Probably the most offensive zombie movie ever made, “Special Dead” is bound to piss off a lot of people while giving others cause to cheer.
As if they didn’t have enough problems, the inhabitants of a camp for mentally handicapped kids, Camp Special Dude, find themselves having to deal with a zombie infestation. When the s**t and the popsicle stick art projects hit the fan, a small group of counselors and camp members fight their way through the living dead to safety.
It’s a nice, simple set-up, executed with a brash display of sex, gore and disrespect for the handicapped, or anyone else for that matter…living or dead. The tone of the film is in your face rude as the camp counselors are all over-sexed meatheads with actress Amy Wade providing the most entertaining performance as one such over-sexed meathead as she lusts after fellow counselor and hero of the film – uber-tough guy and cocksman supreme Machiavelli Stone, played by Jay Brubaker. Gia Natale and Anthony Rutowicz also turn in surprisingly lovable performances as a couple of handicampers struggling to survive the zombie invasion. See? So you can have something lovable in a movie as offensive as this one and these two actors prove that by playing their characters as more than just drooling goofballs.
It’s a very basic run-hide-run-scream-run-die type of flick. The danger of monotony is always an issue with these movies, but for the most part “Special Dead” avoids boring its audience by loading it up with tons of attitude, gore and dark humor. All in all, it’s a fun, trashy ride not for the easily offended, and not for the squeamish, and not for the sexually timid, and…basically, if you have a stick up your a*s, “Special Dead” is not for you. If you have a good sense of humor (especially one with a helluva mean streak) and you love zombies, then heaven awaits you at Camp Special Dude.
