Here we follow a young woman and a small band of country folk through the rolling hills of Ireland where a massive infectious disease has been unleashed after a "mad cow disease" outbreak. The group faces multiple gore-covered obstacles and horrifying twists on their mission to find shelter and safety. Mass armies of the living dead and even a group of prepubescent, birthday party girl zombies are only a couple of their challenges they face.

         When it comes to Dead Meat, there are three other films that come to mind. Peter Jackson's Bad Taste, Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead and Michele Soavi's Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore). There are multiple elements from all three of these films that seem to wiggle their way into Dead Meat, and this pleases me. Quick examples:

         Bad Taste - Remember the cheesy head props with gobs of gooey brains oozing out? You have loads of the same here!
         The Evil Dead - Many of Sam Raimi's ground-breaking camera shots have been recycled.
         Cemetery Man - The main character in Dead Meat is a shovel-wielding grave digger who can kill without remorse. It comes naturally as it does for Francesco Dellamorte.

         Don't get me wrong, I don't feel these films were intentionally copied or used as a template, but rather impacted the writer/director as a child and worked their ways into his style, which is normal for all filmmakers.
         Dead Meat has been brought to us through the mind of writer and director Conor McMahon. Although he is relatively new to the genre, he shows amazing talent in the arts of zombie decapitation, putrid rot and bodily dismemberment. Conor McMahon is a very down-to-earth guy. Seeing him behind the scenes and premiering the film on the DVD, I gained a serious respect for his dedication to the project and his kindness to the actors/crew. His camera work and unique style of directing provided a refreshing glow around the already watered down zombie genre. Yeah, the concept of a zombie-causing disease stemming from a specific form of livestock isn't exactly original, but McMahon pulls it off amazingly well!
         The cast is excellent. Especially Marian Araujo and David Muyllaert who play the damsel in distress and the shovel-wielding hero. Their convincing nature adds so much to the film that I fear the film would've been half as good without them. David Muyllaert is a mystery to me. This is the only film he's ever been involved with, but yet he's one of the best actors I've seen in quite awhile. What the fuck Muyllaert? Get in more horror films!
         One of the aspects which saves this film from being like all the other zombie flicks is that it's set in Ireland. How many zombie films have you seen that occur in Ireland? That's what I thought. The accents alone make the film feel refreshing and new. Add in the Irish countryside and some Irish hospitality and you have yourselves a winner. This film has officially made me want to visit Ireland.
         In conclusion, Dead Meat is a great film. I recommend it to all who love zombie films and especially those who enjoyed Peter Jackson's Bad Taste. Get this film and visit the zombie infested countryside of Ireland. I'll meet you there.