My copy of RPM's “Dead in the Water” arrived on Monday and the first thing that I noticed was the cover art. The package work was quite attractive and professionally done, clearly a step above a majority of the direct to disc artwork adorning the shelves of local video stores today.

I feel almost compelled to sugar coat this review, knowing personally the director and screenplay author. It would however do them a huge disservice by not being completely honest.

Is Dead in the Water the best horror film to come about in ages? No, but it is a refreshingly written piece of film that crosses several genres successively. A clever mix of horror and drama and splashes of comedy reminiscent of early Sam Raimi without the excessive gore, though there is plenty strewn throughout the films 72 minute runtime.

The general premise of Dead isn't anything that hasn't been done before. Teens show up at a remote cabin in the woods only to discover their parents are missing, their cell phones don't work and in typical horror fashion cars won't start. Before long zombies run amok terrorizing the cast as day fades to night and the cast is left no other choice but to solve the mystery of the living dead and fight their way out of the woods if they are to stay alive.

All the actors are competent and fare better than some of the B-film stars in mainstream DTD releases.

The cinematography in the film is simply beautiful as is the sound effects. Sweeping shots of the Wisconsin watershed area accompanied with the sounds of a loon cry made me want to plan a trip to this beautiful location for my next vacation. The film, which was shot completely digital results in a crisp picture, the color palate is astounding with deep hues and vibrant bright.

The sound is decent, background sound effects, the guttural cry of the zombies and the more subtle sounds come across wonderfully while many of the softer spoken pieces of dialogue are lost on the wind. I had to rewind several times and blast the volume to catch what the actors were saying.

Marc Buhmann proves himself as a competent director and this is evident in the outtakes section and behind the scenes as he guides the players with compassionate yet firm tutelage.

The screenplay by David Moore plays out nicely, not having seen the actual script I wonder how much was edited. At times the film seems to be moving ahead of itself and revelations are announced on the fly without much speculation on the characters part. What is identified as fact in one scene is dismissed as coincidence later on and though this is meant as plot twists it comes across acted out as inconsistencies.

David Moore was credited as script supervisor and keeps the films continuity tightly under grasp. A few things slipped by that caused a momentary lapse of immersion.

After having broken the cabin window to gain access in the early part of the film one of the characters later threatens to lock her boyfriend out if he doesn't come inside.

There are some exceptionally filmed moments that work extremely well in this film that show tremendous promise of things to come from this film company. The standout pieces are metaphorical. In one scene two sisters are at odds over a man and talk to each other with a door separating them emphasizing a wedge driven between the family. The best scene of the movie occurs during this interaction and has true fear in it.

There is a similar scene where the lead female stares at the decayed body of her mother now in zombie mode through a plate glass window. A quick flashback shows the mother as she was prior to zombification, sweet, happy and loving. Now through the glass the daughter sees the mother, a former shadow of the woman who raised her, staring back and they touch hands separated only by a thin invisible wall. This scene works effectively at tugging at the heartstrings and drives home the point of acknowledging those you love while you have them.

The film is rife with teen angst and drama and witty dialogue that could fit comfortably in a Gilmore Girls episode if the Gilmore Girls were overrun by the undead. (Personally I'd like to see that.)

Back to the cast: The performances were at times over the top, at other times not over the top enough. When any normal person would be screaming bloody murder our characters crack jokes. The levity is fine and provides just enough of a break before the scares begin again. And there are good scares in this film.

The characters are for the most part likeable and Dead strays from convention and does the unthinkable when it comes to the 2 characters with any sense of morals. Proof that in this film NO ONE is safe. The characters are for the most part cookie cutter of the genre. We have the compassionate family-friendly older sister Jennica who frowns on her younger sister's lascivious lifestyle and doesn't hesitate to point out that her younger sibling is indeed a whore as she does so many times throughout the movie. There is of course the whore who prefers to live for the moment and think about the consequences later and she brings along with her the flavor of the week, the son of a preacher man who by first hand account is nothing more than a well endowed weekend fling. Her focus is clearly on her spinster-sister's boyfriend of 3 years who happens to be Mr. All-American who harbors a secret, a Dudley-Do-Right who done-did-wrong and now feels compelled to stay trapped in a relationship that isn't clearly defined.

All that was missing from the cast was a black guy who was supposed to be left for dead only to pop up in the final reel and announce... "This shit's whack! Kiss my black ass zombies!" just before he delivers the final blow to the undead saving the day. But, again, Dead strays from convention and cliché and is far better for it.