The Video Dead (1987)

[evilzombie20]

I remember upon first discovering the internet this movie was relatively hated amongst most, if not all, horror fanatics. Now it seems to be a so-so movie around the community with some loving it and others still hating it but yet having a fond appreciation for it. So here's my question, what's everyone's opinion of it here?

For those of you who don't know what "The Video Dead" is let me give you a quick lowdown. Two teenagers move into a quiet suburban home where a group of zombies who have emerged from a cursed television set terrorize the neighborhood. Along with the help of a stranger they must put the ghastly creatures back into TV land or become their next meal.

And that's basically it in a nutshell. The movie itself has pretty bad acting but it makes up for some spectacular effects. The zombies are very rotten and disgusting looking and there are literally points where you're wondering how they achieved certain effects. Especially considering the budget they had.

My opinion on this movie is it's actually not that bad, it's not great but certainly not the worst zombie film ever put out there. I mean anyone expecting more than a cheesy outing into the zombie genre from a movie about zombies who come out a TV needs to have their head examined. I mean that premise alone is worth that of a cheesy horror flick. A TV? Come on man. Not to mention it was made in the 80's and I believe came out straight to video...I don't remember hearing anything about it going to theaters but I could be mistaken.

I grew up with this movie, and have grown to love it over the years. Sure it's got bad acting, and some cheesy moments (zombie popping out of a dryer anyone?) but it still manages to work for me and seal itself as a cult classic. So with some of this info in mind, what's everyone else's opinion on it?

[Pain]

I still think it possibly one of the worst movies i have ever seen

[Morbidfilm]

I think the b&w zombie footage playing on the tv is great. Unfortunately the rest of the movie is pretty cheesy. But it is entertaining.

[evilzombie20]

I still think it possibly one of the worst movies i have ever seen

You are an evil man Pain lol.

I agree Morbid, the b&w zombie film actually looked better than the movie itself but as far as I know nothing came from that film other than what was shown in the movie. It might've been a good idea for the producers to sprout from that film instead of the actual one they made. I mean come on, who could resist a zombie movie called "Zombie Bloody Nightmare"? I know I couldn't.

Even still I find "The Video Dead" to be a very entertaining flick whether I'm laughing at the incredibly bad dialogue and acting or turning in disgust when a zombie is sawed in half. Ok I don't turn in disgust anymore but when I was 5 it was the goriest thing I had ever seen and I think I may have thrown up. Now it's still relatively gross but not nearly as much.

[9th Lv. Paladin]

Semi intelligent zombies come out of a television and attempt to act like there not dead, What the **** do you think my opinions gonna be!?
Kidding. Yeah, this movies pretty bad, its wasn’t the lame dialogue, or the idea of an evil, zombie spewing, TV. It was the lame jokes and unfunny slapstick that ruined this movie, still, as far as shitty zombie movies go, this is a little above average.

[Pain]

You are an evil man Pain lol.

That may well be true


Even still I find "The Video Dead" to be a very entertaining flick

Are we talking about the same movie?:lol: Maybe I'll check it out again, just to confirm my fears

[humaninacan]

man i love this film. i have an old crappy copy on vhs. can you get this film on dvd yet. man this film is one of those low budget gems. this film is head the pile and shows films like raiders of the living dead how a cheezey b grade film should be made. i love the bit when the kid insists on using the chainsaw himself as he has always wanted to give it a go. good stuff

[!Vision!]

Terrible film. Too many plot holes, too many unfunny gags, and bad acting really ruin it.

[humaninacan]

but u mustnt have been expecting dawn of the dead with this one i mean the zombies come out of a TV. i think the plot holes and the bad acting and crappy dialog ad to this film. just grab your self 12 or 12 beers sit back and enjoy

[evilzombie20]

Terrible film. Too many plot holes, too many unfunny gags, and bad acting really ruin it.

Again I must stress; ZOMBIES COMING OUT OF A TV! That's probably the biggest plot hole in the whole film! Sure it's cheesy, but at least it's fun and entertaining. Even if it is in a painfully bad way, at least you get something out of it. I'll tell you this, it's a hell of a lot better than most of the crap coming out now.

[!Vision!]

Again I must stress; ZOMBIES COMING OUT OF A TV! That's probably the biggest plot hole in the whole film! Sure it's cheesy, but at least it's fun and entertaining. Even if it is in a painfully bad way, at least you get something out of it. I'll tell you this, it's a hell of a lot better than most of the crap coming out now.

Zombies coming out of a TV is not a plot hole. It is a premise, and a bad one, but something I can get by as it is, just as you say, entertaining cheese. I can just as easily get by how the zombies act, or even look over the absurd way it takes to kill them. Those things don't bother me, because as I said, it's just the filmmaker's choice of a premise. What always kills me though, is when filmmakers contradict themselves or just do something that is completely illogical. That is a plot hole.

