Director – Adrian Picardi

Cast - Alexandra Mathews, William Catlett, Dave Williams, Daniel Duvet, Spencer Thomas, Meagan Marie, Sunny Jain

Release Year – 2011

Reviewed by John of the Dead

OK, I had no idea about this short fan-made film of the popular video game series, “Left 4 Dead”, until I randomly came across it while looking for horror shorts online, and despite only playing the video game a handful of times (I’m a PS3 guy) I absolutely loved this 9 minute piece and found it the most enjoyable 9 minutes of my entire weekend. I’m a sucker for zombie action, and while we get the expected L4D zombie carnage I was left in awe over how well executed this was, as well as the incredible inclusion of numerous video game shout-outs that made this already enjoyable piece all-the-more enjoyable.

While a zombie invasion takes place around them, a group of survivors find themselves in a world of hellish zombiegeddon when they try and move to a safer location…until some much-needed help arrives.

The story is short and sweet, with the first half of it following our three main characters as they decide it is time to make a run for a safer location, but of course find them outmatched by the hoards of zombies. Their small-arms weapons do enough to subdue the zombies at first, but when they become outnumbered it seems they are destined to become zombie meat, until a surprising hero arrives and gives them a fighting chance. The awesomeness does not stop there though, as several other prominent video game heroes begin showing up onscreen and helping the survivors fend off the zombie hoard, making for an incredible experience for fans of some very popular classic and modern day video game franchises. Obviously I do not wish to spoil the fun and let you know who exactly shows up to join forces with the survivors, but I’ll give you the opportunity to se it for yourself shortly.

Director Adrian Picardi did an amazing job with what was literally a shoe-string budget based on nothing, proving that they guy has what it takes to provide good action and get creative to make it happen. This is of course only a 9 minute film and I cannot say that he would find the same success with a full-length feature, BUT I would not be surprised if he did. There is a fair amount of CGI, which I expected given I’m sure it was much cheaper than live-action blood and gore, but the CGI did not detriment from the experience and the action felt real thanks to how well it mimicked the game. For once we actually see shooters reloading their guns, much like the video game and something not usually seen in movies, and much to my extreme pleasure the cameo characters came in full costume and were not cheap knockoffs but actually did what they do in their respective video games…KICK ASS.

Overall, Left 4 Dead: The Movie is an incredible 9 minute experience that will not only please fans of the video games referenced in the piece but should provide an enjoyable ride even to those who have no clue what is going on…so long as you love some zombie action.

Rating: 8/10