Rise of the Zombies

Plot synopsis:
A water-borne virus has led to a widespread outbreak of zombies in San Francisco. A group of survivors, including Dr. Lynn Snyder (Mariel Hemingway) and others, create a refuge on Alcatraz Island. Snyder receives communications from Dr. Arnold (French Stewart), a scientist conducting experiments to create a cure for the virus. Meanwhile, Dr. Dan Halpern (LeVar Burton), another of the refugees, is studying parts culled from the bodies of the zombies, but he is unable to make much headway because he only has access to 'dead' zombies. His research is further hindered when Caspian (Danny Trejo) and other refugees burn the zombie corpses being stored on the island.
A horde of zombies are washed onto the island by the tides, causing panic in the camp. While they are defeated, many of the refugees are killed, and two are infected by the virus, one of them being Halpern's daughter, Julie (Kerisse Hutchinson). The survivors decide to set out for the mainland, while Halpern stays to study the two infected victims. Later in the film, Halpern is forced to kill himself by detonating a grenade when his daughter bites him, before the virus can claim him as well.
The group on the mainland splits in two because of conflicting goals. Snyder wishes to find Dr. Arnold, as she believes he has found a cure, while Caspian's group instead wants to find supplies and ultimately reach what they believe to be an evacuation point. Caspian and several others are soon infected, and the group's numbers dwindle. It is eventually revealed that the 'evacuation point' has already been overrun by the zombies, rendering escape seemingly impossible.
As the group siphones gas from a car, Ashley commits suicide on a trolly by rolling it down the street colliding with a bus.
The last survivors of the group - Snyder, Kyle (Chad Lindberg) and Marshall (Ethan Suplee) - discover Dr. Arnold's refuge, the water treatment plant where the outbreak began. Arnold reveals that he has indeed discovered a cure, based on his tests on animal subjects. As the five flee for a chopper on the roof of the plant, both Kyle and Marshall are attacked, but Arnold's vaccine saves them. The group escapes the city, and Arnold requests a laboratory to manufacture his cure, expressing optimism that anything is possible.

Tags: violence

Review:
Yes, here's another one from The Asylum but it always shocks me that so many people go into these films expecting a good movie.
Personally speaking, when I watch these movies I hope to at least be entertained (by good or bad things) or that the film at least offers something you don't normally see.
Mariel Hemingway, Chad Lindberg and LeVar Burton are the latest celebs to get down with The Asylum and all three actually turn in very good and believable performances.
Actually, from the very opening scenes of the movie it seems pretty clear that the zombies have already risen!
It makes it harder to find a real place of refuge, thus increasing the hopelessness that's always at the centre of a zombie movie.Aside from that little twist, though, there's not a lot of originality to this.
He stays behind on Alcatraz while Hemingway's group goes into the city and others go off in search of rescue, and he keeps two living zombies (or is that a contradiction?) locked up to experiment on as he looks for a cure.
So, really, what you have here is a mediocre movie that adds nothing original to the zombie genre, and rather flat performances from the cast.
I don't know if all that terrible acting was intentional or not, but it completely ruined the movie for me.
But then again, what does one expect from Asylum.It's just as easy to make a good film as a bad one, but it's obvious the people at Asylum just don't care to even TRY to make a good movie.I admit - I fast forwarded through this entire movie, which was the only way possible to view this crap.there was no story; no character development; no plot really to speak of.
It starts all pretty well and rather gory for an Asylum flick so I was ready for a hell of a ride, and yes, it was a hell of a ride until the car running away from the zombies crashed on San Fransisco's Lombard Street.
When I saw the SyFy logo I must admit that my hopes and excitement went tumbling down fast, but still I wanted to watch this as it is a zombie movie - and I am a sucker for anything zombie.
