffe) I never got around to watching it which is strange, especially seeing as my parents went and saw it despite them not even liking horror films. Going to watch the sequel I had a pretty strong idea in my head of what would have happened previously regardless.

Set in 1941 during World War II in England, and with London being bombed to pieces by the Germans children are being evacuated to the countryside where it is a lot safer. Angel of Death stars Phoebe Fox as Eve Parkins who is helping relocate one such bunch of youngsters to apparent safety. However for some weird reason it was decided the relocation spot would be a dilapidated, haunted mansion out in some marshlands that while safe from bombing is not without it's own peril. Soon Eve learns of a ghostly woman in black who is haunting the property and seemingly determined to kill all the children under Eve's care.

Angel of Death is a very dark film, and by that I mean it is almost devoid of colours with muted whites, greys, browns, and blacks being the order of the day. Interiors are dark and oppressive, while outside is no better with constant thick mist chocking the landscape. It is a scary film, the design of the titular ghost herself is effective with fleeting glimpses doing far more than constant exposure could ever achieve and yet most of the scares are of the jump scare variety which I always feel is a cheap way to make the audience shudder. There are so many of these jumps and they become more and more sign posted leading up to an entirely predictable twist ending. The set design is pretty robust with some locations that just scream 'get out of here' at you but a lot of the atmosphere of these places is squandered.

So while the special effects themselves were not bad the same cannot be said of the characters who at best were flat but always let down by bizarre actions. Jeremy Irvine as pilot Harry Burnstow had an interesting back story at least, but Eve's back story mostly revealed by bland dream sequences did not engage me. For a lot of the film no one believes Eve's somewhat sketchy evidence that the house they are at is haunted but then all of a sudden everyone does believe her with no real explanation given for this sudden change. With regards to plot characters appear as if by magic to push along the story. At three points during Angel of Death people miraculously appear by chance to save the day, that is three times too many in my book and further takes away the believability.

Usually in haunted house films characters resolutely refuse to leave the location the horror is occurring at and with the location here being an island that easily gets cut off from the outside world by rising marsh water I expected this would be used to contain events. I was surprised to see later in the film the plot move to a different setting which was a nice touch. That is about the only original thing that does happen. There is a creepy child who may or may not be possessed by the ghost who as is near always the case comes across as irritating rather than spooky, those dream sequences I mentioned earlier and those jump scares. I have seen it all done before and the story was just not engaging.  The main victims are children and Angel of Death doesn't shy away from showing the after effects of their brutal demises and I do admit when they later appear as messed up ghosts they were freaky.

All in all Angel of Death is just plain average. It has some decent set design and effects yet the plot is just not interesting and nothing I hadn't seen before. I failed to care about any of the characters and while I did jump a lot there was not any lasting horror to come out of this. I did feel that I was missing references to the first film in the series, so I am at least interested to go back and watch that one now.

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In the House of Flies (2012) - Horror Film News

While In the House of Flies has previously been released via digital means the 20th January marks it's first physical release. It has previously been an official selection of the British Horror Film Festival as well as spent three weeks in the iTunes Top 50 upon it's digital release there.

Set in 1988 a young innocent couple find themselves abducted by a mysterious figure (voiced by legend Henry Rollins). Locked up in a basement the figure begins a series of mind games against them.

It kinda sounds similar to Saw though with more mind torture than actual torture. The DVD release includes deleted scenes, director commentary and a documentary about the creation of the film. Check out the trailer below.

Fear Town, USA (2014) - Comedy Horror Film Review

Fear Town, USA is a comedy horror directed by Brandon Bassham and populated entirely with a group of film students. It is of course an indie film and often humour does not mix well with zero money.

Four geeks learn that there is going to be a wild party to celebrate St Blevin's day (a national holiday celebrating a pilgrim who drowned a load of Polish children). They decide to head to the party in the hope they will finally lose their virginity but along the way they cross paths with all manner of obstacles. At the party itself a girl arrives with friends but she holds a dark supernatural secret that soon makes itself known. A psychic learns that the devil himself is also in attendance at the shindig, and to top it all off in the nearby woods lurks a dangerous psychopath who has recently escaped from a mental asylum.

