THE DEMENTED (2013)

Studio:       Anchor Bay
Director:    Christopher Roosevelt
Writer:       Christopher Roosevelt
Producer:  Shirley Craig, Steven R. Monroe, Danny Roth, Damiano Tucci, Phillip P. Goldfine, Christine Holder, Mark Holder
Stars:     Sarah Butler, Kayla Ewell, Richard Kohnke, Britany Alger, Ashlee Brian, Michael Welch

Review Score: 

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Summary:

Six friends fight for their lives after a biological attack on Louisiana unleashes raging hordes of infected zombies. 

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Present Day – David gives his college sweetheart Taylor a promise ring. Their friends Brice and Naomi join them for a weekend getaway. The foursome travels to a summer home owned by the father of their friend Howard, who is already at the house with his girlfriend Sharley.

As the group parties, Howard’s father calls to tell them of an impending terrorist attack on the Gulf Coast. A green mushroom cloud is then seen in the distance. While discussing the situation, the friends also discuss their relationships. A rabid dog then appears on the property and traps the group inside the house. Sharley overhears her boyfriend Howard flirting with Naomi before everyone goes to sleep.

The dog is still outside in the morning. Brice takes a baseball bat and beats the dog to death. David decides to drive the dog’s carcass to town and drop it at Animal Control for identification. On the way, he learns that the town is under quarantine and he discovers a raging zombie woman by the side of the road. Meanwhile, Sharley learns that Naomi slept with Howard at a Super Bowl party, which enrages Sharley.

David returns to the house and tries to frantically explain the situation. While the group argues about what to do, a zombie crashes through a glass door and kills Howard. As Sharley mourns Howard, the rest of the group runs upstairs when more zombies break in. Naomi comes back to pull Sharley away from Howard’s body. David, Taylor, and Brice lock themselves in a bedroom. Sharley locks herself in another room, leaving Naomi on the other side of the door to be killed. Sharley eventually climbs outside and into the room with the others. Sharley claims that there was nothing she could do to help Naomi, but Taylor does not believe her story.

The group decides to have Brice make a run for the Jeep keys in the kitchen and to create a distraction so that the others can use the fire escape. The plan ultimately works and the quartet flees from the house, although Taylor has to escape on the roof of the car while fighting off attackers. Brice later swerves to avoid a zombie girl in the road and overturns the vehicle. The group escapes on foot into town.

After patching Brice’s leg, the remaining friends go to a drugstore for supplies. They hear a radio transmission announce that a helicopter rescue team is coming to the roof of the Biology building at Southeastern University. They then escape from more zombies, but Sharley becomes trapped by an alleyway fence and is killed. David creates a distraction so that the other two can make it to the Biology building. The trio regroups, but David is bitten and turns.

Taylor and Brice eventually fight their way to the roof and are rescued. From the helicopter, they watch the chaos continue to unfold on top of the building. Suddenly, Taylor snaps out of a daydream. She and Brice are actually still on the roof. The helicopter is forced to leave them behind because it is at capacity. Taylor and Brice are then both overtaken by zombies and killed.

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Review:

Given what it is, “The Demented” could have been a lot worse.  That backhanded compliment is highly unlikely to appear as a quote on the DVD cover, but it is the most concise way to sum up the film’s value.

“The Demented” is almost accidentally brilliant in the way that it continually lowers expectations throughout the first half hour.  Simply because it makes the mediocrity of the latter hour seem somewhat spectacular by comparison.

“The Demented” is set in present day Baton Rouge.  We know this because the film feels the need to specifically point this out with an onscreen graphic.  Why it feels this need when Louisiana street signs are everywhere and no scenes take place at any different time is anyone’s guess.

A multiracial quartet of twentysomethings cranks up the generic hard rock music on their way to meet another pair of friends at the rich jerk’s father’s summer home.  The jock, the slut, the med student, and the other stereotypes then crack open the cold ones and start careening down the Slip ‘n Slide faster than you can yawn at the setup.

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                                              Misspellings are the least of this movie's issues. 

Their weekend of drunken fun in the sun is upended when the rich jerk’s father calls to warn them of an impending biological terrorist attack on the Gulf Coast.  In this situation, you might think that the next course of action would be to drive back into town and catch the news on a television (this home is inconveniently without one).  At the very least, they might sit in the car and turn on the radio to stay abreast of the latest developments.  But even after a poorly superimposed digital green mushroom cloud appears on the horizon, the girls still find time to mull over their relationship woes instead.  Granted, I would have issues with someone over the age of 12 gifting me a promise ring too, but a new 9/11 is not the best time to stress about such trivial matters.

When a zombie dog appears on the lawn, the group finally decides to take things seriously.  After the dog is beaten to death, the good guy thinks it best to drive the carcass into town and dump it at Animal Control.  Because that seems like top priority while the rest of the world is on the brink of World War III.  At this point, the audience is suitably conditioned to expect nothing more than cheap FX and a boilerplate excuse for generic zombie action.

That is mostly true, except when the nondescript good guy returns from town with news of a quarantine and a raging zombie outbreak, the film actually picks up.  Perhaps realizing that digital FX are not its strong suit, “The Demented” turns things over to stuntmen crashing through glass windows and grabbing at the college students with all the frenetic passion of an infected horde from “28 Days Later.”

To the film’s credit, it makes good use of its action pieces with smart cuts and careful angles that squeeze every penny from its small budget.  “The Demented” really does its best to hide the low-end materials that they had to work with, and the strategy works well for staging scenes that actually have mild tension and a professional look.

But that is really all there is to the movie.  This is assuredly the wrong place to look for original horror entertainment or for anything resembling a memorable or unique scene.  Though anyone that just wants a mostly mindless ninety minutes of college kids running from zombies, hiding from zombies, and killing zombies, then have at it.  I really would be interested to hear how a script like this courts potential investors.

“What’s the movie about?”
“People running from zombies.”
“Cool.  What else?”
“Oh, nothing else.  That’s it.”

Is “The Demented” worth going out of your way to track down?  No.  Are you likely to be disappointed if you do see it?  Maybe.  Could you do a lot worse when it comes to run of the mill low-budget independent zombie horror films?  Yes, definitely.

As soon as “The Demented” disappears from the “New Release” section of Netflix or Redbox, it will also disappear completely from being on anyone’s radar ever again.  But whether you end up hating it or end up tolerating it, just remember, it could have been a lot worse.

Review Score:  50

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