What a great zombie movie (actually a 5 part series). Pros: gorecharacters you care aboutgreat overall ideatensiongood jump scaresCons: fast zombies, but hey, they work herethe Patrick character is way over the top. I get that's what they were going for but I would have shot the bastard.

DEAD SET is a TV horror from writer and journalist Charlie Brooker, positing a zombie outbreak at the same time a group of residents are living in the BIG BROTHER house. It sounds like a decent premise and it is, but I was slightly disappointed by the execution which is routine rather than electrifying.Brooker is well known for his satirical works so there's plenty of social commentary here about fame in the modern world, alongside swipes at BIG BROTHER itself. The zombie stuff is less impressive and rather straightforward, although it's also very gory to make up for deficiencies in the scripting. And the shouty, sweary script really is tiresome and predictable, failing to give any of the characters any kind of choice dialogue.It's a pity that the script is below par, because there are some impressive faces here: the reliable old-timer Kevin Eldon continues to do well, and Riz Ahmed's in it too. And it's hard to resist a show in which Davina McCall gets her just desserts. But in the end, other than the premise, I didn't find DEAD SET to be particularly engaging or memorable, just mean-spirited throughout.

What's not to like about a sudden zombie apocalypse trolling the attention seeking celeb wannabe contestants of a burned out reality TV gameshow? What's even better was that they used Channel 4's Big Brother and its original host to completely and utterly take the mick out of the tragically useless stereotypes that get picked for this show every year. Kevin Eldon did a fantastic job especially, portraying the miserable armchair politician type with a crush without a hope.Dead Set takes a few good actors, a few television comics, and a brilliant special effects workshop and makes one of the best British efforts in horror there's been since 28 Days Later.The great cinematography lends a lot of suspense and atmosphere, all in the right places (when it's taking itself seriously). The gore is fantastic and well executed, and the whole film - even the funny parts - are bleak.What cheapens it for me is how quickly survival leads good characters into the clichéd survival mode reserved for Americans in B-movies. That ultimately leads to the movie's predictable ending with people dying stupidly where they don't die horrifically, but the comedy element somewhat balances that with equal measure.I don't know if it was supposed to have some message at the end, but the one I took away was along the lines of "good, Davina's dead, let's put something else on the telly!" Never happened.

Given the stunning success of "The Walking Dead" over the past several years, someone's really missing a trick not getting a quality Region 1 release into the pipeline. Yes, I've learned there's an all-regions edition out there, but I don't believe it's been distributed widely, and in any case it certainly hasn't been promoted very well. "Dead Set" is a fine, fine little apocalyptic adventure centered on the travails of a reality-TV cast and crew beset by ravenous zombie hordes ala "28 Days Later." Yep, we've got "zoombies" here, but strangely enough, despite being a purist who distinctly favors Romero-style shamblers, I didn't have a problem with that. The acting is solid, especially lead Jaime "Made in Dagenham" Winstone and primary antagonist Andy "Kick-Ass 2" Nyman, the plot and pacing quite good (ignore the ADHD namby-pambies who whine that the set-up is too long), and the production values of a piece, especially for what is essentially low- budget TV. Any zombie fan worthy of the name should enjoy this one, and, yes, I'd love to see a follow-up of some kind. Recommended.