I was not sure what to expect of the humour but to be honest in a lot of places it is actually quite funny, only once did I actually laugh out loud but once is still an achievement. A lot of the comedy comes from silly scenarios and crazy characters. For instance the geeks get pulled over by a cop who it is discovered thought it was illegal to drink or drive rather than drink and drive, once learning his mistake he starts going over all the many innocent people whose lives he has mistakenly ruined. The geek's journey in total feels like a mini 'Dude Where's My Car?', they even get kidnapped by some lame cultists at one point just like in that film.

Meanwhile the other plot lines going on have more of a horror element to it. While it takes place in the background of the main storyline there are a variety of people killed by a figure dressed in black and wearing a welding mask, these scenes are the funniest as the characters that get killed are usually dispatched in kinda hilarious ways, from the guy in the pre credits sequence who accidentally shoots himself and his girlfriend dead while attempting to get the slasher, to the victim who is rooted to the spot screaming as the killer constantly fails to shoot him using a bow and arrow. One extended scene in which two stoners talk about how self aware they are as their friend is noisily being strangled to death in the background also was cleverly done.

Often the laughs fell flat for me, there are a few too many sexual jokes thrown in that just bounced off my humour style, they threaten to overwhelm at times especially during one protracted sex scene near the film's end that had a real whiff of the bad side of Austin Powers films, there was also a joke about paedophiles early on that luckily had a nice ending to it but it was a bit uncomfortable for a time. Luckily the acting throughout is pretty solid for an indie, there are a lot of characters that appear and there were none where I thought to myself that they were terrible actors. It is always a pleasure to see a low budget film with good acting and good effects at times

For the most part Fear Town, USA is just too patchy to be an amazing film, the many different plot threads seem unrelated with subplots that didn't grab my attention. The geek storyline was the most well rounded one but others such as the mystery of which person at the party was actually the devil in disguise were not that interesting or well done. It shows some decent nods to the horrors of the 70's and 80's summed up in one all too brief  funny scene that features special 3D (of the old style red and green variety no less!) and even sees fit to feature a medley song that was bearable.

Overall there are laughs to be had with Fear Town, USA, there is some low budget horror that is actually quite fun and features a high body count, but a few too many dick jokes spoil what is often a witty script. Still I would say if you want some horror comedy in your life then this is not a waste of 90 minutes and it is free to watch online at places such as YouTube.

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Rotter World by Scott M.Baker (2012) - Zombie Horror Book Review

I love zombie books, hardly surprising seeing as I love all things zombies but like films about the undead it is quite hard to make a bad one. Put in heaps of ghouls and plenty of action and your set, though it does of course take skill to write an engaging story.

Rotter World takes place eight months after zombie apocalypse was unleashed upon the world in a coordinated attack by vampires. Vampires in the books world were real but unknown to all but a few groups of vampire hunters. These creatures were being hunted to extinction and so believed unleashing a zombie plague would even the score, not knowing that they too would be the target of the rotting dead's insatiable thirst for flesh.  A small band of humans have survived in this ruined world, they have made an uneasy truce with a bunch of vampires in a protected base. Circumstance leads to the arrival of a Doctor who turns out is the man responsible for creating the zombie virus in the first place. He tells the group that across the country in a hidden government base lies the key to immunity, but to get there he is going to need their help...

As weird as it sounds for a book about fictional monsters I really struggled to get my head around the idea of vampires existing and it took me a good deal of the book to get over this and be comfortable with their presence. They are of the Fright Night style in that they are human in appearance but morph into a different form when fighting. They do add some spice to what otherwise is a generic tale as I can't think of another zombie book which features vampires and this also leads to a unique cause of the apocalypse as well as bring up an interesting dichotomy with parallels to race hate and bias. Some of the back story for the vampires was not so well handled though being ham fisted in places such as allusions that one of the creatures was actually Jack the Ripper which was too far fetched and wasn't needed.

