Now on DVD: Zombie Wars

House was a re-run last night so my wife and I decided to watch a movie. It had been a while since I've seen a good zombie movie so I ended up going that direction and picked out the film Zombie Wars.

When I read the description of this movie, I wasn't really expecting a whole lot. It didn't have any recognizable actors and looked like a B-rated movie. The main reason I ended up picking it is it wasn't too long and I figured, at very least, it would be a good way to get some laughs before bed.

However, it actually turned out to be better than expected.

Let me start out by saying there is no way you would mistake this movie for Night of the Living Dead. The script was full of corny one-liners, the zombies were some of the fakest I have seen (a couple of them looked like they had put on face paint before going to a football game) and I'm certain they killed the same zombie at least a half dozen times.

The above didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was just how entertaining the plot ended up being.

The movie takes place on a planet Earth that has been overrun by zombies for 50 years. The surviving humans are basically second-generation survivors who don't even know what it is like to live on a planet that doesn't have the living dead walking it and survive in small groups that have worry about running out of food, water and ammunition in addition to being eaten.

For the most part, this is a normal zombie film. You still kill the zombies by shooting them in the head and, if you are bitten, you turn into one yourself. But, unlike other zombie movies, the creatures in this film are also somewhat intelligent. They can't speak. But, rather than just hunting down humans, they are smart enough to enslave them and breed them so they have an ever-growing food supply.

The heroes in the movie (one of them ends up being captured by the zombies) are attempting to destroy the zombie "farm" and find out who really is behind all of it. This leads to a few plot twists and an ending that was actually a bit surprising. Let's put it this way, I was entertained and I didn't find myself laughing all that much.

Final opinion: It's not a movie that is going to give you a lot of scares. But, it is one of those films that are better than you would expect.

Average Netflix Grade: 2 stars out of a possible 5.

My Grade: 3 stars (would have been 4 if the zombies were more believable).