Episode 221: Gangs of the Dead aka 48 Weeks Later

Send us Fan MailThe film was first released under its original title of Last Rites at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 30, 2006. It was later released direct to video on May 1, 2007 under the new title of Gangs of the Dead. In both Germany and Italy, the film was released under the title of City of the Dead. In the United Kingdom, the film was released under the title of 48 Weeks Later, in an effort to capitalise on the success of 28 Weeks Later, which had been released in 2007. The film takes place in the city of Los Angeles, California, and follows two intertwined plots.The main plot concerns a meteorite that crashes in Los Angeles. It carries alien spores that spread across the city, transforming humans into flesh-eating zombies.The other story is about two rival gangs, "The Lords of Crenshaw" and "El Diablo", who continue to fight for dominance of Los Angeles even as it falls to the zombie hordes.3.4/10 on IMDB and 19% on rotten tomatoes1 star reviewNothing special. Nothing to do with 28 days/weeks later.First of all, I am an avid horror film fanatic, I have around 400-500 horror films, I have seen well over a thousand. I am very fond of the zombie films... Unfortunately, 48 weeks later, at absolute best, is a mediocre film, that's being extremely generous..  Nothing unique or original. Meteorite hits homeless people, they turn into zombies. Some people are trapped inside a warehouse thing, lots of arguments, they disagree about what should be done. Most of them die. Bla bla bla.  Poor acting, poor storyline, absolutely nothing about this film is exciting, it's boring at best. Also, terrible sound and picture quality, rubbish effects. I don't mind poor effects, or poor picture quality, as long as the film is entertaining, as this was not, it just added to the misery of sitting through this.  There are some good zombie films out there, this is not one of them. I wouldn't waste your time. I would not recommend to anyone.OK so back to shit biscuits being dunked in my teaThoughts?  Alarmingly this isn’t the first Hispanic gangster zombie movie I have seen with the Cholo Zombie movies, and it isn’t the first LA movie with the Live Escape/Survival movies… but I think it was done as well as it could be with the amateur cast. I think the gang members were good. They tried to make the gangs sound, act, dress differently and drive different cars. It could have been good, but it wasn't as bad as they make it out to be.The Asian informant and GF was the weakest link here. And the weatherman and his end made no real sense. I think he needed to be seen to be going progressively man. I also think if they had stayed in the dumpster with the bitten brother it would have made for a better more tense story. Imagine 3 of you in a dumpster and one has been bitten.If you class it as Gangs of the Dead it is a 4/10If you class it as part of the 28 Weeks/Months/Years series it is a 1/10