The zombies in the book are referred to as 'rotters' and are made up of shamblers and swarmers. Shamblers are the typical slow moving Romero style ghouls, while swarmers the recently reanimated who can run (such is the modern vogue). I always like it when these two different styles are mixed. While starting off light on zombie action it steadily ramps with seemingly more and more of the damn things interrupting the characters actions. Plus you get to see what a zombie vampire is like (hint: something pretty awesome) and even a zombie baby pops up which is always fun. Another first was just how much of a pain the flies and even wasps that swarm around the undead can be, Again I don't recall another book where the insects around the zombies actually has an impact on events.

Rotter World is split up into three distinct parts. Part one sets up the characters and lays out their mission. I did not find this initial part to be that interesting. I felt there were far too many characters and none of them really stood out for me. Plus there is a lot of friction between the group and so I found myself disliking them for the most part. The second part of the book is a road trip. It is a solid rule when it comes to road trips in zombie books that they are never boring and here is no different. I really began to find myself getting more into the story during this mid part. Finally is the fantastic part three that without going into too much detail is like Day of the Dead in quick step. Everything is set up to go wrong and there are many fore warnings of this but still when it happens my heart was in my mouth helped in no part by the sudden emergence of short snappy paragraphs that helped bring a sense of urgency to everything.

The plot is nothing original or new (except for the vampires) and nothing happened that I did not see coming from miles away. The characters never really established themselves in my mind that well, that is none stood out, instead there was a real good vs evil element and so I was rooting for the good guys because they were the good guys, not due to really caring about any individual. For a zombie book you really don't need to break new ground to have a thrilling story as long as the writing is good and here with Rotter World the writing is good in general, a few missteps with back story (Angels the exception) and a graphic sex scene that wasn't needed in such detail but on the action side it is exciting and easy to picture what is happening in your mind with plenty of gore and violence.

When Rotter World ended I found myself interested to know what happens next, it took me a while but when I got into the book I was hooked. I really appreciate the little things that spiced up a traditional zombie tale, not bad at all.

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Postal (1997, 2001)) - Horror Videogame Review (PC)

Postal is quite a notorious game due to levels of violence you can inflict upon unarmed civilians but that was back in the 90's where it was often time for Klax. Having played through the game tonight would I also find it utterly reprehensible?

You play as Postal Dude; a trench coat wearing man who has gone postal and is on a killing spree. It is implied that your character has been evicted from his house prompting his psychotic episode but the story is quite vague. Believing there is a plot against you, you head out to confront the authorities.

Postal is an isometric 3d shooter, and sometimes almost overhead in perspective. Each level gives you a percentage of hostiles you must kill to move on to the next level, usually ranging between 80-90%. There are police, soldiers and other enemies all armed with anything from pistols up to rocket launchers dotted around the twenty or so smallish maps. The levels are also populated by civilians who for the most part if they die it is collateral damage though Postal does seem to encourage you killing them on occasion. For example one stage starts with a marching band appearing, just too tempting to resist!

There is not much variety to the game at all and there seems some weird difficulty spikes with some levels being quick and easy while others requiring more thought. The lack of story was a bit of a shame, apart from diary extracts between levels and a suitably grim ending there is no real explanation for what you are doing. Levels range from suburbs to military bases, cities and scrapyards and have a nice hand drawn style to them. The controls are fiddly and take a while to get to grips with, while once you have reached the objective percentage of kills it is up to you to press F1 to exit the level rather than it happen automatically which was strange.

Nowadays this doesn't feel controversial, going on a killing spree has happened in lots of games and is done far better, Grand Theft Auto being a great example. While I played through the entire game in one sitting I wouldn't say I was enthralled, more it felt like doing a crossword or a jigsaw puzzle; just something to while away the hours on a cold and windy night. Tasteless at times but it can never be taken seriously as it tries to be darkly comic (the shopping mall level opens with Postal Dude saying something like "What? They don't sell Postal here?") and people you put down often crawl around begging to be put out of their misery which you can actually do via the execution button (X of course). An average game, can't imagine I will ever play it again but it did keep me occupied for a while.

