Silent Night Zombie Night (2009)

   
Produced, Written, Edited & Directed by: Sean Cain

Starring:

Jack Forcinito .... Frank Talbot
Andy Hopper .... Nash Jackson
Nadine Stenovich .... Sarah Talbot
Lew Temple .... Jeffrey Hannigan
Felissa Rose .... Elsa Lansing

Special Appearance:

Vernon Wells .... Paul Irwin

Release Dates: Gorezone's Weekend of Horrors: November 1, 2009; Tromadance Film Festival: November 22, 2009; Nevermore Film Festival: February 19, 2010; Another Hole in the Head Genre Film Festival: July 13, 2010 (Brazil); Cinefantasy Film Festival: September 1, 2010; ZombieFeast Halloween Horror Fest: October 29, 2010; PollyGrind Film Festival: October 1, 2011

*Images courtesy at:
www.snznfilm.com

 

 

Rating:

 

A week before Christmas the city of Los Angeles is threatened by a viral outbreak turning residents into zombie's and a few survivors which includes two LAPD officers Frank Talbot (Jack Forcinito) and Nash Jackson (Andy Hopper) along with Frank's wife Sarah (Nadine Stenovich) run for cover in their home to protect themselves as death closes in on them but Sarah has a dark secret in which she is having an affair with Nash which things get more complicated while these two fight over her in which they are both in love with her.

 

The story seems to start off a bit corny but in a fun way like a character named Sarah Talbot getting emotional on a situation along with her friend talking to her but suddenly her friend is attacked by a zombie as well as two bumbling police officers named Frank and Nash giving each other sarcastic threats and then shooting some zombie's ready to attack them along with some good gruesome results here.
Then we have a good opening sequence showing the the credits in a Christmas and bloody fashion which works for the film itself.
Good traditional moment with the survivors like Sarah, Frank and Nash hiding out in a home to prevent being attacked by zombie's as well as trying to help out Nash after his toes were blown off which looked totally intense and painful while we watch all of this.
Later in the story it looks effective when Sarah and Frank have a sarcastic dispute while opening up presents as well as discussing her cheating on him behind his back as there's some pretty intense anger going on here as all of this looked quite believeable to watch.
When there's outside scene's on the streets we even spot a burly zombie dressed in a Santa suit in which Frank shoots him in the head from his home with a humoress one liner about who believe's in Santa. Which shows good timing with the one liner.
What was also intense and entertaining to watch is some roughnecks having an outdoor Christmas party and being attacked by zombie's or people in a car along with a next door neighbor shooting most of them which was nicely put in.
What is also neat and original is when Frank discovers on how to make himself not spotted by the zombie's with this some sort of spray as well as more good humoress moments when he uses a baseball bat on the streets to strike these zombie's dead when they don't spot him with this spray on him. This seemed pretty amusing to watch.
The story seems to become even more uplifting when both Sarah and Nash get drunk passing a whisky bottle drinking it and acting silly with one another in which this works well in the story about the affair that they once had.
Plus there's a neat moment with Frank entering a home and everything is dark and silent while he browses at a family pic in which this certainly leaves a creepy edge wondering if a zombie will suddenly lunge out and attack. Plus a nice moment when he opens up an attic door since this almost looks similar in what you'd see in those cult classic horror flicks like The Exorcist or Black Christmas on how this all looked. Also good mysterious moments with Frank speaking to his neighbor Jeffrey Hannigan when he tells him about his son sleeping with a blanket over him which definetely leaves an impression that he might have been bitten and possibly going to be a zombie like the rest in the area.
There's a really creepy scene when both Nash and Sarah are looking out the window at night towards the zombie's and Sarah freaks out that they were spot which looked suspenseful wondering if they will enter that house and attack them.
Plus we spot some funny camera takes on the zombie's slowly walking towards a sound which made me chuckle a bit and seemed fun to watch as well.
More effective scene's is when a couple of troops named Elsa Lansing and Paul Irwin approach shooting these zombie's with army weapons in which shows a perfect scene of action while watching this moment as the heroes in the film. Also some original descriptions on why certain zombie's move fast and others that move slow when they all go in to have a discussion and how to survive this madness going on which was impressive to know all of this.
Another good suspenseful moment is when Elsa is handcuffed near some bars of a bathroom window since no one is certain that she's a zombie and a burly zombie spots her and is ready to feast on her. This defientely looks terrifying wondering if she will free herself since she is unarmed.
There's also strong and emotional moments like when Jeffrey breaks the news to Nash that he has been bitten and his plans when celebrating Christmas with his family till all this had happened which does give the film a great touching and sad feeling to all of this.
Also we get a real tough action moment with a dispute between Frank and Nash on a moment on their differences due to their feelings towards Sarah in which you wonder as if they will try and kill one another as well as zombie's trying to approach them distracting their anger towards one another which all looked powerfully written in and great to watch.
Plus more great emotional moments when these two laugh hysterically later on and Sarah demands as to why they are laughing so much in which you have a deep feeling that something is not good at all in which this looked terrific and serious as well as very sad on a peer pressuring moment with Sarah doing something that would be a tough task to do. This was a perfect traditional moment in a zombie flick indeed and perfectly put together.
Then during the ending scene totally leaves a door open for a sequel in which this makes you wanting to find out what will happen next.
Bottom line is that this film was pretty decent and better than most of those typical low budget independent horror flicks as well as many interesting moments. Yet we've seen zombie films like this before which needed a bit more of the odd original moments that was mentioned here. Still it was well done. It seems to pay a tribute to the remake on Dawn of the Dead along with good make up effects proving that the budget here wasn't weak at all. Die hard zombie horror fans will find this flick quite amusing.

