DVD review (region 1 & 2)
Directed by Scott Thomas
Starring David Chisum, Kristen Kerr, Kevin J. O’Connor, Derek Webster, Raymond Barry, Dale Midkiff
Release date Out now

A passenger jet is carrying a genetically engineered virus in its cargo hold. When the plane is rocked by a storm, the virus is unleashed, turning passengers into flesh-crazed zombies…

You can almost hear the pitch to the studio bigwigs: “It’s Night of the Living Dead meets Snakes on a Plane!”

Leaving aside the fact that Snakes on a Plane was one of the worst movies of 2006, it’s a pitch with a lot of potential. After all, the idea of being trapped 30, 000 feet up in the air with a horde of merciless zombies for company seems virtually guaranteed to inspire clammy hands.

Sadly, Flight of the Living Dead never bothers to do anything interesting with the idea. After taking an eternity to get going, the story boils down to a few boring stock characters (golf star, scientist, air marshall, cop, stewardess) firing guns at zombies. Presumably it’s supposed to be tongue in cheek (it does feature a zombie nun after all), but it’s difficult to be entirely sure as the film doesn’t contain a single laugh or witty character.

Even in this unrated edition, it’s nowhere near gory enough for a zombie flick either, with any shock factor diluted by the moronic decision to speed up or freeze frame the footage whenever a zombie goes in for the kill. And don’t even get us started on the deeply irritating audio-enhanced groans of the undead…

If the recent 28 Weeks Later was a demonstration of an intelligent, socially aware zombie movie, Flight of the Living Dead is the dumb flipside of the genre.

The DVD comes with two commentaries, though anyone willing to sit through the movie another two times probably deserves to have their brain eaten. Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 2/10
A zombie flick that’s just plane stupid. Nice title though.