If you are one of those interesting people who are interested in zombie movies, you would have watched many of them in the course of your eccentric days; movies like Dawn of the Dead, Wicked Little Things, Zombieland and even the mega-budget Brad Pitt starrer World War Z, at $125 million released only in June last year. Compare this with the budget of would you believe it $5,000 that the makers spent for Bath Salt Zombies and you know Bath Salt Zombies is special.
Dustin Mills, the Director
Director Dustin Wayde Mills is not new to zombie movies. His Zombi A-hole was not a huge success though it had received some positive reviews. Brandon Salkil and Josh Eal were the leading actors in it too.
The Killer Drug
Richie (Salkil) lives in New York and, like many other guys in the city, cannot survive without the designer drug named bath salts. The users, suppliers and dealers have all shifted to New York following the crackdown in the South-West U.S. Riche visits his regular supplier to get a fix and the latter hands him a free sample pack of salts in a cigarette form. This new strain turns those who take it into zombies who will stop at nothing and kill anyone they came across. Jos Eal (Agent Forster) is from Drugs Enforcement Agency who is trying to locate the source of the new strain.
The Plot Thickens
Richie smokes the cigarette in a friend’s apartment and soon attacks and kills her after ripping her face off. Her boyfriend is killed too. Richie, when he regains his faculty, finds himself in the bath at his house but does not remember anything that he had done. He recalls the events after a while and gets rid of the rest of the pack. However, due to the addictive nature of the cigarette, he gets hold of another pack from his supplier. His unfeeling disposition eggs him on to more violence and more killing. Agent Forster meanwhile is running against time. Richie may even cause a killing on a mass scale. Will Forster be able to stop him? That is for you to find out.
The Verdict
Given the ridiculously low budget that the movie had been shot with, one cannot dismiss it
outright as inconsequential. It is no masterpiece and that is readily conceded. While the concept is not fresh out the oven, it is not stale either. The search for the source of danger is full of excitement and the conflict is well etched out. Special effects are surprisingly good when you consider the budget constraints. Some people may be put off by the gore that is strewn around all through the movie but it cannot be labeled too horrific.
Watch It
The cartoon lasting five minutes as intro is fun-watching. Though the movie is only 59 minutes long, it is a bit slow. Some scenes are too long but before you realize it, the story moves on. The narrative flows without any hitch mainly because there are not many characters and there is no subplot. It may not be in the class of the old Dracula movies but it has its own merits.
Written By:
Erik Whale designs minimal posters for bollywood movies under the social media campaigns of erosnow.com. He studied illustrations at NY and honed his skill by offering freelance services.
