Redneck Zombies (1989)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Too much of everything

Sorry, this movie sucks

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Rednecks and zombies: two of my favourites things in horror. Put them together and the result is bound to be great, right? Wrong! Redneck Zombies is about as much fun as taking a wrong turn in deliverance country. A low-budget, shot-on-video cheapie from the mid '80s, the film opts for a humorous approach, but the dreadful script and horrible performances ensure that laughs are in short supply. While I'm sure that all involved had a great deal of fun making the film, watching it is a whole different matter.It takes a well over half an hour before there are any zombies, the first part of the film focusing on how a barrel of radioactive nuclear toxic waste falls into the hands of a bunch of dumb hillbillies who use it to make a batch of potent moonshine. This section of the film also introduces us to a party of equally idiotic hikers, destined to become zombie fodder. The acting here is truly abysmal, with Anthony Burlington-Smith, in his only film role as Bob, being the biggest culprit. Worst of all, though, is that all of this is incredibly dull.When the zombies do finally appear, the film doesn't scrimp on the splatter, but it's of the cheapest kind imaginable—unconvincing body part props smothered liberally with butcher shop scraps (e.g., a torso-less body is a pair of stuffed trousers, the waist scattered with offal). None of the zombie make-up is very good, although there is one reasonable shotgun to the head effect (if anything, it's very messy!).3.5 out of 10, rounded down to 3 for the unnecessary documentary footage of chicks being de-beaked and the lame 'homages' to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

This is an appallingly dull amateur zombie movie in which the zombies only appear on screen for about twenty minutes. In between that time, we are treated to filler, which is basically trite dialogue between a group of talentless non-actors and actresses doing their best to try and make themselves look good/funny. It doesn't work. To say that the spoof humour is low brow is an understatement; it's dumb, repetitive and not at all amusing, unless you like watching people pretending to be stupid and doing stupid things. Me, it just makes me sick.It's no surprise that the purveyors of schlock, Troma, and also Full Moon Pictures are caught up in the distribution of this film - it must have been the cheapest movie to distribute, ever. The only reason I watched this was because I was expecting some gruesomeness, but the gore scenes are hardly worth looking forward to as they're completely inept. The acting is appalling, each and every character detestable, there are some really inappropriate computer effects of flashing colours, and the whole story is nonsensical in the worst possible way. Although it is intended as a "tribute" to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (at least according to the announcer) and there are occasional homages to the likes of THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, this is an injustice to the world of cinema and should be avoided by anybody with any sense or taste.

Besides Bloodsucking Freaks, Redneck Zombies is my favorite movie released by Troma Team Studios. Super low budget and shot on a hand-held camera, Redneck Zombies certainly is'nt the purdiest them there film I've seen. However, that does work in the films favor along with the horrible acting and truckloads of comedy and gore. Redneck Zombies is a hilarious piece of camp about some hillbillies that make moonshine out of a barrel containing toxic warfare nuclear chemical waste that turn the rural populace into zombies. There is a lot of funny crap here, but when the film gets more serious the terror and horrific elements work. Unlike many other horror productions with similar budgets to work with Redneck Zombies is never boring and has a fresh take on the genre. Obviously, this sort of thing is'nt for everyone. If you like outrageous, super campy horror that has fun with stereotypes and contains tons of brutal, ultra gore Redneck Zombies is a cool flick for you to check out.

Lisa Dubois: "Wilbur, did you treat this weed?" Wilbur: "Only with respect, baby".Where do I begin? I expected a little better from Lloyd Kaufman/ Troma Team.. But then again expect what? Once again I came out disappointed. I had heard so much "hoopla" over this so-called cult classic that when I saw a 20th anniversary DVD that also included a CD with the original soundtrack, I bought it. The CD music is much better that the film itself. Adrian Bond took composing the score for this film seriously. Nice.Also included in this anniversary DVD are new and current interviews with cast and crew of the film. This was more shocking to me than the movie itself! Ha-ha. Some of the cast members did not age well at all. Especially Lisa M. DeHaven(Lisa Dubois). I thought she looked hot back then. But it was shocking to see how much weight she gained! I could not believe it was her! Ironically Bucky Santini (Fred Mertz) who was the "big boy"in the film, is now slim and unrecognizable! Another member who gain a lot of weight also was Tyrone Taylor(Tyrone the Soldier). It was nice to see though how Alex Lewnes (Baby Fester) turned out 20 years later! Alex Lewnes was only two years old when he played Baby Fester. Pericles Lewnes (the director and who played Billy Bob 'Elly May)gave himself a concussion when he dropped the barrel of toxic waste on the first take. He also spent ten hours on the table in zombie make-up on the day his scene as a zombie was filmed. Moreover, said make-up took three or four hours to apply. It was so cold on several days of shooting that the fake blood Lisa M. DeHaven was covered with froze on her. The filmmakers sent this movie to many different distributors in order to get it released, all of whom turned it down. It was eventually picked up for release by Troma, which was the very first company it was submitted to. The budget for this movie was so low that the filmmakers could only afford one breakaway candy glass bottle. This film was shot in 32 days on weekends over the course of a year.The make-up for the zombie extras was done in a deliberately cheesy manner.