"Special Dead" is a lot of fun if approached in the proper mood.
**SPOILERS**
Working at Camp Special Dude, Machiavelli Stone, (Jason Brubaker) is infuriated his sister Dale, (Gia Franzia) is in charge of the camp, a camp for handicapped people. When he finds evidence of a zombie infestation in the area, he gathers Cassie Hewitt, (Amy Wade) Harley Jacquette, (Haneka Haynes) Todd Slater, (Anthony Rutowicz) May Littlejohns, (April Wade) Eriq Eldorado, (Jah Shams) Ismael Ziegler, (David Reynolds) and Buck Renshaw, (Thomas Crnkovich) the others at the camp and tries to get them away from the deadly creatures. When they manage to get a handle on the situation, the zombies manage to get the upper hand and force them to defend themselves against the creatures. Having to resort to more outlandish tactics, the surviving members try to battle off the voracious zombies and get away.
The Good News: This was actually a lot of fun and had some good points going for it. One of the best assets to this one is the fact that there's just an incredible amount of action in this one, and that's a fun quality to have. The confrontations with the zombies are done nearly from the start, as we're barely fifteen minutes into the film before the campfire attack that sends everyone off running around the camp trying to seek shelter, and from there, it's just nonstop action through to the very end. There's no shortage of good scenes, from the attack out by the chicken coop to the battle in the outhouse and an extended fight in the parking lot, where a lot of different gags are used which are genuinely funny without trying to be as they're put into the situation logically. Other major fun comes from the two women getting into a real knock-down, drag-out, fist-fighting brawl that is certainly much harder than expected and comes off extremely well-done. The final race for freedom doesn't have as many obstacles to overcome as most, but the fact that it decides to end on a positive note and actually have more than just a couple surviving that brought them together, so it's only natural that there only be a couple of them since it goes with the larger-surviving-number story. The main reason why this is allowed to be so big and full of action is the result of the film's really furious pacing. As mentioned before, the attacks come in a little before the fifteen minute mark, so this one just doesn't have the time to do much of anything except get right into everything, which keeps the film moving along so quickly it never lets up, having a positive outcome as the result. That is greatly appreciated and makes it a much more enjoyable film. Also quite fun is the film's subtle humor, as the film doesn't go over-the-top to offend due to the subject matter and instead decides on giving little quips here and there, most surprisingly coming from the campers sniping at each other, but a couple visual gags, such as the guy looking up the girl's skirts as they argue fixing a truck or the self-referential humor when arming for the final fight are pretty good and are apart of the film's tone. Here, the zombies don't look terrible but are perfectly passable for the situation, not really going for the dead-centuries-look but still looking like zombies, which is nice and really gives them an appropriate menace. The last plus here is the gore, which here is nowhere near the top of the line for zombie films but holds it's own well, with plenty of gunshots splattering heads, a body adorned with arrows, limbs hacked up or ripped off and devoured, stabbing, impaling, slicing and more, leading to a ton of splatter as well as tons of blood-stained clothing in a memorable image. All of these make this film enjoyable.
The Bad News: This one did have a couple flaws for it that will hold it down. The biggest issue here is that the film decides to spend the majority of it's time dealing with the mentally-disabled, and the fact that they're involved heavily, often-times still in character when dealing with the zombies or other situations, may rub some people the wrong way. This one doesn't attack or make fun of people who have these conditions, it just merely wraps a horror film around the people who do and it won't matter that it does, as the mere inclusion of the subject matter maybe a sensitive issue for some and won't take it in the way this is intended. The only other thing it fails at is giving an explanation for anything that happens in the film. There's nothing said about the zombie's origin, as the pre-credit sequence doesn't offer anything remotely worthwhile and the characters here tend to think of them as an everyday facet of life that they must live with, but again no explanation story. The same goes for the purpose of the camp, which isn't a fault of the film at all since it's pacing is the cause for that and we aren't around long enough to find out. Otherwise, this one was quite enjoyable.
The Final Verdict: With a lot to like about it and some very mild, minor flaws in it, this one isn't that bad at all and has a lot of things going for it. Definitely give it a shot if you're able to handle the subject matter and are a huge fan of cheesy, entertaining zombie fare, while those who aren't should heed caution with it.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, and a couple sex scenes
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