But still, for a SyFy movie, then they really went all in with the production of this movie and managed to muster something that is rarely seen from their production line.The zombies actually looked quite good and had interesting make-up, so it was a nice to see that they had spent some money on make-up and special effects.There is a handful of semi-famous actor and actresses in the movie, but despite this, then the movie, acting-wise, was nothing impressive, and didn't really manage to rise over mediocrity.I didn't fully understand the concept of why the zombies in this movie felt pain, it just didn't really work well on any account.However, in overall, then "Rise of the Zombies" is actually a good enough movie to watch for any zombie fans.
A cheaply produced zombie flick with bad special effects and a cast of has-beens and never-weres?
It would be easy for me to blame the movie's failure completely on the Hollywood Squares cast led by Mariel Hemingway (who, no joke, I thought was deceased) and the now-elderly and overweight Danny Trejo.
It's become popular in recent years to bestow some "so bad it's good" badge upon these movies.
If you enjoy watching formulaic zombie action movies with little cinematic value, this will deliver..
It provides a web the pull the viewer through the piece.If one area is lacking, the others can make up for it, to a point.In this movie, I am sorry to say that even the decent acting by the recognizable actors was not enough to save this bomb.The actors did the best they could with what they had.
Okay, this movie is bad, but - come on - you already know that, don't you?
It's got to be one of the most awful attempts at a zombie film since 'The Dead Next Door.' And why is it so bad?
And, those who can, are given so little to work with it becomes pointless even having them there.It's about a zombie plague, blah, blah, blah in San Francisco where people have set up a camp on Alcatraz.
Along the way expect the usual zombie headshots, people getting bitten and idiots not doing the sensible things, allowing themselves to get bitten (only all with a really low budget).Danny Trejo is the film's highlight, but he's woefully underused.
Yes, this film is bad - its major flaw is that there are simply a hundred better zombie films out there.
Even those other B-movie undead films which you've probably hated are better than this.If you like zombie films, you'll probably have seen (and own) better than this.
During a zombie apocalypse, a group of survivors hide on Alcatraz Island to escape from rising zombie hordes.
When their refuge is overrun, and upon hearing that a scientist may have discovered a cure, they leave the island to seek him out.Check out this amazing cast: Ethan Suplee (who seems strangely adult for those of us used to him from "Mallrats"), Levar Burton, horror icon Danny Trejo, French Stewart...
The Screen Actors Guild fees must have been enormous...While much of this film is pretty awful, or at least nothing special, you have to love the incredible birthing scene.
Why in the world would so many known actors want to be seen in this ridiculously baaaaad zombie flick?
Terrible if you're looking for a good horror movie but Amazing if you're looking for a movie with hilariously bad acting/special effects..
Survivors on Alcatraz work at developing a cure but Zombies float over and almost over run the prison.
Starring Danny Trejo, Mariel Hemmingway (channeling her grandfather) & LeVar Burton this is watchable TV movie, 5/10..
Unfortunately (or perhaps not), the first and third parts don't exist.As others have said, and will say: a few good actors, a lot of bad script.
As a zombie plague overruns mankind, a group of survivors decide to leave the supposedly fortified Alcatraz and make for the mainland in search of the scientist working on a vaccine cure and must battle the relentless undead hordes to get there.This one wasn't that bad of a zombie effort, and while flawed this one offered up some pretty good moments.
This here is mostly effective whenever dealing with the zombies on the attack as that allows for a lot of action scenes, many of them quite extended which makes them all the more fun.
There's some great early action here with the opening attack on the suburban neighborhood of the zombies taking over the house leading to the mad dash to escape in the car through the streets leading into another fine attack at the end, though the massive attack on the group in their island fortress is even more fun.
The later action scenes here are somewhat enjoyable as the group gets ambushed in the house providing this one with some fun trying to hold off the attacks while the big action scene of their encounter on the bridge allows for more explosive action blowing them to pieces as well as the thrilling moments of the zombies silently emerging from the water ready to attack.
The best thing about this movie was not knowing who is in it then seeing them on screen, saying "Oh, it's Geordie (Burton), it's Ash (Linberg), it's Machete (Trejo), it's Randy (Suplee), it's Harry (Stewart) Whoops, I just gave away the best part, no need to watch now.But seriously; the cast is great, I like them all, the script was a typical zombie movie script, what is to be expected, that is not the problem I had with it, zombie movies are B-grade by definition.
