Zombies Rule! In the new indie film AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION

There are low budget zombie films and then there is AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION. Forget about what the title actually means (since the filmmakers have already stressed that this is the first part of an ongoing franchise) and be open to the insane madness that is written & director Steven C. Miller’s love song to the zombie horror genre. Although this film has many cliché’s and is predictable from beginning to end, AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION is a guilty pleasure in the same vein as Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE (aka ZOMBIE 2). The story concerns a group of party hungry teenagers who find themselves in the middle of a zombie outbreak.

None of this is at all new since the genre has been of late over-stocked with zombie films of every shape and size (with no signs of it ending any time soon). Even though most of the characters are throw away it’s fun to see what Miller will throw at them next and at only a mere 75 minutes long the film is fast and furious pulling no punches which should make all horror-gore junkies happy as well as the zombie film lovers.

I for one love a good zombie film but I also recognize the fun ones as well and this film falls in the latter category. You may be at first turned off by the idea of the film but if you’re a “true” zombie film fan there is much to enjoy in this film.

One of the sad details of this first film in the franchise is that it doesn’t go into details about how the outbreak started. This is hinted at in the closing moments of the film but is left open for the impending sequel (which should be released sometime in 2009). This may put a few people off but rest assured the filmmakers have promised an expansion which will need to be exceptional if they plan on going further then the second film (which I hope they do because I’m always in the mood for a good, entertaining gore-fest!).

AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION may not be the best zombie film ever made but is one of the fun ones.

Film Review: RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR

Brad and Lexi (Rory Cochrane and Mary McCormack, respectfully) are a happy couple who have just moved into their new home when a dirty bomb goes off in the middle of Los Angeles bringing with is a deadly air born toxin of unknown origin and magnitude. This is the premise behind the film RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR, which is a serious look at a real world possibility.

Due to the real world attacks on the World Trade Center and the events in its aftermath, RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR hits home like very few films do. Brad is stuck at home when he learns the news that his wife Lexi was in Los Angeles when the dirty bomb went off. When he tries to enter the city in search of her he is stopped by a military presence claiming that a lethal toxin was released when the bomb went off and that the best thing he could do was to go hold and secure himself in his house. Refusing to leave his wife out in the open he attempts to disobey the military orders but soon has second thoughts when he sees a survivor of the blast who was exposed to the toxins get gunned down in the streets.

Forced back home he attempts to blockade himself within his own home with the help of the neighborhood lawns keeper who is trapped as well unable to get back home to his own family. Once secure, Brad comes to the horrible realization that Lexi survived the initial blast in Los Angeles and made her way home. Unable to let her into the house in fear of exposing them to the deadly toxin, Brad’s commitment to his wife will be stressed to a breaking point as fear of death and contamination looms ever so closer.

The film is a tense and suspenseful film from start to finish as courtesy writer/director Chris Gorak. Both Cockrane and McCormack bring their characters to glorious life as a normal couple faced with an extraordinary situation especially when the terror or the military looms around every corner. The film is never predictable and continues to grab you from start to finish especially in the closing moments of the film when everything is turned on its head.

RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR is one of the best indie films to come along in a long time and it is definitely not one to be missed.