An ultra-low budget zombie picture whose drawing card is graphic gore and lots of it, Steven C Miller's debut feature falters on the character and story front In addition, it's intended as the first segment of a trilogy and ends on a cliff hanger that will infuriate many viewers
High school seniors Chris, Tim and Scott grew up together in suburban Downey and have been friends all their lives Tim is the irritating goofball, Scott is the quiet one who protects Tim from bullies like Lance (Joel Hebner) and Chris, whose dad (Kevin J O'Neill) is the town mortician, is something of an enigma: He looks like a stoner, dates a cheerleader and seems more on the ball than his pals The days starts out like any other: Popular kids making plans for a big party that night, Lance picking on Tim, Chris making out with his girlfriend in his car Then a student goes berserk and attacks teacher (Steven Miller Sr, the filmmaker's father) -- attacks as in bites Weird, but whatever Chris, Tim and Scott head over to nearby Grover City to hear a local band, and intend to check out the big party later But when they get to the bar, the streets are deserted… except for the bloody hoard of zombies that suddenly comes screaming around the corner And from that point on, it's all zombie flesh-ripping, all the time as the trio return to Downey in hopes of saving their friends and family
A graduate of Orlando, Florida's, Full Sail Real World Education (which also graduated John Hand, who made the 2006 exploitation art movie FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY NIGHTMARE), Miller is admirably ambitious and disciplined: Making a commercially viable feature film in nine days for $30,000 is no small accomplishment, even in a genre as forgiving of low budget deficiencies as horror But AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION is often dull, over-the-top gore notwithstanding, and the irritating thrash metal soundtrack doesn't help The acting is variable, and Miller waits much too long to reveal the secret history of Downey and Grover City, which is actually kind of clever and far more interesting than watching anonymous extras run, scream and get ripped apart by zombies As to the ending, which leaves two survivors trapped between a mob of voracious zombies and a malevolent team of living baddies, it's a serious miscalculation, especially if Miller never makes the promised second and third installments Cliff-hanger endings are for movie serials and series television, not stand-alone feature film. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
