09th Jul2015

‘The Dead 2: India’ DVD Review

by Jack Kirby

Stars: Joseph Millson, Meenu Mishra, Anand Krishna Goyal, Sandip Datta Gupta, Poonam Mathur, Coulsom Sujitabh, Madhu Rajesh, Niharika Singh | Written and Directed by Howard and John Ford

dead-2-dvd

Howard and John Ford’s The Dead 2: India is a sequel to their previous Africa-set zombie flick; and to be honest, it’s the most auspicious of sequels… A zombie epidemic reaches the Asian subcontinent and American engineer Nicholas (Joseph Millson) attempts to trek 300 miles across stunning but deadly rural Indian landscapes to reunite with his Indian girlfriend Ishani (Meenu Mishra), aided only by plucky orphan boy Javed (Anand Gopal).

I didn’t catch The Dead, so the novelty of watching a Zombie film set anywhere other than Middle America (or Crouch End) was not lost on me…

The various locations around rural India are occasionally used rather well. Nicolas’s introductory scene is a slow pull out from extreme close up to a panoramic shot of him dangling from a wind turbine, which works really well and there several nicely implemented vistas. Much of the film takes place during the daytime, which is a pleasing exception from the accepted norm. The incidental music was also atmospheric.

Unfortunately, that’s about all there is to say of note about The Dead 2. The film is the same zombie feature you’ve seen dozens of times before with nothing new brought to the table other than location. The acting is somewhat subpar and the script is nothing special. A call-back to an Indian legend at the film’s conclusion attempts to wrap things up pithily but feels half-hearted.

Kudos for being the first ever international zombie movie shot in India, however that wave of goodwill (and good press) will do little to help The Dead 2 make an impression on anyone.

The Dead 2: India is released on DVD on July 13th, courtesy of Altitude Film Entertainment.

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