If you thought that Snakes on a Plane was the ultimate in in-flight terror, wait until you get a load of Flight Of The Living Dead—a silly, unpretentious, and delightfully gory tale of an outbreak of the undead on board a trans-Atlantic aircraft.

The trouble begins when spot of extreme turbulence causes a supposedly secure container in the hold (belonging to three unscrupulous scientists working on an experimental virus) to break open and release its deadly cargo—the body of an infected woman. Now, rather than relaxing on the red-eye as they had planned, the passengers on this particular overnight flight find themselves fighting for survival against an ever growing horde of bloodthirsty zombies.

What makes Flight of the Living Dead so fun is its no holds barred, anything goes approach, and its twisted sense of humour, which delivers laughs and scares in equal doses. The likable cast don't take things too seriously, and the sense of fun—like the virus in the film—is extremely infectious. Kevin J. O'Connor is particularly good as Frank Lee Strathmore, a criminal being transported to jail by nice-guy cop Truman Burrows (David Chisum). Frank is a very funny character—slimy, but quick witted—and he actually ends up being something of a hero.

Also worthy of mention are Kristen Kerr as the pretty stewardess heroine, Derek Webster as a pro-golfer who uses his impressive swing to great effect against the zombies, and Erick Avari (from TV's Heroes) as the scientist responsible for the outbreak, who eventually becomes a particularly memorable member of the walking dead.

Considering this is a relatively low-budget affair, the effects are uniformly good, with some impressive CGI shots of the aircraft in flight, and some nicely realised zombies. The reanimated corpses have disgustingly nasty bright yellow eyes, move pretty quickly (as in the recent Dawn of the Dead remake),and make a nasty screeching noise which, on it's own, is enough to make the hairs on your neck stand on end. The gore quotient is also more than adequate, with some lovely squishy effects including a zombie decapitation, an umbrella through the skull (where have I seen that done before???) and a half-zombie which walks on its hands.

I watched this film immediately after the much higher-budgeted and over-hyped Planet Terror, and whilst Rodriguez's film might have been the slicker of the two movies, Flight Of The Living Dead was more entertaining.

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

Bad, very bad...from the dialogue to the acting to the effects - as expected. The film offers nothing new to the genre, just a screaming, squealing gore fest.

An obvious cash-in on the *Insert Monster Here* On A Plane gimmick, Flight Of The Living Dead is about what you'd expect it to be.

The film has little or no plot, which is what you'd expect from a film of this type. Although, it is fun in parts, I must say. The Zombie-action is particularly entertaining. Once the film picks up, it never stops; the pacing is solid.

The practical special effects are pretty good, but the CGI is terrible and distracting.

The ending seems to leave the film open to a sequel. Let's hope that doesn't come to fruition.

If you're a die-hard fan of the zombie sub-genre of horror films, I'd recommend it to you; it's worth at least one watch. However, if you're just an avid fan of the genre, leave it on the shelf.

3/10