A Zombie Exorcism

aka Opstandelsen

Director - Casper Haugegaard (CrackmordaZ:I Shall Return)

Starring - Marie Frohme Vanglund, Mads Althoff (Kaeldermenneske), and Jonas Bjorn-Andersen 

Release Date - 2010

Genre - Horror

Tagline- "An evil that won't stay dead" 

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Way back in early 2013 I came across Wild Eye Releasing one evening while searching for films on Amazon.  I went to their website and found several titles that interested me.  I spoke with them through email several times in the following weeks and before long a rather large package arrived at my house.  The package was full of Wild Eye releases and most of them went on to become some of my favorite indie flicks.  Since then I have followed their releases very closely and they rarely let me down.  A few months back WE announced that they would be releasing the Danish zombie flick A Zombie Exorcism.  The film made me believe that it was a horror comedy but that was far from the truth.  Thanks again Wild Eye for hooking me up with another great horror flick!

     The film follows a family who is attending the funeral of their late brother.  His brother leaves the room where he soon passes out and awakes to a nose bleed and a passage from the bible reading "666."  When he enters the main room of the church he finds that people are attacking and eating each other.  He finds a small group of people not affected by this and rush to a room under the church to hide out but soon they undead find them and force them deeper into the church while they fight for their lives.

     Sometimes artwork can be very deceiving and most of the time it can completely ruin the movie based on preconceived notions you get of the film.  When I first received the press release for A Zombie Exorcism I was under the impression that it was a catastrophic zombie apocalypse and the film itself was a horror comedy based around a priest.  Sadly, that was not the case but the film was not bad by any means.  The acting in this one is solid by the entire cast.  Typically, a foreign releaset is subtitled and that cripples the performances of the cast when the viewer is forced to read the subtitles.  However, that is not the case for this film.  The acting is great by the entire cast and this makes the film even more terrifying.  The story for this one is a very disturbing zombie origin story.  In the past, we have seen zombies come from chemicals, terrorist attacks, monkeys, aliens, comets, bugs, but none are as scary as the religious angle.  This was great.  Also, the story has very few slow spots once the ball gets rolling.  The film is very, very slow at the beginning but once the zombies are introduced the film takes off and does not let up.  Finally, this is one brutal indie zombie flick.  It has kill after kill after kill on screen and the blood is pouring by the bucket.  The kills are great and so are the practical effects.  The effects are outstanding and really make this one stand out among all the modern zombie flicks.  Overall, A Zombie Exorcism is exactly what the zombie sub-genre needs.  The film is violent, bloody, and full of zombies.  The film takes a few minutes to get rolling but is well worth the wait.  Check it out!