The Quick & The Undead

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Main Program: C

 

 

Imitation is supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery, but poor George Romero might feel like the first person in history ever cloned to death.  At this point, one could do an encyclopedia-in-progress of the endless number of zombie rip-offs of his four-and-counting Dead films.  At first, imitators and spoofs (like Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things) were here and there, but the 1990s saw a sudden jump in such productions.  Return Of The Living Dead and Shawn Of The Dead are examples.  Now we can add Gerald Nott’s The Quick & The Undead.

 

If that sounds too much like Sam Raimi’s The Quick & The Undead, well, that’s just the beginning of the “derivation city” this HD-shot feature offers.  It is almost like watching bad zombie versions of every good Zombie, Horror, Western (especially Spaghetti Western) and even at times action (read Mad Max) film you can think of.  Zombies pop up in a town of the Old West and its gunfight at the “DEAD Corral” with little dialogue and plenty of bloody make-up effect for fans and those who only think this genre can produce schlock.

 

It has some money on the screen and skips the digital more often than most lame productions in its genre, while the unknown cast is amusing.  It is far from original or the best of its kind, but is worth a look if you are a diehard fan of such things.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image has some good color, but is on the soft side throughout due to its HD limits, though this is a good tradedown from HD-to-DVD.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix has some lively surrounds, but is not always strong or rich.  Extras include a commentary by Nott and lead actor/producer Clint Glenn, deleted scenes, outtakes, trailers, stills and a making of featurette that is not bad.

 

Anchor Bay is releasing this and part of the idea is to enhanced previous Horror releases, including some of the Romero classics.  You can find the links to coverage of them and related HD and DVD releases below on this site:

 

Night Of The Living Dead

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2677/Night+Of+The+Living+Dead+-+Millennium+Edition

 

Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2633/Children+Shouldn't+Play+With+Dead+Things

 

Dawn Of The Dead

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/887/Dawn+Of+The+Dead+(Divimax)

4-DVD Edition

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1416/Dawn+Of+The+Dead+-+Ultimate+Edition+(1978,+Divimax+set)

 

Day of The Dead

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/622/Day+Of+The+Dead+(Divimax+set)

 

Land Of The Dead

DVD Version

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2965/Land+Of+The+Dead+-+Unrated+Director's+Cut

HD-DVD/DVD Combo Version

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4341/Land+Of+The+Dead+–+Unrated+Director’s+Cut:+HD-DVD/DVD+Combo+Format

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo