Howard J. Ford

  • The Dead 2: India (2013)

    The Dead 2: India (2013)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, June 2021) Considering that the first film in The Dead series had an American protagonist fighting zombies in West Africa, it makes sense that the sequel would follow the series’ non-traditional setting by featuring an American character fighting zombies in India. In some ways, this sequel is better than the original — and in one significant aspect, it’s much worse. First, the good: I like the Indian setting a lot, and the protagonist’s dramatic arc in going to rescue his Indian girlfriend both lessens the impression of exoticism, while keeping the road-movie concept of the first film. The idea of making a kid out of the travel companion pays off quite well toward the end as well. The film feels more colourful, directed with a bit more assurance (although this may be due to the not-so-horrid production of the sequel as compared to the first film) and the protagonist’s job as an engineer takes us away from the tired cliché of having a soldier mowing down hordes of undead. But for all that The Dead 2 does well, it doesn’t quite manage to rise above much of the morass of featureless zombie films — take out the setting, and there’s not much left to distinguish it. As a result, it’s hard to get excited or even interested in the film as it plods forward. But the one thing that writers-directors Howard J. Ford and Jon Ford do badly comes toward the very end, as it dangles the possibility of a not-so-bad ending, then quickly snatches it away in a fit of nihilistic pique in order to do the exact same thing as far too many other zombie films. Too bad, because I almost came to like The Dead 2 in its optimistic period — taking that away feels a lot like making the entire thing pointless.

  • The Dead (2010)

    The Dead (2010)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, June 2021) In the zombie subgenre, you can either distinguish yourself through ideas and plotting or through setting. The Dead clearly chooses the second option, as it sets a familiar zombie film template in West Africa, trading the over-familiar urban landscapes of the west for the sun-drenched savannahs. Much of the film is a personal odyssey, as an American military engineer travels to a location where he hopes to be reunited with his son and find a plane back to the United States. Plot-wise, there’s nothing all that interesting here — the odyssey set against a post-apocalyptic backdrop is familiar, with enough sand to make us think about westerns. The rather nihilistic ending makes the entire thing feel pointless, and there simply isn’t enough in the moment-to-moment rhythm of the film to keep us invested. This is where the setting takes over — The Dead was possibly unique in setting a zombie film in rural Africa at the time of its production, and the film plays everything as straight as possible without much in terms of comedy or self-awareness. It’s hardly perfect—surely, I can’t be the only one uncomfortable at the sight of a white American being under siege from black zombies?—but it does distinguish itself in a crowded subgenre. The Dead’s production history was wild enough (as in: Rob Freeman nearly dying from malaria) to warrant a book titled Surviving the Dead from writer-director Howard J. Ford, which does bring to mind the thought — is this a film anyone would like to die for? The result is thoroughly mediocre — not badly made, but not particularly good either.