Review of Automaton Transfusion (2008) by Anders J — 16 Mar 2008

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for zombie movies, with all their brain eating, shotgun to the face violence. Who doesn't want to see an undead prick get his head blown off? God knows I do, but of course some do it better than others (in fact, EVERYONE could do it better than the recent remake of Day of the Dead). This film is Steven C. Miller's shot at the sub-genre, and it has some highs but for the most part has way too many lows.

What I loved about this film was how far the filmmakers went with only $30,000. That's change you find under a couch compared to your average low-budget film. Most of that money probably went towards the gore effects, and let me tell you there was plenty of blood and guts to fill a couple swimming pools.

That's about it as far as the good stuff. Everything else is pretty sub-par to say the least. The acting is atrocious from every single person on screen. When the victims are attacked and chomped on they scream as if they are reading the sounds off of a cue card. It's not believable at all. The camera work is pretty bad for most of the movie, and the quality of the footage itself is not good at all. That can be forgiven with the budget, though. The story doesn't give the audience enough time for us to actually give a damn whether our heroes are eaten or not. Part of the experience of a horror film is for the audience to fear for the protagonists' lives.

Overall, it's not the worst I've seen, but there's very little to admire. For those that are looking for strictly gore, look no further. I do have to give it up for how much they did with the budget they had. That's something very hard to accomplish.