Dead Set Series Review
Dead Set is the newest in a very short list of television zombie series. Unfortunately its only a five episode series - but its definitely a step in the right direction. I have only watched the first couple of episodes of this series at the moment, so I’m not prepared to give it a full review but instead I will give it a first impressions look.
Dead Set is a story where a zombie apocalypse traps house mates and some production staff in the latest UK Big Brother house set.
So, recently, I (Who likes zombies and big brother) and a control group made up of friends Ben (who likes zombies and dislikes big brother) and Debbie (who is indifferent to zombies and dislikes big brother) sat down to slug it out with the first episode of this new series.
The Meat
The Zombies, the wounds and the death scenes in this series are really really good.
The Zombies in this series are the angry, yelling, burning eyed, running type - previously found in the Dawn of the Dead remake, the Super Undead in Resident Evil: Extinction and the angry people in 28 Days later. I don’t necessarily have a problem with fast zombies (as opposed to, say, Simon Pegg) - but I do prefer the slow moving unstoppable force that the shambing horde represents. I understand however that this type of slow zombie is not really possible with the “sudden shock” horror which is so prevalent nowadays, and definitely not compatible with this series.
The character acting and indeed the writing itself I found top-knotch in this episode. The characters react to this impossible situation by falling apart realistically, which leads to certain personalities being able to survive and deal with the new world, easier. I found the whole powerplay between the characters and how differently each survivor dealt with the situation to be very interesting.
The Bones
Instead of instilling a deep-set unease and suspense in this horror series they are going for the startle reaction - which I find very boring. A quiet moment pretty much guarantees that a zombie is going to come screaming around the corner and during very action packed running sequences that camera flops around like a suffocating fish, making it very difficult to determine what is going on, and giving us all headaches.
The flopping camera bit has done the rounds though a bunch of major motion pictures (The Chronicles of Riddick, Resident Evil: Extinction) and I just want to say a few words about it. Anyone who uses this camera style is under the mistaken impression that it adds a sense of urgency to the scene; where all it really does it make anyone who sees it look away and a select few of us throw up. It does NOT make your action fight sequence cooler, It does NOT instil a sense of urgency - it DOES make anyone who is watching your program not only painfully aware that a camera is recording the proceedings but also aware that you do not know how to display an action sequence properly. The flopping camera does have its place (see Cloverfield) but its place is not in a series where all the cameras are either stationary (as being in the big brother house) or supposed to be invisible (the ones following the survivors around).
Anyway.
The Taste
Ok, its zombies, and a surprising realistic rendition of a zombie outbreak with a fantastic twist (the big brother house) - that’s good; as I was probably going to support this series simply because its a zombie television series. Hopefully the support for this show will give “those people in charge of the networks” the idea that a series like this is something we actually want. Can you imagine an ongoing TV series based on something like The Walking Dead? I’m salivating just thinking about tit.
2/3 people who watched the show found it very enjoyable. I enjoyed it, Ben enjoyed it … but Debbie…. she didn’t enjoy it - in her own words “I did not find anything in that for me”. She will not be joining me and Ben for the rest of the season.
But we are sill going to watch all of it.
You can find the trailer for this series here.
