Zombie Bloodbath 3

Produced, Written, and Directed by Todd Sheets

Brian - Abe Dyer
Skillet - Curtis Spencer

Todd Sheets' ZOMBIE BLOODBATH 3 is a strange film indeed. It comes across like the bastard lovechild of Dawn of the Dead and The Breakfast Club. Two-dimensional, teenage stereotypes serving time in detention do battle with the living dead. Under normal circumstances I don't think I would have much cared for ZB3, but it's done with such gung-ho bravado, and an obvious true love for the genre, that you can't help but to find it fun.

The film opens in the not-to-distant future with a military unit wrangling the last remnants of a herd of wild zombies and preparing them for the great cattledrive into outerspace. Somewhere near Pluto, the ship folds time and ends up back on Earth. I don't know if this was supposed to be sometime in the past, or if is it present day, the time shift sub-plot was a little confusing and needed to be fleshed out. The ship conveniently lands under the high school of the man who will eventually give birth to the zombie plague. It turns out the guy is nothing more than a foul-mouthed, little, high school punk who desperately needs his mouth washed out with some Lifeboy.

I don't think I ever remember hearing the "F" word volleyed around as much as it is in ZB3, not even when I was a Cub Scout. Man, I even picked up a few new uses. The word eventually takes on a Shakespearean quality, it has a rhythm and life all its own. The word flows from the character's mouths so freely that I wonder if the actors even realized they were using it. It becomes more commonly used than "the." Profanity should be used to punctuate or accentuate the scene. It should never substitute for real dialogue. That's screenwriting rule number 1. Then again this isn't a movie that plays by the rules.

The modern horror film is one grounded in paint-by-numbers logic. Even my eight-year-old nephew can pick out who will live and die, and usually the tyke can do it within the first five minutes. You can't do that with a Todd Sheets film, the guy keeps you guessing. There is no rhyme or reason to who lives or dies. Characters are killed at random; even those we are led to believe are the heroes. All formulas are cast aside and replaced by anarchy.

While much better acted than CATACOMBS, some of the cast take the concept of anarchy and try to incorporate it into their acting style, namely Abe Dyer. My God, this boy is all over the place! A little restraint would have been nice. I remember singling him out in my review of CATACOMBS as well. The boy must have the words "over act" tattooed on his ass or something. At least the guy is trying. Maybe that's all that's asked of him. Next time, Todd should ask for a re-shoot and slip the guy some Prozac.

None of what I've said until now really matters. The point of a Todd Sheets movie is to entertain and deliver serious gore. If you want good acting then watch SEX, LIES, and VIDEOTAPE. If you want top-notch direction then watch TRAFFIC. If you want a stomach-churning amount of blood and guts, then watch ZOMBIE BLOODBATH 3. It's one of those rare films that lives up to its title, ZB3 is a true dripping wet splatter-fest. A gore hound couldn't ask for a more fun way to get their fix.

You can find out more on ZB3 by going to Extreme Entertainment.

Extreme Entertainment