Well, it was only a matter of time. Ever since George Romero put zombies on the big screen in the original "Night of the Living Dead", re-animated flesh eaters have been showing up en masse in film after film. Occasionally you get a creative filmmaker who throws them into a new background like the old west or an underground Nazi bunker. But I think director Scott Thomas has topped them all by placing the toothy little buggers at 30,000 feet. That's right… thanks to Thomas we now have "Flight of the Living Dead." Though I've loved zombie movies since I was a kid, even I had to roll my eyes at the idea of a planeload of the undead. After all, wasn't it just last year that we saw both a plane and a train full of snakes? Still, I had to give the movie the movie the benefit of the doubt. Heck, even some of the dumbest horror flicks can be fun under the right conditions. So I bought a ticket, took my seat, prepared myself for takeoff and watched "Flight of the Living Dead." (You may now commence groaning at that last sentence.)

The premise of "Flight of the Living Dead" is a fairly straightforward one. It starts off with a typical flight from the U.S. to Paris. Only its not al that typical in that it contains some top secret cargo… a cargo that unfortunately springs open once the plane hits some rough turbulence. As you might imagine, the cargo is of the biting variety and before you can say "This is your Captain speaking…," the plane is overrun with zombies.

Oooookay. Right off the bat I have to say that this movie won’t be nominated for any Oscars. It was definitely made on a low budget, which really surprises me that it is getting such a strong push from a big studio like New Line. I will say that the actors seem to have a lot of fun with the film and that translates to fun for the audience. On the downside, the bloody effects are kept to a minimum and the occasional CGI rather laughable. It feels overall like it would make a terrific midnight movie. There's just enough fun to be had from the madness and mayhem that a typical midnight movie crown would have a great time. Or because of the fact that it has been released on DVD, just get a bunch of your friends over to the house, pass out a little booze and prepare for the neighbors to call the cops.

Speaking of the DVD and New Line, the studio opted to give viewers a handful of special features that weren't half bad. The commentary by director Thomas and producer David Shoshan is pretty interesting, but the second commentary by IGN Entertainment Editors Eric Moro, Steven Horn, and Christopher Monfette is actually a little more entertaining as it sounds like a bunch of film fans just yakking about the movie. The only problem I had with this second commentary was my wondering how they got the gig to do it… and we didn't…. There is also a gag reel, which for a zombie movie, is pretty funny.

I have to hand it to Thomas. "Flight of the Living Dead" is not a great movie… or even a great zombie movie. But it is a heck of a lot of fun to watch, but again more so with a crowd. Actually, I think it would make a great in-flight movie!!

Directed by: Scott Thomas
Starring: David Chisum, Kristen Kerr, Kevin J. O'Connor
Extras: Feature Commentary with Director and Producer, Feature Commentaries with IGN.com Editors, Outtakes Reel
Specifications: Widescreen (1.85:1), DTS 5.0 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound
Studio: New Line
Release Date: 10/2/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: Unrated
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We'll give Flight of the Living Dead a C+.