Zombie Brigade is an Australian zombie film. It was written, directed and produced by Carmelo Musca and Barrie Pattison. It screened at Cannes Film Festival in May 1988 but did not get a cinema release. It got a video release in Australia in August 1990.
Premise In a small country town, Mayor Ransom buys up land to develop a theme park. Council officials blast a Vietnam War memorial, unleashing monsters.
Production The script was written originally by Barrie Pattison who brought it to Carmelo Musca, who liked the idea of doing a genre piece with some social commentary. The state funding body Screen West refused to invest in the film.Scott Holdsworth, "Zombie Brigade" at Murdoch University accessed 3 August 2013 It was shot in Toodyay, Western Australia.Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970–1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p164
Cast John Moore as Harry Dare Khym Lam as Yoshie Geoff Gibbs as Mayor Ransom Ron Lee as Kinoshita (as Adam A. Wong) Leslie Wright as Constable Bill Jackson Robert Faggetter as Wild
Reception According to the filmmakers, "the film made back money four or five times over for the investors".
David Stratton wrote in Variety "Pacing is too slow and, crucially, scenes of carnage are too tame. Also, many of the supporting actors are amateurish." Peter West of Horror Talk gave it 2 1/2 stars and called it an "amusing movie at times." HorrorNews.net's Nigel Honeybone says "It’s definitely a zombie movie, but there’s a twist: these are good zombies with moral values, ethics, mercy and valor." and notes that "The two protagonists, for example, is an Aboriginal male and a Japanese female, which immediately challenges the viewer’s expectations."
References
External links Blog Review at The Worst of Perth
Zombie Brigade at Britannica Blog Zombie Brigade at Oz Movies