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Outlast: Whistleblower (2014) - Survival Horror DLC Review (PS4)

Outlast was a solid survival horror that saw you as an investigative reporter exploring an asylum after getting a tip off that horrific experiments were taking place there. For the Whistleblower DLC for that game you play as the man who leaked the information to the reporter. Needless to say there will be giant spoilers if you have not actually played Outlast.

Waylon Park is an I.T contractor working at the Mount Massive Asylum for the shady Murkoff Corporation. The game starts with you sending leaked info out via email. Pretty soon afterwards you are caught by the corrupt DLC antagonist; Jeremy Blaire the head of the facility. He imprisons you for an unknown amount of time, performing experiments in the process. After an event happens which results in the inmates escaping you too get to make a bid for freedom. With not only the patients to watch out for but the staff as well you must try and make your bid for freedom.

Whistleblower is shorter and snappier than the main game and clocked in at around two hours. This was two joyous hours though as the action never lets up. Much like Outlast your character has no access to weapons and carries around a camcorder that can be used in night vision mode to allow you to see in the dark. Batteries are hidden around the locations as well as files that shed more light on the patients and goings on of the facility.

Plot wise the game obviously starts before the events of Outlast but by some plot contrivances it also takes place both during and after the events of it which sets up some great story beats. You explore areas that the reporter also visited but being at a different time there are slight differences. You needn't fear it would just be a rehash though as I would estimate around 80-90% of the DLC takes place in new areas. There is plenty of outside exploring while a chunk takes place in workshops and surgical rooms.

The main game had its share of boss type characters who would stalk your character and who could only be hidden from. I feel these sections (that return here) are the weakest part of the game, though also the scariest. On more than a few occasions you would need to head into a minor maze like area to find a key or flip a switch while a boss stalked you. Pretty early on a creepy cannibal armed with a buzz saw pursues you, later on you get a serial killer who wishes to make you into a 'lady' by most cruel and unusual means. There is also some cross over with a couple of the boss characters from the main game popping up. While the weakest part of the game they did have the power to make me shout out in fright!

Mostly the game gets you by jump scares, I lost count of how many times something would leap out the darkness or something sudden would happen to make me shout out. Like a ghost train attraction these work wonders but only the first few times I would imagine. As your character is dressed like an patient there seems to be far more instances where other patients ignore you or let you pass while they are in the midst of doing barbaric things (such as opening a bathroom stall to see someone drowning a guard in the toilet) and the games start in which all is calm was a nice touch. The staff seem to be afraid of you and often your way forward will be blocked by guards hastily locking you out of areas.

I can't see much replay value here but while it lasts Whistleblower is a blast and dare I say it actually better than the actual main game as there is no down time and doesn't repeat itself as much, while the boss characters are far more interesting. There is much more messed up imagery (rooms full of suspended bodies, people getting eaten and a patient...touching himself while looking at some corpses. If you own the game then pick up the DLC basically.

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Batman: Arkham Origins (2013) - Action Videogame Review (X-Box 360)

I put off getting Batman: Arkham Origins for the longest time after hearing that it was the weakest in the series to date. I really loved the first game; Batman: Arkham Asylum but thought Batman: Arkham City lost a tonne of what made that one good. Thankfully despite all the rumours Origins may just in fact be the series best.

Origins takes place one snowy Christmas Eve in a Gotham where the Batman has only been around for two years and is considered by many people as a myth, while the police see him as a menace who must be stopped. After stopping a break out at Blackgate Prison, led by Black Mask, Batman learns that the crime lord has put out a bounty on his head. Eight deadly assassins have converged on the city all looking to kill Batman and claim this bounty. In one night of terror he must not only defeat the assassins but put a stop to Black Mask, yet not everything is as it seems.

