Surprising!
We did a lot of promotion for this movie when it was first being conceived four years ago. As I count it, we covered Within the Woods of Undead County in six separate articles between mid-2012 and mid-2013. From what I remember, the zombie film was trying its best to get a completed project, but were facing obstacle after obstacle after obstacle. Then, nothing. For three years. For three years, I anxiously awaited the release of this movie because I wanted to see if all of the producers’ hard work paid off. Out of the blue yesterday, the film appeared online for a limited time and I jumped at the chance to finally see it, but the question remained – was it worth the wait? Read my review of Within the Woods of Undead County to find out!
Within the Woods of Undead County follows four young people as they struggle to survive the zombie apocalypse as it begins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They think that getting out of the big city will make them safer, but the forests prove to have dangers that are undead and unexpected! The film was written, directed, produced by Nicholas Paul Pontoski. It serves as his directorial debut, which was co-written by co-written and co-produced by Justin Stephens along with Joshua Michael Solarczyk and Jarred Yurkunas. It features special effects by Lavender Lady FX Group and stars Gabriella Harry, Mike Motyl, Cory Handelong, Angela McCormick, TJ Chinaski and William Heitmann.
Now, I thought this movie was going to be rough. So many fundraising campaigns, production delays and years editing – I was expecting a bomb even by independent cinema standards. What I got instead was a bloody, fun and extravagent zombie flick! No expense was spared in making this the best production it could be and that love and effort shows. Despite the majority of Within the Woods of Undead County taking place in the woods (duh), one can still find a bunch of awesome locations in place, such as the apartment complex fire escape and the abandoned junkyard lot. I have to say, though, that the fire escape scene is probably my favorite in the entire movie. Great location, great acting, great music and lots of gore. Speaking of the gore, Nicholas Paul Pontoski must have rented a mack truck filled with gallons of blood for this feature. The blood flows like a waterfall here and gore fans are going to love that. Within the Woods of Undead County also has a ton of action, fighting, tumbling and gun fights to keep you on your toes. Actors must have been exhausted after each day of filming, but they all pulled in a fantastic job. The final product was worth it, I’d say!
Within the Woods of Undead County is cool because it’s a mix of old school zombies and modern zombie story-telling. It was nice that the viewer gets an explanation of how the outbreak started instead of leaving that big question open ended. The beginning of the film seemed very Dawn of the Dead to me with another scene, of a girl hiding behind a dumpster, seemed very “Walking Dead” in nature. The viewer is also treated to a long scene of death and dismay as the infected outnumber the humans in Philadelphia and feast on them in a way we haven’t seen before in independent horror film. This action sequence required a lot of blood, a lot of other small locations and over 130 extras (if I’m going by the film’s credits). This is yet another inspiring scene and it reminded me of the opening of World War Z, so this plays into the old school and modern zombie themes. What I’m trying to say here is… If you’re a zombie fan, there’s something here for you no matter what generation you relate to.
My only complaints lie in the audio production, whether this was during filming or in post. The audio and dialogue doesn’t always sync up correctly with the actors’ mouths and it seems too sharp and loud to be their real vocalizations, meaning it was enhanced in post. This is sometimes necessary, to “clean it up,” but I feel they may have gone overboard here. And, if any of the actors are consideration doing other gigs in the future, try to put a little more effort into your death scenes. If you’re literally getting eaten alive by zombies, you should have some screams of pain in there… and no one says “ow” when they’re being killed. They just don’t. Within the Woods of Undead County doesn’t bring anything new to the table and it doesn’t give us a ground breaking story, but it is a sliver of time in the zombie apocalypse that’s going to entertain you the whole way through. I was at the point of saying it’s an average flick when I started my review, but at this point I can say it’s far beyond average. It was an unexpectedly sharp, gory and fun feature. Within the Woods of Undead County is masterful, a surprising and blood soaked romp through the forest. Final Score: 7 out of 10.
