‘The darkness has risen’
The Dead and the Damned and the Darkness – aka The Dead and the Damned II – is a 2014 science fiction horror film written, produced, edited, photographed and directed by Rene Perez (It Hungers; Playing with Dolls franchise; The Burning Dead; et al). The movie stars Robert Tweten, Iren Levy, John J. Welsh, Richard Tyson and Raven Lexy.
The film is a loose sequel to Perez’ The Dead and the Damned (2010)
Plot:
Lieutenant Colonel Sawyer (Robert Tweten) went to war against a virulent plague, in Europe and Africa. Returning home, he finds his wife dead and his daughter is missing. He decides to give his deceased wife a burial in the ocean.
However, he must first pass through a quarantined infected zone and fight hordes of zombies. Along the way, he rescues a deaf woman and a hobo, along with some other survivors…
Reviews:
” …the villains are minimized to just the mutants and one other minor character. These characters bring some tension, but very little authentic conflict. Some of the best conflict can come from a hero overcoming exterior challenges, not just interior ones. The lack of a villain really dampened the possibility of a satisfying climax.” 28 Days Later Analysis
“Some of the performances are decent for a low-budget film, and the production looks a little better than something shot on a backstage set. There’s a nice splashing of gore to wet the audience, and if you’re able to forgive some shoddy costuming […], then there’s a passable ministration to the film.” Dread Central
“I really like that it was explained how the zombies came about and why the zombies slowdown. The zombies/mutants slowed down when they were starving/decomposing – when fully fed; they can become pretty fast. The main characters were explained and introduced nicely.” Hell Horror
“These zombies (or mutants) are a nice combination of the slow Romero zombies and the fast ones from Return of the Living Dead and other similar films. It is explained at one point that they are fast once they turn into zombies but slow down after they start to really decompose or are starving, which I thought was a nice touch.” Horror News
Cast and characters:
Robert Tweten … Lieutenant Colonel Sawyer
Iren Levy … Stephanie
John J. Welsh … Wilson
Richard Tyson … Sheriff
Raven Lexy … Mother in the greenhouse
Russell Piette … Carnal attacker
Christopher Kriesa … Speaker of the house Gates
Dakota Allen … Downtown Mutant Male #1
Jenny Allford … Mrs Sawyer
Jade Armenta … Girl in the greenhouse
Taylor Arthus … Downtown Mutant Female
Chelsea Bailey … Mutant Corpse
Mathew A Bohlin … Downtown Mutant Male #2
Ryan Crane … Firetruck Boy #3
Filming locations:
Anderson, Redding and Shasta Lake, California
Film Facts:
The German title is Tom Sawyer vs. Zombies
Watch trailer on YouTube
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