Once again this is a third person adventure game set in an open world setting. The city is a lot bigger than the walled off area of City and despite using similar locations they really did feel different then just re-skins. The world is big enough that you get fast travel points opened up to you, and for a nice change the bat cave can be visited at any point (and is where the fighting challenges now take place rather than a separate option outside of the main game). Using your grappling hook and glide abilities it is a real joy to travel around the game world that is split up into around six different districts. For a change Batman has access to the vast majority of his tools and gadgets from the get go. Your grappling hook lets you swing around the giant buildings and locations while the trusty batarang can be used to hit enemies and switches. Defeating bosses often results in you getting new power ups. A glue gun, hook shot and my favourite; electrified gloves can all be used to enhance the combat or to solve environmental puzzles.

Now the story for Origins is the strongest yet in the series. Initially it seems quite weak but after the first few missions and with some genius twists it gets pretty much amazing. Batman encounters a fair few iconic villains for the first time (such as Bane and the Joker) and he exists at a time when Gordon is merely a Captain of the corrupt GCPD and many other key characters are early in their careers. As you go around the city you pick up enemies radio chatter and it is really quite varied and changes according to what part of the story you are at. Being set on Christmas Eve means there is a lot of Christmas decorations and set design everywhere, even down to Christmas songs playing in lifts; a nice touch.

There are Riddler collectibles as is always the case and are spread around the city but I found them a lot more fun and addictive to get then the terrible ones you had to plough through in City. They are multi tiered also with radio towers, henchmen, relays and data packets all needing to be found. Also hidden around the city are Anarchy symbols and plaques that give you further insight into the city itself, these were all quite interesting.

Side quests usually have you after a particular villain or locating a certain amount of items (such as Penguin's weapon shipments). They are not bad, better than City's terrible side quests, a highlight being a hallucinogenic trip through Wonderland courtesy of The Mad Hatter. The dream sequences are always in the Arkham games so it didn't feel as fresh as it should but an alternate later dream sequence was very different to the norm! There are also quests in which you investigate a crime scene trying to piece together what happened, these bring a decent lull to the games pace but are quite easy to solve.

You earn experience for pretty much all actions you take whether it be defeating enemies or solving puzzles, there is a skill tree which you can use skill points to unlock stuff but for the most part it is negligible in what it provides though a lot of later puzzles can only be solved using new abilities you unlock. The soundtrack was great in places but a lot of the music it is sad to say just was not memorable. The acting on the other hand is great, Nolan North reprises his role of the Penguin, while the Joker is now voiced by Troy Baker who does a great job. Batman seems much more threatening now and when he gets angry it gets really impressive, so Roger Craig Smith is effective as the voice. Batman's interactions with his allies are far more natural this time around, Alfred plays a bigger role while the forging of Batman's and James Gordon's friendship slowly forms over the whole 15-20 hour experience.

Combat as ever is close quarters with you fighting a bunch of enemies at once, use of the counter button is as always needed to win these fights. Downed enemies can be finished off to stop them getting back up whilst later on enemies carry shields and weapons to make more challenge. Occasionally larger enemy types turn up and armoured ones but it is pretty much the same combat as it has always been. Bosses on the other hand are a huge improvement and are a joy to fight them, especially the eight varied assassins. Different methods are usually needed to fight these, whether it be contending with Firefly and his flame thrower or an intense and protracted one on one fight with Deathstroke they are all fun and satisfying. They even finally throw in a decent Batman vs Joker fight that is believable for once (as in Joker doesn't morph into a monster) and had me smiling.

The main story missions usually take you to a specific location in Gotham but these seem a lot better designed than anything City had to offer and are actually fun to get through. A real highlight was a hotel that had been taken over by a certain villain, it was so fun to work your way through and ended with a story beat that was hands up the best story beat out of all three of the games and made me think it was the end of the game so big and huge was it. There are some levels where you have to get around a vertical location but again going back to City there is nothing that comes close to rivalling the mundane setting of the maze like underground city.