An example is when the guy who originally owned the house is killed by the zombies, and then a year later, the two kids move in. Now, the zombies have been loose for an entire year (what they've done the whole time I don't know) but they don't kill anyone or anything till the kids move in the house. It's not after Danny watches the TV either, it's the very day they move in. He and the blonde girl are looking for the little dog, which has been killed by a zombie in the woods. So according to this bit of information, those zombies have just been sitting in the woods for an entire year. That, my friend, is a major plot hole.

[evilzombie20]

Zombies coming out of a TV is not a plot hole. It is a premise, and a bad one, but something I can get by as it is, just as you say, entertaining cheese. I can just as easily get by how the zombies act, or even look over the absurd way it takes to kill them. Those things don't bother me, because as I said, it's just the filmmaker's choice of a premise. What always kills me though, is when filmmakers contradict themselves or just do something that is completely illogical. That is a plot hole.

An example is when the guy who originally owned the house is killed by the zombies, and then a year later, the two kids move in. Now, the zombies have been loose for an entire year (what they've done the whole time I don't know) but they don't kill anyone or anything till the kids move in the house. It's not after Danny watches the TV either, it's the very day they move in. He and the blonde girl are looking for the little dog, which has been killed by a zombie in the woods. So according to this bit of information, those zombies have just been sitting in the woods for an entire year. That, my friend, is a major plot hole.

Could be, you're right or it could just be that there was only 7 zombies and that they had been feeding off of animals in the area instead of people. The kids' house is actually far out from what I've seen in the movie and the only indication that the zombies even know there's people around is when they see Jeff (or in your case Danny) and April in the woods. As far as the zombies know, there's no one around but when they spot those two looking deep in the woods for the dog they follow them back to civilization. Not explained anywhere in the movie but hinted slightly at, i.e. "Do you have any concept to how big these woods are?". Again, 7 zombies, huge forest very unlikely that someone will see them nor will they see anyone else. At least this is how I'm interepreting the situation. Because if you do watch the film again you will notice the lead zombie does follow the two kids after they leave the woods so maybe up until that point the zombies had been unknown to people because the zombies didn't know about the people. Make sense?

[!Vision!]

Could be, you're right or it could just be that there was only 7 zombies and that they had been feeding off of animals in the area instead of people. The kids' house is actually far out from what I've seen in the movie and the only indication that the zombies even know there's people around is when they see Jeff (or in your case Danny) and April in the woods. As far as the zombies know, there's no one around but when they spot those two looking deep in the woods for the dog they follow them back to civilization. Not explained anywhere in the movie but hinted slightly at, i.e. "Do you have any concept to how big these woods are?". Again, 7 zombies, huge forest very unlikely that someone will see them nor will they see anyone else. At least this is how I'm interepreting the situation. Because if you do watch the film again you will notice the lead zombie does follow the two kids after they leave the woods so maybe up until that point the zombies had been unknown to people because the zombies didn't know about the people. Make sense?

That's a huge leap of faith, but I concede. I don't know where I got Danny.

[evilzombie20]

LOL neither do I but it is all possible. Of course I do agree it seems highly unlikely but who knows, stranger things have happened. For instance look at the zombies in "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie", they hide out at some points in the film. When Godfrey the bum zombie is chasing after the lead character Edna, I believe that's her name could be wrong, when she gets to George he's gone. So the idea that zombies could lay low for awhile is not totally out there, but for a year is a bit unlikely but not impossible.

[UseYourHeadCutOffTheirs]

ummm well i have never seen this before but if i find it ill be sure to watch it....although im not crazy about the whole idea of zombies coming out of the tv....thats really sad...someone who made this movie really liked poltrigeist.....

[toe_tag]

Love it. I just love the zombies.
Not that anyone would be surprised... I fully support cheesy, low-to-no budget zombie flicks.

[evilzombie20]

Love it. I just love the zombies.
Not that anyone would be surprised... I fully support cheesy, low-to-no budget zombie flicks.

Marry me lol. This was one of the first zombie movies I ever saw and probably one of the only reasons I like it as much as I do. It helped mold me into the zombie fanatic I am today. :)

[toe_tag]

It was one of the first for me, as well!
Oh well, movies such as this will always be a controversial topic. It doesn't help when it's been reviewed on badmovies.org... :lol:

[Jay Decay]

The idea behind the plot, having zombies from a movie come to life is actually something I liked and the zombies looked great, but unfortuantley things like bad acting, crappy dialuge and dumb nonsense like zombies dying by body injuries, beign afraid of their own refelction etc messed up a movie that could've been good.