Zombies Anonymous: Last Rites of the Dead (2006)

If you ever get tired of the same old, traditional Zombie flicks like Dawn Of The Dead, and pretty much anything from the criminally overrated George Romero, I'd suggest giving up the mainstream stuff indefinitely, because you're not gonna find it there. If you're looking for an original Zombie flick, and you don't mind a low budget. you've found it. This is Zombies Anonymous! Nowadays, when you die, your soul no longer leaves your body. Harsh, but true. A chick named Angela is right in the middle of a fight with her boyfriend, is hoping this hotheaded young man doesn't go off and shoot her, because she's really not into the whole living dead thing. Because if she doesn't survive, this new lifestyle will most definitely be in her future... So, anyway. now that Angela's undead, she's stuck in a world that's afraid of her. A world that hates her. A world that gives her very few options. For example, getting/holding a job will be almost impossible. And there's this whole thing where Angela feels incredible pain if she goes long enough without eating human flesh. She can pretend to be a regular person all she wants. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but without Human flesh, functioning is almost impossible.While being over-the-top, gruesome, and dark-humored, Zombies Anonymous has quite a deep, semi-touching story, which seems to be about adapting to a new way of life. Well, that and discrimination. Reflecting how people fear, and ultimately hate what they don't understand. If you end up diggin' Zombies Anomymous, I'd highly recommend a film from the same director, called Strange Things Happen At Sundown. One Of The Best Vampire flicks I've come across. This Marc Fratto guy is one of the few bright spots in B-cinema over the last decade, and I look forward to anything else he comes up with. In case you've ever heard about a micro-budget, shot-on-video from the 90's called Shatter Dead, Zombies Anonymous is basically a ripoff of that one. at least the basic idea is. Ultimately, this one blows Shatter Dead away, gore-wise, creativity-wise, & entertainment-wise. you can't compare the two. However, I'd recommend you check out both of them. Zombies Anonymous obviously isn't the traditional Zombie story. And I hardly see that as a bad thing. 8/10

I saw this at the nyc horror film fest a few years back when it was released as Last Rights of the Dead, and loved it. One of the best indie low budget horror movies i've ever seen. Then I rented it as Zombies Anonymous, when it was released on DVD. Its still good, but not the same movie. A lot of crucial scenes were cut out of the last half of the movie, that tied the plot together.Some of it is kind of confusing now. They cut out a crucial bunch of scenes when the Comandant chops off her hair, dyes it and shoots herself in the head, so she'll be mistaken as a zombie, and gain access to the cult. Now she just turns up dead, with blond short hair. They also cut out a lot of the gore and the beheadings. and the scenes when the cult attempts to brainwash the main zombie girl Verene't there either. now, it's kind of confusing why she has to fight the cult at the end. either version is still good, but the one i saw in theaters was better, and made more sense. this new version seemed like they cut out a lot of plot to get to the action. hopefully they'll be putting out the longer version.

Not bad. Like pizza, there's no such thing as a bad zombie movie. You might also want to check out the zombie action comedy AWAKEN THE DEAD among others. You watch EVIL DEAD for the humor. You watch FLASH GORDON for the humor and the action. But we watch zombie films to see an alternate world that has monsters walking around to feed on the general populace. It's fluff. It's fun. So grab a couple of beers, rent three or four indie zombie flicks and have some fun!This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper.T. S. Eliot doesn't get enough credit. Neither do these zombie filmmakers who put it out on a limb to entertain us.

This film is the most brilliant take on living dead that I have ever seen! If only all indie films could turn out like this, it may raise the cloud that blocks small budgeted films from getting the recognition they deserve. Sure, we have all seen living dead films before. The idea may seem rote, but not here. Here the dead are just as alive in their brains and personality as they ever were. Sure, their bodies died, but nothing else changed. These are not zombies. They are real people who's bodies died. Its such an amazing difference in concept! The story centers around Angela, and her "even after dead" drama with her boy friend, Josh. And all the complexities that go into being a walking dead person in todays society while still wrestling with your once living issues. These roles are perfectly played by Gina Ramsden and Jashua Nelson. Really, perfectly played. No bad acting here! These folks are dead on in their roles. The supporting cast is excellent as well. Last Rites of the Dead is a must see. It has some blood and gore for the fans of such, but really, its an amazing horror tale in the truest sense, so much more realistic than what we ever think of for the genre these days. It will probably be called a horror film, no doubt, and really I guess it is, but I think it was far more human really...Its, to me, as much drama as it is horror...