Dead 7 Review – Boybands Never Die

A dystopian future, a zombie army and 90’s boybands, what more could you ask for? Dead 7, a collaboration between Backstreet Boys, Nick Carter and produced by The Asylum, is a post-apocalyptic Western that follows a group of gunslingers as they look to protect the small town of Desert Springs from a voodoo priestess with an army of the dead.

Now, if you go into this movie looking for a super serious, high budget zombie action flick, you will not find what you are looking for. (Come on, it’s by the guys who made Sharknado!). Surprisingly, there’s also no singing or dancing in the movie if that’s what you were expecting from our beloved boybands.

Dead 7 is a camp movie that’s full of fun, and is very fast paced and full of zippy dialogue. Some might say it’s a rip off, but it’s more of an homage to The Magnificent Seven. It has some characters that are stereotypical in zombie franchises, the busty ass kicking girl, the ninja wannabe with swords etc, but this doesn’t bring the movie down, it just adds to the comedic side of it. It’s definitely not a movie to be taken seriously.
It starts out by filling us in on the situation, zombies (known affectionately as “copperheads”) have taken over and the world as we know it is over. From what we can see, the world has reverted back into a wild west society, with survivors using teeth as currency. We’re introduced to the villains, the terrifying Apocalypta (Debra Wilson) and her second in command, Johnny Vermillion (Backstreet Boys A.J. McLean). Apocalypta commands an army of the dead, and wants to take over. McLean does a fantastic job channeling his inner Joker as he portrays the psychotic and sassy clown-faced Johnny V.

The story is told in seven chapters, introducing our gunslingers. In chapter one, more familiar boyband faces start to appear, with 98°’s Jeff Timmons as Billy and N’Sync’s Chris Kirkpatrick as Mayor Shelby. We also meet Carrie Keagan, playing our main badass female, Daisy Jane.

They decide enough is enough and that Apocalypta needs to be stopped. They decide to gather their best and meet her head on.

From chapter two onwards, we are introduced to our team – Whiskey Joe, played by N’Sync’s Joey Fatone, an ass kicking cowboy who loves his whiskey just a little too much, the trigger happy Vaquero, played by Backstreet Boys Howie Dorough and the vigilante ninja Komodo, played by O-Town’s Erik-Michael Estrada. We also meet Komodo’s love interest Trixie, played by Chloe Lattanzi. O-Town’s Jacob Underwood, Trevor Penick and Dan Miller and No Authority’s Tommy McCarthy also make appearances as our team fights their way through hordes of zombies in mines, forests and even make a stop off in a brothel, much to Whiskey Joe’s delight.

Daisy Jane sends word to Billy’s brother Jack, played by Carter, in the hopes he will also join the team and he shows up in the nick of time (sorry, couldn’t resist) when they are under attack. Later on, we meet the mysterious priestess Sirene, played by Lauren Kitt-Carter (wife of Nick Carter) who reveals the origin of the zombies and their nickname ‘copperheads’.

Also, what’s a zombie movie without blood and guts? The zombie horde are made up really well and there’s plenty of headshots courtesy of our team, as well as lots of slasher action from the sword wielding Komodo as the team faces off against Apocalypta and her army. You’ll have to check out the movie to find out which side is victorious!

There are also lots of cameos, such as Delious Kennedy (of All-4-One), Art Alexakis (of Everclear), Frenchie Davis, Dylan Vox, Gerardo Mejia and Jon Secada. Some might argue that this movie relies too heavily on the cast and cameos to bring in viewers but in this reviewers opinion, it doesn’t rely on it, it’s just a bunch of well known stars having fun and doing what they do best – entertaining their fans. If you’re someone who grew up with these stars, then you’ll definitely enjoy it a lot.
Unfortunately, the DVD is only being released in America and Canada for now but you can check out Dead 7 on the Syfy channel.

Carrie Moon