The dead are returning to life, but instead of shambling around and mindlessly gnawing on flesh, they are leading somewhat normal lives however, as one would expect, they are being looked down upon by society. How would you like to see an episode of “The Real World” with a zombie on it lamenting about how the other house members are always hassling on him about his stinky rotten flesh? How would you like to share a cubicle with a rotting animated corpse?

Last Rites of the Dead tackles just these sorts of issues. Employers have strict “no zombies” policies and instead of sending potential employees to get drug screenings, they send them to physicals to ensure they are not hiring the dead. Rogue bands of militant anti-zombie squads spend their time searching for the dead and then beating the crap out of ‘em, and as expected when the afterlife gets to be too much, there are support groups for these “mortally challenged” beings.

If it’s not already apparent, I loved Last Rites of the Dead, it was a completely fresh spin on the zombie genre. No malls, no packs of humans trying to survive, no isolation in said mall, house, high-rise. Some might be put off by walking, talking zombies that go on about everyday life, but they are rotting, they are gruesome in appearance, but they are basically rotting humans. It was lots of fun to see the products the filmmakers came up with aimed at the zombies, there were some great ads and infomercials during the flick. I especially enjoyed watching how the zombies dealt with the everyday problems of well, being a zombie.

Who are the bad guys? The living or the dead? I think when all is said and done it’s pretty apparent what answer rested in the minds of the films writer and there were a few scenes that were worth the price of admission alone. I’m somewhat biased towards zombie movies, and it’s pretty hard to put me off during a zombie flick, but it has been done before. Also we’re slowly getting to the point where zombie flicks are getting to be as played out as the remakes are. Last Rites of the Dead definitely sets itself apart from the rest and gives us a totally unique spin on the zombie genre. Highly recommended!