Undead (2003) Starring Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay & Rob Jenkins Directed by Michael Spierig & Peter Spierig Written by Michael Spierig & Peter Spierig

Australian brothers Peter and Michael Spierig wrote, produced, edited, supervised visual effects and directed this original zombie movie. The special effects are pretty impressive considering the low-to-almost-no budget of this movie.

Felicity Mason stars as Rene and she brings charm, humor and action to the role of the reluctant heroine. Mungo McKay is the town's forgotten loner, who has been written off as a crazy man who talks about alien abductions.

"Undead" has all of the clichés of the typical zombie movie like the blood-thirsty zombies and stupid law enforcement officers. However, one of the things that set it apart is the setting of the story and its people.

The invasion takes place in the charming Australian fishing community of Berkeley. After being told about the status of the Chaplin farm, the town "Fish Queen" beauty contest winner, Rene Chaplin, is forced to leave town due to financial problems. Before she can start her journey though, all hell breaks loose as meteors bombard Berkeley's citizens and turn them into blood-thirsty zombies.

Rene finds some survivors and looks to escape this zombie invasion. Along the way, she meets Marion (played by McKay) and he is driving his Marion's World of Weapons van. Marion's weapon of choice is a three-barreled shotgun that should take care of any zombie problem he encounters. He doesn't know how many zombies have infested Berkeley though. Marion tells Rene, "This is the beginning of the end...of the world, the universe, everything."

The whining minor movie character is also very present as the survivors try to escape the zombies. There is occasionally bitching from Wayne's (Bob Jenkins) pregnant wife Sallyanne (Lisa Cunningham). She tells Rene that the Miss Catch of the Day ("Fish Queen") title was hers, and that Rene only won because she knew how to handle a rope. Rene justifies entering the contest because she was broke. Marion responds to this bickering with "All right, enough with the girlie talk...we've got bigger problems outside now."

Marion tries to warn the other survivors of the deadly storm: "They get us through the rain!!" Flashbacks to Marion's own close encounter with the alien craft reinforce his statement. No one really believes him until their clothes start to sizzle in the downpour.

What do the survivors do when this happens? The only logical thing, of course. Strip down to their underwear and start pouring water on themselves. Rene shows another similar characteristic trait, besides being a badass with a gun, to that other galactic heroine, Ellen Ripley. Rene also gets rained on, and must strip down to her underwear.

The fearless pilot Wayne plans to get the survivors out of harm's way by flying them "over the wall" to safety. But the group encounters more zombies before Wayne can pick them up. He winds up flying solo. The storm leads his plane to an unusual discovery.

Rene and Sallyanne wind up leaving in the van. The all powerful beam from the spacecraft is so powerful that it pulls Sallyanne through the roof of the van. Rene then has her own close encounter with something that looks like Brundlefly's cousin from Cronenberg's "The Fly" (1986).

Part of the fun of "Undead" is that the movie tries not to take itself too seriously. If one of the survivors kills a zombie, it's done so over-the-top that you can't help smiling or giggling at what you're watching.

The influences of other bigger-budget movies ("Independence Day", "The Fly", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", Romero's "Land of the Dead" and "Shaun of the Dead") bring this underrated Australian horror/comedy hybrid up several notches above Hollywood's endless stream of PG-13 "horror" films. Undead's R-rating allows the Spierigs more room to deliver genuine scares and laughs without compromising the film's content.

The Spierigs also don't resort to the cartoonish character-numbing that Hollywood's horror trio of Freddy, Jason and Chucky have evolved into. In "Undead", the menace may be a phantom, a blood-thirsty zombie, an alien, or a whining pregnant pilot's wife - you're left to your own conclusions.

The story is set in a small fishing town that could be almost anywhere, and except for the Australian accents, it could easily be happening in Enid, Oklahoma!

There are some unanswered questions though. What exactly happens to the humans that are abducted? When the alien craft departs, and the storm returns the humans back to Earth and back to normal, where does the craft go? There's also no more evidence of zombies in Berkeley after the craft leaves. Perhaps if the Spierigs were allowed a bigger budget, or plan to make another Undead movie, we'd discover these answers.

The film's running time is just right. Not too short, and not a King Kong/Watchmen/Pirates of the Caribbean marathon movie. Undead's leading lady Rene, Felicity Mason, is definitely one to watch in future movies. Marion even tells Rene in one pivotal scene, "Are you a fighter, Fish Queen, or are you zombie food?" I think Rene made the right decision.

Rene also takes her Fish Queen responsibility, to preserve the best interests of the town, very seriously. The conclusion of Undead has her fulfilling her duty with the hint of a sequel. Hopefully, the Spierig Brothers will one day create another Undead movie. You can only imagine what they could do with a bigger budget, and the addition of an A-list star, or even a B-list star.

So, if you're looking for a good movie rental, check out "Undead". G'day, mates!!