Where Origins succeeds for me is that it is a worthy successor to Asylum and creates a believable world. I was so let down by the limited scope and bland design of City that this just feels like everything that one promised to be. I had so much fun collecting everything and experience the events that I just left with a huge grin on my face. Games like these remind me just why I am so obsessed with videogames in the first place. And to end it all; battle damage... is there any greater thing than your characters appearance changing as the story progresses?

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Lord of Tears (2013) - Horror Film News

I loved Lord of Tears when I saw it back in 2013. It seems that ever since it's release there has been a constant campaign of terror from the iconic monster character The Owlman. He has appeared in several videos trying to scare people on Chat Roulette type sites and of hanging around in abandoned buildings on the off chance people will turn up to be scared. Hex media behind Lord of Tears have two feature films in the works they have confirmed.  In celebration of that fact here is the latest video from The Owlman...

Videogram - Horror Music News

Just a quick news post about Videogram as I like Magnus's music so much and look for any opportunity to talk about it. First off Videogram is joining European label Cineploit which is good news for him.

The second bit of news is that there is a new music video for the track Charles Bronson off the debut album. The album is made up of clips from old 70's exploitation films (or film) and I guess maybe feature Charles Bronson in some of those clips (my knowledge is not too great). There are subtitles every now and again that tell a narrative of people trying to capture Videogram. Check it out below.

Attack of the Morningside Monster (2014) - Horror Film News

The best thing I noticed upon watching the trailer for Attack of the Morningside Monster was that the film stars Nicholas Brendon (Xander in Buffy the Vampire Slayer). It is a thriller about a masked killer that has won a few awards.

In the peaceful town of Morningside the quiet is disturbed by the discovery of a brutal murder. Sheriff Tom Haulk and his deputy soon find out there seems to be a serial killer on the loose and must race against time to stop him.

It is directed by Chris Ethridge who says that for this horror "we are taking a character-driven approach to the time-honoured tradition of the masked killer, with equal parts blood and real human emotion". From the trailer it seems to be about a hooded guy with a kind of creepy mask running around causing mischief.

Attack of the Morningside Monster is currently available on cable and digital channels in America and Canada and is available to pre-order on iTunes. It comes out on Blu-ray and DVD on January 20th courtesy of Apprehensive Films.

Spring Heeled Jack (2014) - Horror Comic Review

Spring Heeled Jack is an independent four part mini series comic written by Tony Deans with art by Martha Laverick and lettering by Joshua Cozine. Set in Victorian London it follows the legendary horror of the comics name.

After a woman is murdered and her daughter suffers life threatening burns the police call on the help of a young Arthur Conan Doyle and his mentor Joseph Bell to help solve the case. The burnt girl is convinced the perpetrator was none other than Spring Heeled Jack; a creature that is said to be able to breath fire and leap buildings in a single jump. They are not convinced at first but as the evidence piles up it seems that just maybe this being is real.

The very best thing about this comic is the striking art style. It is crystal clear with a great use of simple colours and reminded me a lot of the style of Manga (minus the big eyes). It is snappy with many small windows used to show the flow and action. Despite this I never got confused as to where to read as I often do. The characters of Conan Doyle and Bell feel similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson (of course not surprising seeing as the character of Holmes was based on the real life Bell).

Being the first issue not too much happens though the creepy Jack character appears a few times. The comic is mostly used to introduce the two investigators and set up the case they find themselves with. Spring Heeled Jack is published by Alterna Comic and can be purchased from Comixology.

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Super Zero (2014) - Short Zombie Film Review

I got a message on Twitter recently asking me to take a look at short zombie film Super Zero (written and directed by Mitch Cohen). I usually love short films as it takes a certain skill to create the feeling of a full story in such a short amount of time. At just over fifteen minutes long would this be the case with Super Zero?

Loner geek Josh Hershberg (Umberto Celisano) has just found out he has terminal cancer and so he plans for his end, however those plans are disrupted when a space probe on a return journey from Mars crashes into Los Angeles. 29 days later (see what they did there?) and zombie apocalypse has swept the country. While searching a warehouse Josh comes across a bunch of survivors who soon discover the amazing abilities he has to offer in this new undead filled world.

