Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Fred Olan Ray brings us The Alien Dead, a zombie film that, despite its title, has little to do with aliens. Fred is good at making cheesy movies like these since at least they aren't completely trashy, there are some OK elements in the film, but overall its really just a z-movie.The film opens up on both a narration and a prologue, the narration its pretty useless since there isn't a consistent narrator in the film, the narrator its only in the film at the beginning, making it useless, not only that, but its also one of the few decent scenes in the film, after that there's a prologue, which isn't as good as the narration scene but it at least has something to do with the film, you choose between a narrator or a story that unfolds, not both, Fred. After that the film goes down hill, in pure z-grade fashion.The zombies in the film are people with make up on them making them look really bad, but if you like z-grade films you may like it, even laugh at it, some of the gore effects are decently done, but they are ruined because of the awkward editing and music in the "horror" scenes, there is no sound on those scenes, just weird music, which its very bizarre, but not rare for this kind of film. Some of the music on the film isn't really that bad, it may be a decent score.What you get from this movie its exactly what you would get from a z-grade zombie film, hooky acting, trashy effects, trashy writing, trashy directing, its trash, but it may be fun trash if you are willing to accept it.

Ah, zombies and hillbillies! Can you think of a better recipe for fantastically awful B-movie entertainment? "The Alien Dead" is a true winner! It's a truly horrendous 70's no-budgeter with a seemingly improvised script, more inexperienced redneck actors than you can wave a stick at and painfully inept dialogs that nearly make your ears hurt. This debut feature of legendary bad film maker Fred Olen Ray (if you don't count the half-long "Brain Leeches" and "Demented Death Farm Massacre" for which he just shot some additional footage) is set in a little Louisianan swamp town where some really strange occurrences are taking place. Following the crash-landing of a meteor, all the alligators suddenly vanished mysteriously and a local drunk fisherman keeps claiming his wife got dragged into the water by "something". Then, swiftly, "The Alien Dead" turns into a zombies-on-the-rampage flick! Can you actually believe that the zombies ran out of alligators to eat, so they switched to villagers instead?!? First there's one zombie attacking a lone girl. Then there's a bunch of zombies devouring a stereotypical elderly couple (she chases her husband with a frying pan, for crying out loud) and finally there's a whole army of zombies chasing two sole survivors. Oh, and did you know that zombies use pitchforks? They do! There are some fantastic supportive characters in this piece of junk, like a deputy with a fetish of waving his whacking bat around and a sheriff in desperate need of some anger management. He also refuses to investigate the swamp because there are too many mosquitoes. Excuse me? You're really working in the wrong district if you're afraid of mosquitoes, pal! There are numerous little examples to illustrate the average IQ of the local swamp rednecks. The more incidents we have with zombies attacking people in the lake, for example, the more dim-witted town members aimlessly decide to spend their free time there. There's a blond girl who goes to the absolute most remote spot in the Bayou all by herself to have a skinny dip. And because everybody loves boobs, this exact same ritual is repeated twice in a span of nearly twenty minutes (albeit with a brunette the second time). The zombie attacks are filmed in slow-motion to increase the dramatic effect, I suppose, and they actually look more like a bunch of retarded rednecks fondling a victim on the ground. Characters that were previously devoured by zombies re- appear later in the film and cheerfully get killed again! The make up effects are gory but hilariously fake, with cups full of blood spurting out of people's mouths and chests. But what I found the most hilarious little detail to spot was how all the male swamp zombies immediately grab for the female victims' breasts! It's obvious that these yokel extras wanted to make some additional personal benefit! There's one really good sequences in the film as well (I'm not kidding really), namely when the investigators go and visit the psychiatric clinic to interrogate the first person to claim there was something not quite kosher with the swamp. That scene even has suspense and a surprise twist. And, no, I'm really not kidding! At the end of "The Alien Dead" absolutely nothing is solved. The town still is – and probably always will – be infested with zombies! But who cares, right? Let's go to the bar and listen to some banjo music… Never mind the miserable rating I've given this movie. It's a must-see!

Yes, this movie could be the very definition of low budget movie. The film quality sucks, the make-up makes the zombies in "Hell of the Living Dead" look oscar worthy, and at times it seems the movie is just one random scene after another. Still though, it was funny to watch and it is really short so it is over before you know it. How this movie got a special dvd release is beyond me when much better horror movies are a lot harder to find. This movie has a town infested with badly made up zombies that seem to suck blood and in other scenes seem to just want to kill. The story itself had potential, but the result on the screen is very low budget. Not a lot of gore, but there is some nudity to see in a rather pointless scene. The end is a bit abrupt too as nothing is really resolved at all. The zombies are also not very consistant as they can withstand gunfire, but a comb takes one of them out. Still though I have seen worse and it is a good movie to make fun of.

The Alien Dead is another strong candidate for "worst movie EVER." Fred Olen Ray is, without a doubt, the worst director working today. I can't believe this guy is still making movies. This is one of his first genre offerings and a terrible, terrible movie. Where to begin? The lighting, or lack thereof, is an appropriate starting point I suppose. You can't see anything that's going on in this flick. It's awful. The lighting guy (assuming there was one) should be shot. Next stop: inane dialogue. What in the hell was up with the brainless dialogue and the delivery of said brainless dialogue? It's pathetic at best. And the music...nevermind. Just stay away from this one. I am now dumber after witnessing the dreaded terror of the Alien Dead.