Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Console best movie i've ever seen.

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

e-storts I'm a sucker for a great zombie flick, or even a B grade zombie flick, especially if it takes the classic formula and kicks it to the curb. This one does just that. I loved the black and white with neon green.What happens if a newly infected zombie doesn't KNOW that they're one of the walking undead? This movie shows us the answer to that question, with hilarious and heart-rending results. I got attached to these characters. I cared about them, and got weepy-eyed towards the end. I wanted the shambling anti-heroes to succeed! I cheered for them. I yelled at the screen and booed at the non-zombie "heroes". (Hmm, shouldn't it be the other way around??) I am definitely adding this to my "recommend to other zombie lovers" list, along with Fido, Zombieland, the Romero classics, Zombie Strippers, Trailer Park of Terror, and Shaun of the Dead.

Scarecrow-88 Brain margaritas—anyone?Four friends at a bowling alley are infected by "toxic leftovers from a misguided military project designed to create a new breed of supersoldier" when the green liquid from a canister spills into a box of ice cream which is in turn mixed with beer and ingested turning them into zombies. What is different about director Matthew Kohnen's movie as it relates to the genre is that we are privy to the point of view from the zombies as if the humans they once were still remain, seeing a skewed world perspective where uninfected people seem to be "monsters" while they are "super soldiers".Colby French is "Private First Class" Nick Steele, the one responsible for the canister which falls from an army truck carrying barrels of toxic substance to be dumped in San Francisco. His intention was to halt the truck and keep it from its destination. Matthew Davis, Julianna Robinson, Michael Grant Terry(the television show BONES), and Betsy Beutler are the four who taste the "toxic ice cream" and become members of the undead.The punchline of this zom-com is that they don't know until much later that they are zombies! Davis has an absolute blast in his role as Mike, a cut-up who doesn't take things too seriously, motivating Terry to admit his love for a girl he's been friends with for over ten years, Beutler. Terry is timid and kind, and this zombie situation actually leads to his courage in telling her his feelings. The foxy Robinson is preparing an application for a position with a lawyer, meeting him for an "interview", not heeding the advice of Davis(her former boyfriend) that he's only wanting to "bone her". The crux of the matter as it pertains to their survival is that even though we see them as they once were(the director shoots them this way in color, as zombies in B&W), the group are still the undead and suffer the difficulties which derive from being such. Kohnen shies away from flesh eating—although, Davis has an affinity for brains. That will certainly raise the ire of zombie-philes who want their blood shed. This movie is designed to earn our sympathy and heart for those inflicted with the virus, perhaps the reason Kohnen and company decided to show them, for the most part, as if they were still human, their personalities and human traits intact. Kohnen does, however, show them from time to time, especially when they confront humans, as the walking dead, rotted corpses unable to speak, stumbling about, vulnerable to attack. In this film Kohnen plays with the formula by having humans understand the zombies when they're drunk! And, the scientist responsible for the invention of the virus(Jack Orend)does find a way for humans and zombies to communicate by way of brain waves in a contraption he created. Richard Riehle is Colonel South, the military leader who headed the "super soldier" project, the main nemesis of Steele. A severed hand and head figure into the comedy, both at the misfortune of Davis who finally gets a chance to let loose from the handsome straight parts he's normally saddled with, girls ogling him, the silent, sinister edge he carries is completely absent . Davis becomes a vocal leader even after his body had been taken away from him! This movie could've been rated PG-13, to tell you the truth, it's almost harmless and isn't that gory at all. There's hardly any blood, even when Davis' hand is severed, no arterial spray or squirting to be had, and the damage which we would normally see when Terry takes a shot gun blast to the chest doesn't leave that much of an impression. French's flag-waving patriotism, the American way, the bravery of a soldier, the heroism and duty of a man in uniform, is played to perfection, and his bravado is charming. I can't really say I was blown to smithereens by AHH!! ZOMBIES mainly because my once beloved attachment to the genre is waning, and I really need a jolt or a punch to the gut to derive any excitement for the movies anymore. The special effects(the skin and limited gore that is shown)leaves much to be desired, although I imagine zombie fans will giggle at the "scalp" gag that is a constant thorn in Terry's side. The cast works wonders, each member of this rag-tag bunch has plenty of personality and likability which can only benefit a zom-com desperate for laughs.

