Goal of the Dead (2014) Reviews

• A film of two halves (literally)

  bowmanblue2014-09-25

  It's always hard to take a film seriously when its whole premise is based – loosely – on playing off another film's title. It takes the '...of the Dead' label and applies it to what's supposed to be France's answer to Shaun of the Dead. It's about a high-profile football team, travelling to a smaller club's home ground in rural France, but – guess what – a zombie outbreak happens. Cue everyone running for their life. For a start it's not as funny as Shaun of the Dead. Although that's not to say it's totally dull. There are some good gags here and there, but the film is stretched across nearly two hours and there's not enough humour in there to really call it a 'comedy.' It has horror though. It can get pretty gruesome here and there, almost as if France has fused Shaun of the Dead with a 28 Days Later type feel. And it's set over 'two halves' – just like your football match. The first half of the film is basically all 'scene-setting.' We get to know the characters etc. Then, on the second half, all hell breaks loose (which is probably what you're watching the film for in the first place!). So, if you're only after the gore, you could probably skip the entire first half and still understand the film and every character's motivation perfectly. So, if you're looking for basically a French zombie film that's high on gore then you could do worse than this. I saw it more as a straight horror than a horror-comedy hybrid. However, we've already had 'La Horde' which is also just a straight 'infected' style French zombie film which does the gore, the tension and the action a lot better. Fans of football may like to see the 'beautiful' game included in a zombie movie, but otherwise this will probably be more remembered as a 'one trick' film that goes on a little too long. It's not bad, just doesn't cover enough new ground to make it that good, either. Plus I didn't approve of the final 'action' scene and how it was played out. It just didn't work for me.

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• A worthy addition to the zombie comedy genre...

  paul_haakonsen2015-12-20

  If you enjoyed "Shaun of the Dead" then you will also like "Goal of the Dead". Don't let the fact that it is a French movie scare you off. The French have already placed themselves on the zombie map with previous zombie movies, for example "The Horde". There is a good amount of subtle comedy in "Goal of the Dead" which was nicely executed and brought to the screen. Luckily it was not to the point of being comedy to make you laugh, as that would have spoiled the movie. "Goal of the Dead" also has a good amount of action, and the scenes with a gun and shotgun fired in slow motion were really amazing, and the movie is worth watching for that alone. Normally I detest zombie movies with running zombies, but for some reason it worked out nicely in "Goal of the Dead". The zombie make-up was great and there were some interesting effects and scenes throughout the movie. So the special effects team really deserves a big thumbs up. "Goal of the Dead" is a well-worthy addition to any zombie movie collection. And I must applaud directors Thierry Poiraud and Benjamin Rocher for their fine work on this movie.

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• Much better

  atinder2015-10-20

  Much better then I thought it would be. I had this on my zombie watch list for while, as it was on netfilx I gave it go, I was going watch a few week ago but the movie had a long running time It started of a lot then I thought It would have. I actually thought movie was very gory and I really liked the dark Humour added to the movie Not saying it a comedy but there are some very funny gags Fun , gory and zombie movie I going to give this movie 7 out of 10

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• A little gem

  jackles1402014-07-14

  Much better than I was expecting, this film was a gem. The plot keeps moving at pace and is sharp and witty throughout. Though not exactly the walking dead, the "zombies" and very well choreographed and there's some delightfully gory scenes. But the heart of this film lies in the endearing and well written characters who kept my interest all the way through, with some great one liners. Some of the special effects are really stand-out, and had me whooping. Not many films would leave one cheering for the football hooligans. Mutant rage monsters and football...a killer combination.

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• Another one bites the ... grass?

  kosmasp2014-06-19

  There have been numerous undead/zombie movies over the years, but none combined them with soccer/football. This french comedy tries it and has a decent stab at it. The story is not worth mentioning (with "twists" in relationship and character connections so obvious, you'd guess them even if someone stole/ate your brain), the characters mostly nicely but cliché filled drawn. There are a few gags that really work and it does have a lot violence/blood in it too. Now that's either something you'll cherish or would have liked to see less off. Football in general is violent as some would say and quite a few have drawn comparisons with going to war (though that rings true with other team based sports too) ... this one takes it one further. No clear winner then, but still decent enough to enjoy during the World Cup in Brazil (or any other time)

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