The acting was decently put together in which it seems to be a nice start for the small cast here like lead actor Jack Forcinito (Frank Talbot) showing off a great no nonsense attitude as well as having a great calmness to his speaking in which he pulls this off perfectly well. He also seems quite powerful with his battling actions too along with a great masculine and macho type of approach. Good powerful blocking on him when he knocks something over as this looked totally hyped. He shows great timing with his humoress and sarcastic attitude too which was another great plus to what he does here. He shows a great energetic reaction when he finds out on what to do to protect himself as he acts believeably full of life. Offers Tons of great blocking and menacing reactions while swinging a baseball bat on the street against the onscreen zombie's in which he totally rolls with this perfectly well. Shows off nice concerned and cautious expressions while exploring a house.
Andy Hopper
(Nash Jackson) certainly shows a good charm to his role along with having a great gruffness to his speaking. He definetely portrays a great tough as nails type of officer in the flick and roles with the punches especially when he acts intense in certain scene's when it was necessary. He was a ball of energy and proves that he can portray a worthy character role without a doubt. A great hollering moment in which he is believeable by being in pain.
Nadine Stenovich
(Sarah Talbot) was perfect in her role by speaking sharply and clearly whenever she had to do this as well as showing off some good decent energy into everything that she did within her performance. She really gets to the point with whatever she does here along with knowing on how to act charming and bubbly plus was perfect with her crying and emotional attitude too. A good sharp moment with her speaking coldly and sarcastically towards her fellow actor. She draws all of this in perfectly. Great panicking reactions while spotting something outside a window. Does a perfect job speaking aggressively with her growly words towards her fellow actor showing a great menacing expression on his face pointing a gun at him.
Lew Temple
(Jeffrey Hannigan) draws in a great cautious and serious type of behavior into his portrayal and was very believeable with everything that he does here. Plus he truly made his part believeably mysterious showing off a great touch of enthusiasm into his part. he really studied this role inside out as you can tell here in which of course he's been in the industry for a long time and knows a thing or two on performing in horror films without a doubt in which it perfectly shows here. Perfect serious speaking on him towards the lead actor which looked good and strong. Nice emotional sobbing in another part of a scene.
Felissa Rose
(Elsa Lansing) often acts way too over the top in anything that I've seen her in but this time she seems to do fairly well in her role showing a good seriousness to her part and delivering her lines not too badly either. I'd have to say that this is so far her best performance but she isn't effective in her part for anyone to remember her in this at the same time. A great anxious reaction while getting handcuffed as she does well getting aggressive. She also does a great job panicking while she is nearly attacked. A nice sharp reaction briefly cursing towards her fellow actress as this seemed quite impressive.
Vernon Wells
(Paul Irwin) just has a brief supporting role for only about 7 minutes or so but yet he seems to look powerful with his attitude in it and draws attention nicely onto the screen here as well as having a great tough guy looks for someone who is in combat against zombie's I give my hat off to this dude since he showed alot of perfect spunk into his part.

Lots of flesh bites.
Toes are blown off.
Tons of body parts especially a zombie eating an arm.
Zombie's heads are blown off.
A side of a face is chewed.
A zombie's head is cut off.
Tons of violent bloodsheds.

The music sounds quite strong with the keyboard music as well as alot of the fast paced banging and action type sounds. There's the odd good screeching noises too which works in well for the creepy moments. Plus some good peaceful settings for the mellow moments used in the film. Along with this there's the good mainstream odd classical music playing away too all composed by Mario Salvucci.