The Dead next door

J.R. Bookwalter’s The Dead Next Door is more than a passing homage to director George A. Romero’s ‘Living Dead’ trilogy. Shot on super-8 and partly financed by director Sam Raimi, this super low budget effort might be creaky at times but enthusiastically serves up the gore to considerable effect. The thin plot concerns a crack team of soldiers know as The Zombie squad who are called in to contain a virus that is bringing the dead back to life. Of course the zombies aren’t content with just being re-animated, as they chew their way through the human race leaving a messy trail behind them. Complicating the commandos squads mission further is an insane religious cult whose sole aim is to keep the zombies fed and alive in preparation for the final day of reckoning when the dead will finally replace the living. Cast includes Peter Ferry, Bogdan Pecic, Jolie Jackunas, Robert Kokai.