Written by: Michael Den Boer on April 27th, 2009
Theatrical Release Date: USA, 2008
Directors: Rick Popko, Dan West
Writers: Rick Popko, Dan West
Cast: Rick Popko, Tony Adams, Michael Allen, Shamika Baker, Jello Biafra, Scott Britton, John Brown, Dan Burr, Rick Burr, Timm Carney, Molly Celaschi, Dan West
DVD released: June 2nd, 2009
Approximate running time: 103 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Full Frame
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: N/A
DVD Release: Midnight Releasing
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: $9.99
Synopsis: A demented Doctor unleashes his latest serum on a group of Down syndrome patients who have been left in his care. All hell breaks loose when his serum mutates and turns his human Guinea pigs into flesh eating zombies. The fate of mankind lies in the hands of a backwoods sheriff, a hard nose FBI agent, a pervert who calls himself the Weenie Wagger and his inept deputies who are in a race against time to exterminate the flesh easting zombies once and for all.
RetarDEAD was co-written and co-directed by Rick Popko and Dan West. RetarDEAD is a sequel to Monsturd which was also co-written and co-directed by Rick Popko and Dan West. The film’s opening narrations is provided by none other than the Godfather of Gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis. Before the main feature there is a pair of fake trailers titled “Frankenstein and the Bloody Beast of Ghastly Terror” and “Dracula Vs Jack the Ripper”.
The plot starts off slowly as we get to know that main players and Dr. Stern lays the foundation for his master plan. The film kicks into overdrive once the flesh eating zombies gorge on the locales. Once the mayhem starts the blood, guts and vomit erupts.
While the acting is not one of this film’s stronger aspects, its delirious dialog and absurd cast of characters hold everything together. Ultimately RetarDEAD is a highly entertaining film that fans of schlocky cinema are sure to enjoy.
The DVD:
RetarDEAD is presented in its original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. The transfer for this shot on video production has nicely saturated colors, healthy looking flesh tones and the image look crisp throughout.
This release comes with one audio option a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English. There a few moments where the audio sounds too low, outside of these instances the audio mix generally fares well with no problems with distortion or background hiss.
Extras for this release include deleted scenes & outtakes (20 minutes 35 seconds), a photo reel (2 minutes 20 seconds) and a behind the scenes documentary titled “Special FX” (16 minutes 59 seconds). Overall RetarDEAD gets a solid DVD release from Midnight Releasing that is priced at a more than affordable price.