It was how ordinary every other aspect of it was, they must have blew their budget on the actors because the technical side of it could have been done better by teenagers on a hand held.It was really sad for those actors to be caught in this movie, Burton was the only one who really stood out, but personally I think he should have directed it.
What do you want from a zombie apocalypse movie?
Literary dialog?Or, do you want wicked zombie gags, overacting, cheesy dialog and B-plus acting by B-minus actors glad to have the work?All my friends from paragraph two, welcome to "Rise of the Zombies." You will not be disappointed.A standard-grade zombie movie is the best you can hope for from The Asylum, whose previous living-dead efforts include the aptly named "Zombie Apocalypse" and better-than-it-deserved-to-be "I Am Omega."But the low-rent production house ups its game here, with some decent location shooting in San Francisco, some really gross zombies, more- than-decent acting turns by Jordi Kunte Kinte Reading Rainbow LaForge and the sane Hemingway sister, and a performance by Machete that's everything you expect and nothing more, because what you see is all he was paid to do.The Asylum seems to excel at zombie movies because they're cheap and easy.
But seeing as the cast was a good one and that there have been some tolerable movies of theirs in the past, I was hoping that Rise of the Zombies would be one of them.
You don't expect particularly good production values from The Asylum, but Rise of the Zombies is one of the worst-looking films I've seen in a while.
It also didn't help that the horror and suspense elements needed for a zombie movie just weren't there, there was just too much of the cheese factor(tolerable if done in spades, but all the time is too much).
Apart from Trejo, the acting is bad, Mariel Hemingway in particular is painful especially in the line delivery.
It was especially shocking to see the harsh, gritty, unvarnished depiction of losing friends and comrades to the zombie menace.It will be a long time until I can forget some of the horrific scenes given to us so callously by director Nick Lyon.Well done to the cast and crew on an excellent take of a tired genre!.
First time that i tried to watch it, i only saw it for 10 minutes, because it was very boring, but a days later i gave it a second chance, but i only watch it for 25 minutes, because i confirmed that it was very bad.The main cast is awful, the zombies and the special effects are very bad.
I can't believe that this movie is from 2012, a movie from the 50's can be very much more real than this crapI love zombies movies and zombies tvshows, and this movie is by far the worst i've ever seenDon't waste your time watching this thing called movie.
Fleeing from the huge mass of zombies that have infested the entire world, a group of survivors have managed to find a temporary shelter on Alcatraz.
Rather than spoil the movie by disclosing which ones live and which ones die I will just say that this is a very grim zombie film which offers very long odds against those trying to live.
However, those who want a basic zombie film with plenty of action and gore will probably be satisfied..
I see almost ALL of them that come out.Rise of the dead is worth the watch,if yo just plain love zombie films ,that are not comedy,but the kind that is dead serious,and its butt-kicking time.
Not kidding,although this low budget flick has nothing new in story,or content,it doe,s however,pull out a lot of stops with a few of the f.x. gags.This movie also had a lot of t.v. stars in it ,plus the great Danny Trejo.How could you go wrong!.
With incredible imagination and originality, Lyon and his screen writers have envisioned a sort of zombie apocalypse where the dead are threatening the living with a fate too terrible to contemplate.
Terrible zombie movie!
Review: As soon as I saw the zombies at the beginning of the movie, I lost total interest.
Basically there isn't anything good to say about the film.I recommend this movie to people who are into there zombie movies about a group of people trying to find the vaccine to cure the killer zombies.
Good actors all in other movies and TV shows.
It just goes to show that even with qualified, trained, experienced, talented actors, if the words, direction, art direction, special effects, editing etc aren't there, nothing can save the movie.
I'd like to point out here that these people had good producers, a good editor and everything else one might expect to make a good movie except a writer and a director so the blame has to lie with them.
