After watching Zombie Dawn, I was really looking forward to Them Damn Zombies. I was expecting a lower budget version of Redneck Zombies (since rednecks and zombies are both present) and got something much different. This time around, Andy Koontz and company have made a well lit and edited film. It looks quite professional despite budget constraints, plus there's dialogue which would mean there's (GASP!) a script involved! This film starts out with Cleatus searching a dark forest for his dog Sam. Cleatus wanders about with a flashlight and eventually comes upon three zombies eating the bloody remains of Sam. The zombies see Cleatus and begin to stumble toward him. Cleatus tries to run and ends up tripping over his own feet. Instead of getting back up and running, Cleatus crawls away as fast as he can (and not just for safety. Smackdown is on T.V.!). For his stupidity, he dies.

Now roll the opening credits as Jennifer, Tiffany, and Heather are driving through Beaverfalls. As they exchange inane dialogue, Tiffany turns on the radio, only to hear about mass panic in Beaverfalls. This newscast is being given by Peter who soon learns from local hick Red that Beaverfalls may be having a zombie infestation problem. Peter, not passing up the chance for a great news story, talks his cameraman Larry into coming along. Larry reluctantly joins Peter and Red and they go zombie hunting. Meanwhile, Jennifer and the girls end up having some zombie misadventures of their own. In a brief scuffle, Heather has a chunk of flesh bitten from her arm. Luckily she and her friends escape by passing into a HUGE continuity error (It may have been unavoidable or it may have been done on purpose as a joke).

How obvious is this continuity error? Well the girls are attacked during the day, but as they drive off, it's suddenly nighttime... and raining! Eventually the car runs out of gas and the girls are stranded in the woods. Heather finally succumbs to the zombie virus and tries to snack on her two friends, who quickly drag her flesh-eating carcass out of the car. They lock the doors, and huddle inside as some zombies surround them. Things look grim until Red shows up and makes short work of the zombies with his trusty rifle. He goes to check on the girls while Peter and Larry continue filming their news package. Moments after they all introduce themselves, they end up running like hell from the flesh-eating undead. In the meantime, Dan and Billy, discover the now throatless Cleatus ("Looks like he was bit by a bear!"). Not thinking anything of it, the two rednecks carry Cleatus' corpse back to Red's shack in the woods. Afterwards, they saunter off to go find the guns they left behind. Moments after they leave, Red and the gang arrive at the shack.

Red tells his guests to stay put while he finds Dan and Billy. After a brief time lapse, Red and his brothers return and everyone decides to wait until morning before venturing outside. When morning finally does come, Dan and Billy go outside to get their truck. Needless to say that was a really bad idea. Their screams wake everyone up, and Red goes outside to investigate, only to be eaten by Cleatus ("No, not with my boots on!"). The zombies soon break through the walls of Red's ramshackle hunting shack and drag Peter off to his death. During the confusion, Jennifer and Tiffany escape and somehow acquire two machetes. The girls use said blades to slice their way through the zombies (not the most impressive zombie killing choreography, but hey, they're both cute girls in tight high-cut jean shorts) and manage to survive long enough for Larry to arrive in Red's van. As the three survivors drive off, the last of the zombies shamble off into the darkness.

In comparison to Zombie Dawn, Them Damn Zombies was much better. But it isn't really fair to compare the two since this movie had a budget (roughly $3,000 dollars), a semblance of a script, some good lighting, and plenty of humor. Another great aspect of Them Damn Zombies is the music. It's got variety and is completely appropriate for this film. Acting wise, most of the cast was watchable at best but a few actors stood out from the crowd. Doug Stanley who played Red, gave a very believable performance as a redneck. (I should know since I'm currently living in Redneck Central, PA.) Reagan Walters who played Peter does a great job of getting you to dislike his character. From the first moment you see Peter on the screen you know that he's zombie chow. Moving on to the special effects, Andy once again does a great job in creating some impressive low budget gore. How does he do it?!

Overall, I think Them Damn Zombies was a step in the right direction for Andy and company. What they really need to do is scrape together a good sized budget and make a feature length film. And what do you know, they're already ahead of me on that! Apparently Andy is working on several more films. He recently wrapped up Clear Water which will soon be available on VHS (and eventually DVD)! He's also working on two other zombie films; Zombie Hell Night and a currently untitled project. But that's not all folks! Andy is also producing two other horror themed films entitled The Book and Ekimmu! For more information on the current status on all of these films visit Horror on Film! Lastly, those of you that are interested in seeing Them Damn Zombies in a digital format, it will be hitting DVD sometime in 2004. The DVD will include interviews with some of the cast and crew (including Andy Koontz), a 20 minute featurette entitled THEM DAMN ZOMBIES:ONE YEAR LATER, Outtakes and Bloopers, Andy's first short film: Zombie Dawn, and much more! I don't know about you but I'm sure looking forward to that!