Highly Overrated But Still Good

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

When abominations meet addle-minded, you obtain this piece of superlative schlock cinema. I'll get to the obvious flaws in basic physics in a bit, but suffice to say that if you are looking for a chilling horror movie, well, The Exorcist, The Shining, Spoorloos are all on that shelf.Our story begins as we see a cannibal in a top hat feasting on some fresh intestines, ostensibly with his former wife. Apparently the inhabitants were trapped here, under the majestic and august auspices of a dormant volcano, and ran out of food. The year is 1846. Fast forward a century and some years and we see the low-budget (with some heart) cast of characters. Everyone is in a panic because the old volcano is about to erupt again, but they have much to tell us.Mindy Roberts (Monique Plante), her daughter Nicole Roberts (Nicole Cummins) and Nicole's boyfriend Ryan Jacobs (Kevin Norman) are all moving out of the area with the help of affable Sheriff Denton (Thomas Downey). Thus comes exposition about the family unit and the estrangement of Mindy and her father Old Ben. Old Ben is stubborn and addicted to the Internet through his tablet. Meanwhile the top geologists in the area Dr. Stevens (Kyle T. Heffner) and his assistant Eve Jones (Julia Lehman) are discussing volcanoes, which brings me to my short (and obviously inadequate) physics foray: Lava can reach between 800 and 1200 degrees Celsius. The human body erupts into flames at around 800 and 1000 degrees Celsius. By this back of the napkin math we see that the Zombies could not exist! Not only that, but I have yet to hear of a volcano spewing green, purple, red smoke or magma as cruise missiles onto nearby buildings.That's the least of this film's issues, however, as the citizens of the area really should have all died ages ago. The sheriff runs around in circles, the protagonists abandon their cars instead of leaving town, the clouds of volcanic ash are barely acknowledged. It's a horrible mess of plot holes, schlocky effects and tugs at the heartstrings.That said, the hilarity of some scenes makes up for the overall lack of cohesion. The magma cruise missile, the overacting from the zombies, the stupidity of the rangers all give us an entertaining hour or so of B-grade cinema. I haven't even gone into the absolutely brutal and explotivie "blogger/photographer" at the start, who thought taking off her top would be the best idea when about to be engulfed in flames.See only if you are willing to park your brain for an hour or so.

Creatively fresh and brilliantly original, this film has a heroic sheriff attempting against all odds to save a family from an erupting volcano and the cursed zombies that are set free by the event. These are not the clichéd undead populating every zombie film cranked out. Incredibly well done special effects and CGI work show lava filled creatures unlike anything ever seen before and they are stunning. Brought to life by a curse, their barbarity is breathtaking and there are breathtaking sequences of volcanic explosiveness of true realism. The imagery created by director Rene Perez and the performances he coaxes from his actors are both haunting in their intensity. Danny Trejo is particularly superb in what must be ranked as one of his finest performances. The thrills and momentum of the film never diminish and as a cinema horror adventure, it is both a tremendous experience and deeply satisfying.

"The Burning Dead" (also known as "Volcano Zombies") is an extremely low budget film. And, the title pretty much says it all. So, I knew going into this film that I wouldn't be seeing Masterpiece Theatre or Jane Austin!! Yup...it has what you'd expect--a lot of cheesy special effects and makeup and some occasionally broad acting. And, it's clearly for folks who like horror and don't mind it of the bargain basement variety! Now I am not saying the film is 100% bad....just mostly bad.When the film begins, an American-Indian played by the ubiquitous Danny Trejo is telling some kids a story--and then the actual plot to this film begins. I say 'ubiquitous' because Trejo was in 17 different productions last year and is slated, so far, to be in 21. In fact, while this tough-looking guy didn't begin acting until he was almost 40, he so far has nearly 300 credits!! So did it surprise me that this Mexican-American actor was playing a Cherokee? Nah...I think he'd appear in the lead of Cinderella if they offered it to him! He hammed it up a bit during his small portion in the film, though I always enjoy seeing him...even in schlocky films like this one. To paraphrase Liberace--you might laugh...but Trejo is probably laughing himself all the way to the bank!Trejo's story is about zombies who are vaporized during the 1840s. And, oddly, when the same volcano becomes active again today, these zombies are reconstituted by the evil volcano spirits and they set about doing what zombies do best--slowly chasing after folks who seem to inexplicably fall down and get devoured. None of this is especially inspired--especially in light of the hundred bazillion zombie TV shows and movies over the last decade. Here is the real problem though--it was bad but not bad or cheesy enough to be a film for a bad film junkie who wants to laugh at the film. Additionally, had the film not taken itself so seriously and been more like some of Sam Raimi's or George Romero's zombie films, it might have worked. As it is, there just isn't enough to recommend it.Despite all my reservations about the film, however, I am giving it a special award for 'The Most Ludicrous Nude Scene of the Past Decade'. As the volcano is belching smoke and getting ready to blow, an insane but very shapely lady appears near the crater with her camera and starts to take some candid topless photos of herself with the volcano as a backdrop!! Rarely have I ever seen a more contrived and asinine way to insert a bit of nudity into a movie!

This made me laugh more than anything else.Bad. Bad. Bad. Special effects were terrible as was the acting. Danny Trejo, I have no idea why he is in all these bad movies, but even so his ability as an actor is not what you would call award winning!. Rene Pere, well this was the movie to make me steer away from anything else that he directs. I know of other directors who can create wonderful movies with great dialogues and story lines but this film? What a waste of time and money. I, myself would be embarrassed to show this work to the public.Apart from bad acting and bad effects, there were numerous errors within the movie which made you laugh. Did anyone review the movie for inconsistencies?I suppose fans of B grade movies will enjoy this. Actually, maybe we create a Z Grade category for films which are worse than worse!