Shadows of the Dead (2004) directed by Carl Lindbergh.
(MF Title: “Just like ‘Sid and Nancy‘ only with human flesh instead of Heroin..”)
Starring Jonathan Flanigan, Beverly Hynds and Fred Dekom.
Zombie Film Rating:

Overview: John and Jennifer are escaping city life for a romantic weekend get away. As darkness falls one of their tires blows out, and they find themselves stuck on a deserted back country road.

They discover what appears to be a dead body just off the road, and while investigating John gets bitten. They escape on foot, and take shelter in their nearby cabin. In the morning they discover John has become one of the undead, and after an abortive effort to obtain professional medical assistance they return to the cabin to ponder their fate.

As John struggles with his new craving for human flesh, both he and Jennifer must decide if life is worth living when you’re undead.

Summary: A flat tire on a dark deserted back road brings John and Jennifers romantic getaway to abrupt halt. We discover that Jennifer removed the tools from the SUV some time ago, and they decide to settle in for the night not wanting to get lost in the woods.

Jennifer notices a strange form just at the edge of the headlights ahead of their SUV, and insists it wasn’t there earlier. After some convincing John gets out for a closer look. What he finds appears to be a dead body, which fails to respond to a few prods with his foot. Cutting his cursory examination short, John returns to the SUV, reports his findings and then unsuccessfully tries to convince Jennifer that the “mood” is right. The two of them then settle in for an uncomfortable nights sleep.

Jennifer wakes up during the night, and notices the body has disappeared and once again John reluctantly gets out of the SUV to check. He stumbles back to the vehicle a few minutes later, having been bitten by the “not so dead” body. A short conference takes place and the couple decide to make a break for their cabin on foot, getting some much needed sleep on their arrival.

In the morning John discovers that the wound has not healed (guy, it’s only been a few hours!) and more importantly that he no longer has a pulse. The two travel to a local hospital, where the Emergency Physician confirms there is no heartbeat. Jennifer and John race out of the hospital, fearing that John will end up a test subject if they remain.

Once back at the cabin John infects Jennifer and together they must now come to terms with their new dietary requirement for living flesh. Jennifer refuses to kill anyone, preferring to starve, while John begins stalking the surrounding forest for victims.

Once Jennifer discovers John’s nocturnal adventures she shoots herself in the head after confronting John. Following the suicide of Jennifer, John swears off living flesh and has barricaded himself in the cabin until the long overdue arrival of the police, and the subsequent shotgun blast to John’s head.

Critique: While this film features zombies, it’s not really a zombie film. The film concentrates on character development and not action, utilizes only three or four sets and crawls along at a snails pace (I checked my email no fewer than three times during the film).

That said, I did eventually get sucked in and found myself actually “watching” the film. I enjoyed this take on the zombie phenomenon (even if we get zero back story, and we’re never sure why the first zombie fails to communicate, when both John and Jennifer verbalize each and every feeling they experience for the latter half of the film).

The Final Word: I say if you’re a zombie fan in the mood for a change of pace give this one a try. It’s not one I’ll drag down off the shelf often, but it certainly made for an interesting hour and half.