Zombie fans take note. A couple of days ago I was sent an email by Scott Goldberg. He is an independent filmmaker from Nassau County, Long Island who has a passion for horror, particularly zombie flicks. Back in September of 2005, Fangoria posted an article announcing that The Day They Came Back was in production, and would be available on DVD February 14, 2006 (that date is subject to change). Well not only is the film completed - its available for everyone to watch, for free, at his website! So rare is it, that I get a chance to review a short film or independent feature, and then provide you with a link to see the movie for yourself. That beautiful day has finally come!

The Day They Came Back is a 22 minute film, shot on a $3,000 budget - what Scott accomplished as an end result is nothing short of a filmmaking miracle. The film stars Paul Kratka (who played Rick in Friday the 13th Part III), Chiko Mendez (of Saturday Night Live), Caley Bisson, Brandon Hannan, Paula Kaiser, and Mavank Saxena. I grew up on Long Island, a huge fan of Romero and Fulci. There’s a lot of open fields and woods behind our home, and my friends and I would often fantasize about making a zombie invasion film, wondering how it would all play out if it actually happened. Well, Scott Goldberg came through. This is the story of four kids, who wake up on Halloween, only to find that the population is returning from death and hunting the living in search of warm flesh. The plot goes even deeper to explain that the plague can be traced back to a long-abandoned military compound where a Special Ops sergeant is avenging the death of his father.

The soundtrack by Marinho Nobre is commendable, and has that zombies-everywhere, dark, desperation feeling to it. The cinematography was key as well. Red skies, sunsets, and sparse, backyard woodlands litter the scenery - giving a very Halloweenish, or at least macabre, atmosphere to the settings. The special effects for the walking dead, and the victims, were absolutely outstanding, given the budget. The skins of the undead were gray, rotted and smelly looking. Scott says that toilet paper and liquid latex go great together for that flaking dead skin effect. The victims of the onslaught, discovered in Jack and Phil’s front yard upon outbreak, were Gates of Hell quality. The color of the flesh and gore, the blood pumping from quivering, dismembered corpses was right on. The feasted victims and their intestines - sometimes you felt like you were looking at a string of hotdogs - but the juicy red, flesh shredding eye candy was available for all splatter fans to soak in. That’s important in a zombie flick. Nobody wants to “imagine” the death scenes. We want to see it.

If nothing else, this is a great low-budget achievement, and on top of it all, we have a chance to view it online, for free. That is a sweet gift. Most filmmakers keep their projects considerably unavailable to the immediate public, as they search and hope for a distributor. Scott Goldberg has done it right. What he will get back in fandom, appreciation and coverage in the future will pay off beyond the $3,000 spent to create this short film. I, for one, will always have a special place in my heart for filmmakers who just want to get their work out to the fans that fuel the industry. Its nice to come home, find a link on a great horror website like HoH in this case, and just click on over to a cool low-budget zombie film that you can watch from the comfort of your own home. Goldberg can take comfort in the fact, that even as zombie film fans hit his website and view his work, The Day They Came Back immediately takes its place in fans’ mental libraries of good horror, alongside Romero’s Dead series and anything else they’ve seen over the years. With this short film, he takes claim to the backyard, neighborhood zombie invasion film, from a younger perspective, as many of us have played out in our imaginations countless times before.

There are one or two slight drawbacks to the film which are harmless - but at the same time exploit the fact that this is an amateur creation none-the-less. Co-writer and actor Caley Bisson, who plays one of the main characters Phil Cardille, comes across monotone - with the same, unchanging squinty expression on his face throughout the film. Unfortunately, he resembles Tom Cruise a little too much, and his acting is pretty drab and lifeless. Besides, any guy trying to get some from a chick, on a cliff in the woods while their friends are being devoured by the undead, is one lame-ass player that needs to be taken out in a long and painful manner. And with that in mind, without spoiling anything, enjoy this film’s superior ending.

I’ll be very interested to see Chiko Mendez’s future work with Goldberg, as he has signed on to act in more than two other Goldberg projects as we go into 2006. Perhaps it was the iron will of his character, but Seargent Enrique Hernandez was emotionless and drab. You couldn’t care less what happens to this guy, and the film works around him as much as it does the character Phil. One saving grace is Friday the 13th 3D alumni Paul Kratka, who played Investigating Detective Jason Ronner. His etched hollywood face portrayed the upper eschelon of society’s lawman well - he was intense when brutalizing Phil, and cold when the time came in the end.

So enough chit chat! If you haven’t already skipped the review to get to the link, here it is. . I want to thank him and his website, www.scottgoldbergfilms.com , for the images and the information provided. Anyone interested in amateur filmmaking should go by his site, if for nothing else, to read the actors and actresses experiences, the lengthy coverage and information on his projects. Its a valuable insight to anyone who has ever even considered trying to create a zombie film of their own.

Click here to watch The Day They Came Back, by Scott Goldberg

CAST

Paul Kratka as Detective Jason Ronner
Chiko Mendez as Sergeant Enrique Hernandez / Lt. Rafael Hernandez
Paula Kaiser as Private Dana Jolston
Marlene Villafane as Private Gaylen Rockman
Caley Bisson as Phil Cardille
Mayank Saxena as Jack Cardille
Jessica Lynn Johnson as Danielle Stevenson
Brandon Hannan as Brandon Stevenson
Kristen Spaeth as Amanda Stevenson
Kate Dillingham as Jamie Harris

Director of Photography Scott Goldberg
Produced by Scott Goldberg, Helena Proimos, John Robert Mariani, Jason Costanzo and Chiko Mendez