Written & Reviewed by: Eric R. Lowther
Fields of Rot / Zombie Hunter (Web Series)
Dedman Productions LLC
Written/Directed/Created by: Jesse Dedman
Hey kids, it’s Eric R Lowther aka biguglyhairyscary, scanning the web to bring you some fresh genre content in the form of two web series’; “Fields of Rot” and “Zombie Hunter”. The first, “Fields of Rot”, shows the beginning of a hell-borne zombie epidemic while the second, “Zombie Hunter”, is a web series that sets out to spoof both the zombie genre and outdoor sports shows that seem to vie for attention with the televangelists every Sunday morning. While I was asked to review “Zombie Hunter”, errata on the creator’s blog suggest it was inspired by “Fields of Rot”. I don’t really see the connection since they share none of the same characters, story or even production values (save for episode 3 of “Fields of Rot”, the best of the offerings from that series), but I gave them a watch and have included my thoughts here as well.
Fields of Rot
“Fields of Rot” follows a geeky zombie blogger teamed with a self-described “psychotic” bass player trying to find the Gates of Hell, the source of all the zombie troubles. The Gates have been opened by an inexperienced Ouija board enthusiast and the Satan-inspired dead are now free to roam the earth. There are three main and two accessory episodes of the series available.
Zombie Hunter
Nathan Greene is a self-appointed zombie hunter living in a reality where zombies exist but haven’t gotten a foothold into the apocalypse, thanks to the stalwart efforts of brave men like him. Nathan is so good at what he does, or at least he thinks he is, that he’s become the star of his own huntin’ show ala Ted Nugent complete with southern accent and cowboy hat. There are currently five episodes available ranging from four to five minutes long that cover such topics as an introduction to zombie hunting and camouflage, a side parody of body sprays and their effects on zombies of the fairer sex, and two episodes dealing with the competitive side of zombie hunting with Nathan’s arch rival, Billy Boone.
Now, let’s break these down for you. First, “Fields of Rot” is based on a journal-styled novella Mr. Dedman wrote and is available at Amazon. I must admit I’m not familiar with the work so I can’t compare the two, but the premise seems sound enough that zombie fans may want to fork over the $0.99 and have a gander for themselves. As for the web series, it doesn’t really seem to know where it wants to go. The first episode comes off as zombie video game homage, even going so far as to give us scores when zombies are killed and hero stats.
The second episode is more of the same, though thankfully without most of the game trappings. The third episode is a big departure from the previous two, and coincidently the best of them, and gets much more real in both story and presentation as it moves away from the world-threatening, yawning gates of hell and gets more personal. The rest are more recapping the story and character points than anything else.
The technical side of things is a little hard to digest, with much of the first and last episodes suffering from the digital addition of outdoor backgrounds while obviously being recorded indoors. The look and feel of the series is much better when they move things off the impromptu sound stage and into the real world as in episode three. Though the sound quality is still a bit on the soft and echo side, the use of real sets and actual movement gives the actors more reality to work with and makes for a much better production. Re-recording the dialog, with even free audio software and a cheap mike, and dubbing it back in would’ve been preferable to the current quality. If you’re a zombie and/or indie web series fan I’d certainly tell you to give this series a look and/or check out Mr. Dedman’s novelization of his world. Non-zombie fans or those that can’t hack “House of the Dead”-styled amateur film may not get as much out of it.
Now, on to “Zombie Hunter”; as I said before, I’m not feeling the supposed connection between the two series’. Where “Fields of Rot” tries to establish a foundation as to where the zombies come from and gives them a satanic overtone, “Zombie Hunter” comes off as much more a fun parody of the genre. While it shares actors with “Fields of Rot”, most notably Elvis Quintero as the lead Nathan Greene, it doesn’t even try to have an insidious back story other than zombies exist and it’s Nathan’s job to kill them and show us how he does it. All of this is done in a southern-styled drawl with heavy nods to hunting shows and the ‘Nuge. Here, we’re treated to Nathan’s running commentary as he tracks and faces the dead and makes enemies along the way with another zombie hunter. Quintero’s acting chops are what you would expect for the medium and genre, but it’s obvious he and everybody involved were having a hell of a good time putting this together so I’m more than willing to cut slack where slack is due.
Technically speaking, “Zombie Hunter” is an improvement over “Fields of Rot”, mostly because Dedman doesn’t rely on inserted backgrounds and fake outdoor themes. The series is mostly filmed outdoors, removing many of the digital background issues of the previous series. It does create new sound problems though, especially with wind noise and quality issues. Both series use CGI to make their airsoft guns and blood splatters come to life and suffer from the same quality issues here we’ve all come to expect. The few instances of static physical effects are actually pretty good and stay with the “less is more” approach, though, and it’s obvious Dedman and his crew took care to make them presentable for the camera.
Overall, “Hunter” is the better-produced and more solid of the two series’, though at least episode three of “Fields” should really get a view as well. If you like the various and numerous “zomcom” (fuuuuuuuck….) youtube selections out there then you’ll certainly find either series (though especially “Zombie Hunter”) enjoyable. You can watch both in their entirety in under an hour, and don’t tell me many of you have so many other pressing items on your itinerary that you don’t spend more time than that playing “Angry Birds” in a day.
By all appearances, “Zombie Hunter” is still trying to get more episodes off the ground. If you’re a fan of this style of indie work make sure you stop by and give them a look. If you like what you see, drop a dime or two in the cup and help Dedman and company get more episodes off the ground, if for no other reason than to get Nathan and Billy to square off again on-camera.
Well, that wraps up my foray into the wide, wild world of web-based zombies for now. Make sure you’re checking out all the great stuff hanging around the blog… hey, looks like Rot did some remodeling around here… sorry, got distracted. Anyway, you should also be listening to The Witch’s Hat family of podcasts as well for news, views and reviews of what’s going on in the genres. With that, and a tip of my imaginary hat to Keely, Misfit Boy, Root, Kyle and whoever else is hiding behind all the little boxes, windows and embeds around here, this has been biguglyhairyscary saying, see ya, kids.
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