Severed: Forest of the Dead is a good movie with lots of zombie-like activity.
In spite of following most of the rules of a good zombie movie very well, Severed: Forest of the Dead has no zombies in it. The Zombie Master Lee Roberts explains.
Review written by The Zombie Master Lee Roberts September 21, 2006
Release: 2005 Directed by: Carl Bessai Written by: Carl Bessai and Travis McDonald
Starring: Leanne Adachi as Stacey J R Bourne as Carter Michael Teigen as Luke Paul Campbell as Tyler Julian Christopher as Mac
I have seen an increase of movies that claim to have zombies in them. Some have been good (28 Days Later) and some have been bad (Trespassers)
but the one constant among them is that they are confused about what a
zombie is. Anybody who knows me knows that I am an outspoken advocate
against the negligent proliferation of false information concerning the
zombie, both in how they are made and how they are killed. It is
because of this that I was torn after watching Severed. Let me explain.
Severed: Forest of the Dead starts by introducing us to two groups of
people: workers for a logging company and tree huggers. The loggers are
doing their job and the tree huggers are trying to keep them from doing
it. While running a chainsaw through a downed tree, one of the workers
gets a nasty injury when the saw comes back at him and cuts his
shoulder. It seems someone has placed a spike in the tree. Luke
(Michael Teigen) and Mac (Julian Christopher) come to his rescue and
witness him going into what seems like a seizure before he starts to
transform.
It is at this time that we are introduced to the absentee owners in
charge of the logging company. We also learn that the company has been
running chemical tests on the trees to enhance there growth. Now they
have lost contact with the workers and the owner decides that this
would be a fantastic time for his son Tyler (Paul Campbell) to get his
hands dirty and find out what is going on.
Upon Tyler’s arrival he discovers that the tree enhancing
chemical has changed the loggers into flesh eating creatures. He is
rescued by Luke who, along with Mac, Stacey the lead tree hugger
(Leanne Adachi), and Carter the wimpy chemist (JR Bourne), have managed
to survive against the flesh eaters.
What follows is your typical “have to get away before we are
eaten” movie that uses (or steals) scenes from other “have
to get away before we are eaten” movies.
I found it very relaxing to sit down and watch the lumbering, moaning,
and mindless creatures focus on the one single task of finding and
eating human flesh. As a matter of fact, it reminded me of a zombie
film. There is the rub. In a moment of weakness I almost decided to
make an exception to the primary zombie rule for Severed: Forest of the Dead.
Although there was nothing particularly original about the story except
location, it followed the zombie rules very well, that is all but one.
The chemical did not kill, just transformed. The rules are clear that
for a zombie to be a zombie it must die first, and the creatures in Severed did not.
I was even trying to make up reasons for this. I watched Severed two more times in an attempt to make my hypothesis work, but luckily I was brought back to my senses. Severed
has a lack of visual gore and an ending that made no sense, and this
helped me realize that if I allowed one movie to break this sacred of
all rules then I would have to allow others to as well… and that
I cannot do.
If you are looking for a film to bring intrigue and
increase your moral aptitude, this ain’t it. But if you are
looking for around an hour and a half of mindless carnage then Severed: Forest of the Dead
is a decent “not a zombie” zombie movie. Could we be seeing
the birth of a new category? We will have to wait and see. Questions or comments about Severed: Forest of the Dead? Contact us!
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Severed: Forest of the Dead starts by introducing us to two groups of
people: workers for a logging company and tree huggers. The loggers are
doing their job and the tree huggers are trying to keep them from doing
it. While running a chainsaw through a downed tree, one of the workers
gets a nasty injury when the saw comes back at him and cuts his
shoulder. It seems someone has placed a spike in the tree. Luke
(Michael Teigen) and Mac (Julian Christopher) come to his rescue and
witness him going into what seems like a seizure before he starts to
transform. 
What follows is your typical “have to get away before we are
eaten” movie that uses (or steals) scenes from other “have
to get away before we are eaten” movies.
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Technorati
Y!
MyWeb