User reviews

I saw a second-hand copy of this at Blockbuster (who normally don't bother with this kind of film, except for The Asylum's boring efforts) with a box reading 'Day of the Zombie'.

The profit-driven, deceptive title change seems pretty stupid to me - who would rather watch a nondescript zombie flick than "THE ULTIMATE" (or rather, first... I think) zombie musical?! Well, I love musicals, bad films and zombies so I grabbed it.

The movie is very, very low-budget, and very, very poorly-acted (by everyone except Steve Andsager, who is actually very funny). The singing is also truly awful, except by the one guy in the opening scene, who sadly has only one more appearance.

The plot is deliberately very similar to George Romero's classic 'Night of the Living Dead', which these film-makers (like me) clearly adore. It begins with a man and a woman in graveyard, moves to a besieged cabin in the middle of nowhere and ends on a pile of burning bodies. The Romero references are many, and usually painfully obvious.

Speaking of heavy-handedness, I think the biggest flaw here is the large amount of time and effort given over to political satire. Because of the zombie-musical concept, the movie tries to be lighthearted and throw jokes in there. Sometimes they're bad, sometimes they don't even make sense, sometimes they're actually good (the 'hobbies' song made me laugh out loud). But the zombies are referred to as 'zombie terrorists' and the chemical that caused the problem is the 'Jihad Resurrection Virus'.... yeah.

And we're not talking about a few throwaway lines here: this is the major theme of the plot. Believe me, after an hour or so it gets old. It's a nice enough idea to try to parody recent US foreign policy in your movie, make your heroes occasionally look like monsters, follow in Romero's satirical (but much much much subtler) footsteps... But this scriptwriter and this premise are just not capable of effectively satirising that. "We need to bomb any country that had anything to do with terrorism!" What, because your shack is besieged by zombies? The songs themselves are actually catchy as hell! Unfortunately the singers are absolutely horrible, and the bland rock band who play them all are awfully samey. No big book numbers, sadly. All light rock.

It's a bad movie - there's no denying that. There is a tombstone at the beginning that looks like it's made of card and written in marker pen. One of the zombies is topless, and curiously she's always at the very front of the horde, next to the camera...

-- But at the same time this movie really is something special... or at the very least unique.

Every now and again the movie really impressed me with a subtle Romero reference (one character angrily calls another 'flyboy' under his breath) or a clever little spin on a zombie cliché (arms reaching through a wooden wall, waving slowly back and forth during a sad song).

And this is the thing, here. This is why I'd recommend seeing this film. Despite the fact that it's a kind-of-comedy musical, despite the huge limitations it faces, this film really tries hard to add a few things to the zombie lore. There is a scene near the end when one of the characters who's been bitten gathers the others round him and starts to explain the zombies' motivation. Another character asks a rhetorical question, why do these reanimated corpses want to eat the flesh of the living? Why are they cannibals? And suddenly you think.... wait, that's actually a very good point! Why the hell do they? And the answer the guy gives is unusual, interesting, very satisfactory... and quite moving. I'll not forget that bit of zombie character-development in a long time.

And that's a brilliant bit of writing, in this armchair reviewer's opinion. You have to watch two acts of cardboard tombstones to see it - but it's worth it.

Four out of ten. But that's more than I'd give most zombie films released in the last ten years - including Romero's.

I saw this film 3 days ago in the "7th Horror & Fantastic Cinema Festival" at Estepona, Spain, and I really had a good time watching this movie. I recommend to watch it as soon as you can. You will have a really good time. The one who makes the role of the president of the U.S.A. worths his weight in gold!

I don't know about the quality the film was shot, but looked like a home camera o 35 mm. Whatever, it does not matter, because it makes the film have an unique appearance.

I assure you that this film will not pass unnoticed. I'm triying to get it on DVD!.

I saw "Song of the Dead" in NYC at the Pioneer Theater. I'm shocked that someone called it low-budget. I thought it was shot on 35mm. Plus it was full of special effects that looked real. I love zombie movies and this film might just rank up there with "Dawn of the Dead" and "Zombie" in my book. I just need to see it a few more time.

This film really has 2 sides. One side is a campy, fun adventure with singing and dancing, the other side is a smart political satire that is well written and beautifully acted. Kate Gorman (Sandy) and Conrad Gubera (Harold) are a great pair as a father and daughter zombie fighting team. Having two sides makes this film an instant classic. I could see this on stage. Check it out Broadway people. I want the DVD ASAP! If you want another "Rocky Horror Picture Show" then don't go see this film. It's no "Rocky Horror", "Song of the Dead" is actually a thought provoking, good film that's also a lot of fun.

I went to the Cinema Wasteland in Cleveland in 2005 and I saw a film there called Song of the Dead. The room was packed, it was hot, and the projector broke half way through so they had to change it out. However, the film just blew me away! This was one of the most original zombie films that I have ever seen. I loved the fact that Chip Gubera, the writer-director, used a biological terrorist attack as the reason why the dead were rising from the grave. This is truly an original idea that I'm sure everyone will be ripping off soon.

Did I mention that it's a rock music musical? I usually don't like musicals, but the music in this film is really good and works well as part of the storytelling. I still have "Flesh and Blood" running through my head and I haven't seen the film in months. And all of the actors could sing very well too. Who would have known that the great Reggie Bannister can sing so well. I was truly impressed.

This past summer I was really looking forward to seeing the Undead and I hate to say that I was disappointed with it. However, my summer zombie movie hopes were saved when I saw Song of the Dead. I can't wait until I can buy it on DVD.

I've seen this film at the "Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre" festival (Blood Red Festival at Buenos Aires) where it won the Public's Award. I must say this "zombie musical" is one of the funniest films I've ever seen, but that's not all: all songs in the film are just great, funny and well based as the plot's political background. The audience at the cinema couldn't hold their laughs, which lasted long after the film had ended. If you're looking for a great soundtrack, this surely is, and also a great B-Zombie film, what gives the real spirit of the movie and the songs. It's a pity we can't count yet with the movie's DVD release. I can't wait to see this film again and I assure you won't either. any Info according to this will be really appreciated!!!!!!!