bemaddy I saw this film as part of the Another Hole in the Head Film Festival in San Francisco. It was not only the best film I saw at the festival that year, it was the best I've ever seen at that festival! This was definitely a Zom-com, like Shaun of The Dead and Fido, only much lower budget. It manages to take a unique perspective in an extremely well explored genre. The visual effects really enhance the storytelling, which is not something I could say about most zombie flicks. While it's true that many of the visual gags, and just about all of the characters were zombie movie clichés, I was left with the impression that this was intentional. The film maker seemed to be riffing on stereotypical zombie movie attributes, and using them to create a movie that is both original and, pays homage to the great zombie films that went before it. I don't always go into indie film festival expecting original ideas and solid storytelling, but this flick set the bar pretty high! I think this is what George Romero's Diary of the Dead wishes it was!

firetop14 I found Wasting Away on the shelves of Fopp recently after its Region 2 release here in the UK. I didn't buy it the first time I saw it because I find myself in a permanent state of skintness and therefore have difficulty justifying buying DVDs. However, packaging can be a powerful thing and the DVD cover for 'Wasting Away' looked great, had an intriguing synopsis and some positive reviews, so finally after watching the trailer (and, admittedly, after checking to see if the film was available online, which it wasn't) I bought it on DVD for a very reasonable £10, which is still the most I've spent on a DVD for about 2 years.To cut to the chase it was worth every penny, and probably more. This is an independent film from California, with a fairly low budget of $1m, but it's nearly impossibly to tell this from the finished product, which is bright, ballsy and polished. Presumably the filmmakers must have had to cut corners to keep within their meagre budget but it's hard to see where they did so and this look of the film easily competes with higher-budget studio fare.'Wasting Away' fits neatly into the "romzomcom" genre pioneered by 'Shaun of the Dead', but I hasten to add that 'Wasting Away' is not 'Shaun of the Dead', and is not trying to be. Four twenty-somethings spending time in the bowling alley where Tim (Michael Terry) works are unfortunate enough to eat soft-serve ice-cream composed of beer and the toxic waste from a military experiment gone wrong, subsequently die, and wake up as zombies. Except they don't know it. Their confusion is quickly compounded by an encounter with Nick Steele (Colby French), who has also been zombified but insists that they have all been transformed into 'supersoldiers' whilst everyone else in the city has been infected by an inferior brand of the same chemical (in fact, no one else has been affected).Director Matthew Kohnen bravely tackles the zombie perspective and all the problems that come along with it (sample problem: if living human beings see zombies, as slow, lurching and groaning, how do zombies see us?) and clearly has a lot of fun doing so. The plot races along fast enough that the audience is never bored, but well-paced enough that we have time to get to know the characters and meditate on the ridiculous situation they are in. The dialogue is rife with humour and the actors sell it perfectly. Honourable mentions should go to Colby French, whose hard-nosed, sincere performance as "black ops" soldier Nick Steele is played straight rather than camped up and wouldn't be out of place in any Romero zombie film, and Matthew Davis, who delivers every line handled too him perfectly and never fails to bring the humour out of it.Before I get too carried away I should point out that this film isn't perfect. At times it is laugh-out loud funny but at others the humour falls flat, or is just a little bit lame. Also, while the acting is mainly strong, particularly in French and Davis' performances, in other places it is weak or wooden. Some of the plot points feel a little contrived and the humour is occasionally too juvenile to be genuinely funny. But at the end of the day, these flaws are not only eclipsed by the positives, they even add to the film somewhat, making it more likable because of its imperfections.This is a strong directorial debut from Matthew Kohnen, a filmmaker whose other credits seem to mainly consist of clerical or technical jobs, and I will certainly be looking out for more of his work. 'Wasting Away' stands out amidst the boggy mire that is modern horror cinema, a diamond in the mud of tired remakes and boring sequels that is all Hollywood seems capable of producing. It's refreshing, original, gleefully gross and most of all, it's fun. It's fun to watch and it looks like it was fun to make. The only thing that particularly disappoints me is the marketing failure. As far as I'm aware, 'Wasting Away' did not get a theatrical release over here and were it not for Fopp and their avid promotion of smaller independent films I would probably ever have heard of it. So watch it, enjoy it, and pass it on to ensure it gets the recognition it deserves.I leave you with a quote from the film's theme song, which pretty much says it all: "You know your day will suck when the dead start walking the streets, And their only source of nourishment is Human meat."