The Mothertown

Director - John Williams
Starring - Daniel Alexander, Pete Bennett (Zombie Women of Satan 2), and Sophie Elsby (Occultist)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The zombie sub-genre is at the height of it's popularity and we have AMC's The Walking Dead to thank for that.  The Walking Dead premiered in 2010 and ever since we have seen an abundance of zombie flicks hitting the store shelves depicting a group of survivors fighting their way across a zombie infested wasteland.  Recently, director John Williams reached out to me to check out his first full length feature simply titled The Mothertown.  I knew nothing about this film until I was asked to check it out.  I quickly rushed over to YouTube where I watched the trailer and knew this would be a fun little zombie film that was nothing like all these other zombie flicks that are pouring out of the gutters.  Thank you John for letting me check this out!
     The film begins with two unusual scientists out enjoying their lunch when they accidentally drop a vile containing a toxic chemical in the canal which just happens to be the town's drinking water.  Those that drink the water are turned into flesh-eating zombies.  We then meet two bumbling security guards, an over-protective mother and her son, a coked out news reporter who only cares about his career, and two twenty-somethings who use the zombie infestation as a reason to hit the pub and get shitfaced.  However, things turn from bad to worse for all of them forcing them to go out into the streets where they all join forces with a military group to combat the undead.
     Zombie films from the last few years has made a shift from the zombies being the focus of the film to the drama among the characters taking over the film.  This does work for The Walking Dead because we care about the characters and in some cases it has taken seasons for us to become fond of them.  However, with a film we only get a short time to be with the characters so that bond may not form.  Zombie movies need to focus on zombies...or make the characters funny and fun to watch that way you may get the viewer's attention.  Case in point is the horror classic Shaun of the Dead.  The film took the drama out of the situation and added a ton of humor making the film fun as hell to watch.  The Mothertown followed in SotD's footsteps and gave the viewer a goofy, low-budget take on the zombie sub-genre.  The acting in this film is not consistent.  Some of the cast is great and really makes the film fun and easy to watch while others are just horrible to watch.  Most of the cast lacked experience but had a lot of heart and determination.  The story for this one is one that has been told time and time again with zombies.  A water supply has been corrupted turning those that consume it into braindead, flesh-eating fiends.  This is nothing new but it was done with a good bit of humor which is something I love with horror.  Finally, the film has several on screen deaths and zombie attacks.  They are all typical and something we are used to seeing when watching a zombie movie.  The special effects are decent when it comes to the wounds and gore but the zombies are boring to look at.  When we watch a film about zombies we want ripped flesh, missing body parts, and rotting undead.  Overall, The Mothertown is a fun zombie film that has laughs and some enjoyable characters.  This is Shaun of the Dead meets indie horror and I really enjoyed it.  Check it out!