I loved this film, it looks sharp and crisp and the pacing of the story is very strong with it feeling like this should be a feature length film. It actually reminded me a lot of Zombieland and Kick-Ass with it having the same light hearted tone and with the film being narrated by the self conscious nerdy character who puts a lot of personality into his narration. The theme again seems to be you don't need to be the cool attractive guy to be a hero.

A lot of the effects are digitally done but they don't look half bad, while there is plenty of guts and gore around. The zombies are of the running type and are quite grey in look, no complaints for their design and it seems here head shots are not needed to incapacitate them. The music by Justin Bell is fantastic and really fits the tone well.

Some of the humour is a bit hit and miss at times, there are just a few too many geeky references (such as when Josh says his life has red ringed), It does at times feel like stuff like that is just there to try to appeal to a certain demographic but is not too ham fisted. The four characters here are all interesting in their own ways though it is only really the main lead who had anything about him (though the guy wearing a clown suit was pretty weird). The final sequence for Super Zero was awesome and totally unexpected showing some great special effects and really got me wanting to see more.

Apparently this is in development for a feature film production and I hope that is true as if they could put the same level of quality and imagination into a full length film then they did in these fifteen minutes then it would be something quite special. Well worth a watch, check it out below if you wish.

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Dead Kansas (2013) - Zombie Horror Web Series Review

Dead Kansas (written and directed by Aaron Carter) first appeared as a five part web series, then in 2013 it was released as a feature length film (the five parts sliced together), I watched it in five parts so my review will be of that version.

Years after zombie apocalypse sweeps the world the survivors try to make the best of what they have left. Glenn lives alone with his daughter Emma but their lives are ruined when Jebediah (Michael Camp); the leader of a pack of thugs arrives demanding the girl. This and other events leads to Glenn getting severely injured and so Emma sets out to locate the house of a nearby Doctor.

I struggled to tell if this was meant to be a comedy or not, a lot of it is played straight and yet elements of comedy such as characters wearing obvious wigs and really hammed up dialogue intrude. Quite a lot of the acting is pretty terrible but on occasion it works. Camp as Jebediah; the main antagonist really goes over the top with his acting but it fits his role fantastic as the dumb over confident leader of a bunch of rednecks. Elsewhere the acting lets down the films tone a bit. The Doctor character is emotionless and flat while Emma is patchy as examples. She is played by two different actresses (due to pregnancy), the first plays her for the first two episodes and is really good but then episode three starts with a different not so good actress who over emphasises everything and pouts a lot.

In general the episodes are well paced and written. Each one is roughly fifteen minutes long and has a pre title sequence that never failed to be great and each episode ends on a cliffhanger (usually Jebediah swearing vengeance). The set design is really good throughout, the highlight being a freak show location but the same can't be said for the soundtrack which is quite awful generic American rock stuff which at least makes sense the few times it is played at the rednecks base of operations. Out of the five episodes I would say the third was the worst as nothing seemed to happen much at all and it just was of a lower quality in look than the others.

I have yet to mention the strangest thing about Dead Kansas - this is a zombie tale in which you don't actually see any zombies (bar one). The Walking Dead focused on the characters living in a zombie infested world but it knows it has to show the living dead at points, here though the undead are just not shown. When zombies do appear the show switches to a first person black and white perspective from their point of view. It is a unique approach to take and whether it was done to save the budget or if it was done for artistic reasons I do not know. For the most part I didn't mind this save for one action sequence which had me laughing out loud at the camera's viewpoint of attacking humans.

Dead Kansas isn't a bad series and for the most part is enjoyable enough. There are some great ideas here (I particularly liked a scene set before the apocalypse that showed some decent backstory for characters) but any zombie/human fight sequences are dulled by only one side ever being shown. It is also a shame that some of the acting is not amazing.

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