I actually laughed at the zombies that clearly had on masks instead of make-up as well.I could go on and on about the plot holes and illogical actions the story had the actors engaged in but it would just be a waste of your time and mine.
I do feel bad for the actors because when they are working they have no idea generally that the thing is going to turn out so badly I'm sure.
It was interesting to watch a film where the director decided acting, writing, editing and directing would have been a distraction to the plot.
Martial arts and zombies make a good mix.I watched the preview of Rise of the zzzzzzz before venturing into the movie.
If you do not like dogs this is a 0 out of 10 movie.Bad effects, bad story, bad dialogue, bad pacing, bad musics but a good dog.Really I wish I had not bothered..
Atrocious Zombie Movie.
A 1970's zombie movie made in someones pot smoke filled basement with an ancient 8mm movie camera is better than this drivel.LeVar Burton's performance is a let down and Danny Trejo's is even worse.
We finally watched this on the SciFi channel over the weekend and I still am not sure whether to call it a Horror movie or a Comedy Horror.It was actually so terrible that I laughed at the cheesy plot and 'effects' throughout the entire movie while wondering what happened to Levar Burton's career that drove him to appear in this.And French Stewart and Mariel Hemingway playing scientists was so completely unbelievable that it still gives me giggles thinking about it.The zombie baby looks just like the one from the most recent retake of Dawn of the Dead and was probably created by the same effects company.
Both the birth scene and the doll/zombie baby was laughably bad..
Despite 4 real actors, still a bad zombie film..
Alcatraz gets a major zombie invasion.Lynn leads a small group to get the vaccine.
Dan stays on Alcatraz to learn more about the disease and hopefully heal his infected daughter.While stopping at an upscale house to get food and rest, Caspian's group gets taken out (except for Kyle) by one zombie.
Lynn's group barely escapes another zombie attack; they reunite with Kyle.How could this turn out well?
The night scenes tend to be useless on visual to the point where sound is the only guide.Sound: 7/10 Just OK.Acting: 4/10 My history with Marial Hemingway, LeVar Burton, Danny Trejo, and French Stewart is through much better properties.
Not only does this movies editing and acting horrible but as well as the choice of actors.
This movie sucked so bad that I got nightmares from the acting, not the zombies.
Well, not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but hey, it's not a _bad_ movie if you don't expect too much, and have enough cold frosty beverage.Seriously, it had a couple of decent actors (and the leads pretty much phoned in their stuff, so we can take them out of the Oscar possibilities, huh?), but overall, this was one of those things that cried out for excessive alcohol consumption.
I must say I was somewhat impressed by this little zombie movie.
It's not a classic in any way but nice group of actors in it.The Butch-like manly Mariel Hemingway as Dr. Lynn Snyder was a disappointment.
What I really liked was that for the 1st time I can remember a character in a zombie film just says "forget it it's not worth living anymore" and just commits suicide.The funny French Stewart as Dr. Arnold.
It's inevitable, it seems: every time someone cranks out another George Romero-inspired zombie movie, they try to add that "little something extra" that they think'll set their movie apart from the rest.
Stupidest Zombie Movie EVER.
First off Zombies can not climb up a bridge like they did and when they were getting into the helicopter, some waited for the door to close.
The baby turning into a zombie was pretty sick and never should have been included in the movie.
This movie is only worth watching for a good laugh and to point out all the horrible mistakes!!.
I noticed that some of the actors weren't given credit for this film on IMDb. I realized this is probably because they didn't want to be associated with the movie!.
OK, after 4 good reviews of the case, I thought I would give this movie a try.
The Special EFX were also pretty bad, the same used in syfy channel movies.
The amount of zombies actually killed is a lot lower than you would think, and they are killed pretty much the same manner each time.
Overall I would not recommend this movie, It is a low budget syfy type movie with bad acting and Special EFX.
If these type of movies continue to come out, the zombie genre will begin to fade, hopefully WORLD WAR Z will come out very well and give it the boost it needs, the walking dead can't do all the work!.