Dead Inferno (2014) is the debut film of Brett Mullen, an American independent filmmaker who made his mark in 2018 with the short film Belladonna and with the feature film Ghost (aka Bloody Ballet). As in these last two films, in Dead Inferno love for the cinema of the past and in particular the cinematic works of Lucio Fulci is palpable.
Packed with references to cult movies about the living dead and Italian cinema of the 1970s and 1980s, Dead Inferno is an old-style zombie movie that also emulates the practical effects and photography of the period for a valuable viewing experience that takes one back in time while flooding the viewer with nostalgia and emotion.
Brett Mullen tackles genre clichés by giving them a new luster. And here in a story that draws on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley are elevated tributes to the cornerstones of the genre ranging from Dawn of the Dead, Day of the living dead, Re-Animator, ...And you will live in terror! The afterlife. The exploited and always beloved figures of the mad doctor and the zombie are juxtaposed with those of the lap dancer and the young heroine for an interesting cross between decades of horror genre cinema.
The driving force of the story is love, a feeling that drives Dr. Carter, a man who, wracked with grief over the loss of his wife, devotes his life to the search for a serum that can resurrect her. Every attempt, however, seems futile because all tests of his formula fail miserably.
Cara (Alex Elliott) watches her father's desperate experimental attempts trying to protect her family's secret while death reigns in the world.
In Dead Inferno there is no shortage of hordes of slow-moving zombies, starring in interesting violent sequences or immortalized while feasting on human flesh. The practical effects adorning wounds, bites and dismemberments are decent in contrast, however, to the make-up of some of the zombies or "infected," which, on the other hand, is not always satisfactory.
However, the film also has flaws such as the absolutely forced comedy skits (the couple in the car) or some excessive dialogue (the police search). However, the beauty of the horror proposed by Brett Mullen takes over and captures the attention thanks to macabre grave desecrations, dead rising, crazy experiments and a strange form of contagion, all accompanied by a remarkable synthwave soundtrack signed by that genius Umberto.
Prominent in this rich mix of characters and death are performances by Rob Springer (the mad doctor) and Alex Elliott (Cara). Also in the cast are Ed Ricker, Jeff Briggs, Shane Terry, Samantha Mills, Kathy Butler Sandvoss, Miles Snow, and Jess Barbour.
The screenplay of Dead Inferno Is by Brett Mullen and Sky Tilley.
