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All Adam (Roger Conners) and Johnny (RJ Messenger) wanted was to
pay a visit to their parents' gravesite - and suddenly they find
themselves surrounded by a group of undead, eager to eat them alive. And
while Johnny is soon overcome by them, Adam manages to save himself by
hightailing it. He runs into a stranger, Ben (Aswan Harris), who at first
thinks Adam wants to steal his truck, but soon has his back when a bunch
of zombies attack, helping him to escape first to a garage, then to a
nearby house where other people, too, have found refuge: Self-righteous
Reverend Cooper (Alvin Hudson), his wife Helen (Rachel Anderson) and their
daughter Karen (Hailey Moltz), who has been bitten by a zombie, ex-marine
Tom (Bradley Michael Arner) and his girlfriend Judy (Taylor Nelms), and
mild-mannered elderly hillbilly George (Jim Strang). Now of all those in
the house, Reverend Cooper is the least happy about the new arrivals, as
he thinks they'll only attract attention to the house, and he also doesn't
like Ben's pro-active attitude, rather wants to barricade himself in in
the basement and wait it out praying while Ben comes up with an escape
plan. That all the others are for the escape plan doesn't sit well with
Cooper either, and on top of this he blames the whole zombie outbreak on
gays (as he thinks Adam to be one) and blacks like Ben. Still, Ben and the
others put Ben's plan into action that involves getting some gas from the
garage to fill up a truck make an escape to the nearest medical center. As
good as the plan might be, it ultimately goes up in flames, killing Tom,
Judy and George. And when Ben returns to the house, Cooper thinks he has
won the upper hand - which pretty much can only end badly ... Now
pretty much all modern zombie movie owe to/have borrowed from the original
Night of the Living Dead,
but Rebirth is basically a remake in all but name, and besides a
few minor alterations, a pretty faithful one, storywise - so one best goes
into this not expecting a genre-reinvention from this one. But taking the
movie for what it is, it's a well-lensed and well acted genre movie that
manages to create tension and suspense even with fans of the original who
know the outcome of pretty much every scene. Of course it doesn't live up
to the original in pure inventiveness, but offers solid zombie
entertainment that boasts expert craftmanship.
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