Dead 7 (2016)

While digging through my On Demand because there was nothing good on TV, I stumbled upon this movie under the SYFY Channel movie options. I was thinking, ok another B zombie movie and then for fun I went to the cast list and oh my S***. As a female of a certain generation I was blown away with the casting. It has 3 members of the Backstreet Boys (Nick Carter, A.J. McLean, and Howie Dorough), 2 members of NSYNC (Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone) and 1 member of 98 Degrees (Jeffrey Brandon Timmons). Anyone who knows about these two bands knows about the massive competition that has been between them ever since the Backstreet Boys were betrayed and NSYNC was created. Yes, I will admit that I am biased and love the Backstreet Boys more, but I also listened to NSYNC. Any way, I just had to see what this film was.

The plot was a play off a scenario that has been done many times before. The classic one I think of is Samurai 7, but you may also think of the western version the Magnificent Seven. The basic plot is that 7 heroes must protect a city and its people. Like the ones that came before there is great loss, but no direct spoilers will be found here. If you are familiar with the base storyline then you understand where the film goes, if not just be surprised.

Considering that most of the main cast are known for singing they stood out way more then the other actors in their performances. For me hands down the best was actually A.J. McLean. In the movie he plays a villain Johney Vermillion who is in second command on the villain side. I have not seen an actor have this much fun with a character since we had Captain Jack Sparrow. You could tell that he was having fun playing the part and he did crazy so well. It was a perfect part for him that he was able to give so much life to the character. The other stand out performance for me came from Joey Fatone (who has also done other films like My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Even though his Whiskey Joe character was distracted by vice, Fatone made the character likeable and in a way reminded me of the likeability of Kikuchiyo from Samurai 7. The break out performance for me was Erik-Michael Estrada playing the samurai inspired character Komodo. While doing research I found out that he had also been a singer in O-Town. I think that even though Estrada doesn't have a large filmography, that he has potential. So sort of a spoiler, but you should learn from him that you should never kiss your significant other if they are in the process of turning into a zombie for any reason. 

Not all of the performances in the movie were good. Debra Wilson was the main villain Apocolypta. Wilson is mostly known as a voice actor and based on this performance I hate to say it, but maybe she should just focus on voice acting. Her performance was flat and it could have been so cool if she would have played on some type of emotion. Her body was also super stiff like she was uncomfortable being in front of the camera. 

I am so sad that I missed this movie when it first came out. It would have been fun to watch in theaters. I give the movie 4 stars out of 5 or a B+. 

Picture 1 From: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-7-Nick-Carter/dp/B01DALQ0SQ

Picture 2 From: https://www.amazon.com/DEAD-Sie-sind-schneller-als/dp/B01DOOPK6W (https://www.google.com/imgres?q=dead%207&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F81OH-kKFMKL._AC_UF894%2C1000_QL80_.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDEAD-Sie-sind-schneller-als%2Fdp%2FB01DOOPK6W&docid=pbcTn47LgK25TM&tbnid=7hs17yr5qU9ZQM&vet=12ahUKEwiA76KD5c6LAxXLPEQIHQjyHQ4QM3oECFoQAA..i&w=894&h=503&hcb=2&itg=1&ved=2ahUKEwiA76KD5c6LAxXLPEQIHQjyHQ4QM3oECFoQAA)

Picture 3 From: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/12-most-wtf-moments-from-boy-band-zombie-western-dead-7-49574/

Picture 4 From: https://www.sfanytime.com/da/movie/dead-7

Picture 5 From: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/dead-7

Picture 6 From: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4405860/mediaviewer/rm313787648/

Picture 7 From: https://www.aullidos.com/noticia/24316/imagenes-rodaje-dead-7/