Tales of the Walking Dead

This post-apocalyptic-horror-anthology is yet another spin-off of the ever-expanding ‘The Walking Dead’ franchise - offering six tales of the gory, the unexpected and the downright weird. While each tale, comprised of a cast including Samantha Morton, Parker Posey, Anthony Edwards and Terry Crews among others, is distinctly different, viewers will have their own favourite, with three tales each on a 2-disc Blu-ray box set.

The first tale is ‘EVIE/JOE’ (Director: Ron Underwood), which - for the most part anyway - is essentially a two-hander, focusing on Joe (Terry Crews), a man who - together with his beloved dog - has been living sacked away in a bunker around the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. While leaving the bunker to take the dog for a walk, they are cornered by the Undead, which seem to be everywhere and although Joe bravely manages to fight them off, one of them kills his dog. Now completely on his own and without any companion whatsoever, he decides to embark on a 700-mile cross-country road trip in order to hook up with a former online-friend, Sandra (Kersti Bryan), who also happens to live in a bunker-like premise, albeit a very large and posh one, which we later found out. Off he rides on his super-duper motorbike complete with sidecar and equipped with all sorts of nifty extras. En route, he makes the acquaintance of a young woman called Evie (Olivia Munn) who, despite her outwardly friendly demeanour, ‘kidnaps’ Joe and it emerges that she, too, wishes to go travel cross-country in order to put her mind to rest concerning her former husband. And because she does not have a vehicle, Joe is now forced to take all sorts of detours although halfway through their journey, they gradually trust each other. While stocking up supplies in a near deserted town, Joe’s motorbike is stolen although the thief leaves a cute little baby goat behind, which they take along, now forced to walk and eventually they split up and literally go their own way, with Evie carrying the baby goat. After a seemingly endless walk, Joe reaches Sandra’s underground pad and at first, things look cosy and there’s even a whiff of romance in the air. But Joe has no idea that the food Sandra just served him has been heavily drugged and that due to months and months of self-imposed solitary confinement, Sandra has turned into a deranged serial-killer, luring former online acquaintances (male of course) into her deadly lair… Now it’s Joe’s turn and just as his fate seems sealed, Evie happens to stumble upon Sandra’s place thanks to her having taken a wrong turn…

‘BLAIR/GINA’ (Director: Michael Satrazemis) is as bonkers as it gets. A time loop story of sorts, this tale focuses on Blair Crawford (Parker Posey), the bossy boss (no pun intended) of an insurance company who, by and large, seems to get along with her staff except with receptionist Gina (Jillian Bell). Clearly, there’s no love lost between them and Blair never misses a chance when it comes to humiliating Gina in front of her co-workers - be it because of missing mugs (which bear the company logo) or other things which are a mere trifle. It’s Christmas time and Blair is about to drive away for a seasonal weekend break with her beau, Brian (Matt Medrano). In a generous mood, she allows her co-worker to go home early except for Gina of course, who is tasked with staying behind and answering phone calls and locking the door. When Blair and Brian stop at a petrol station store, she suddenly spots Gina getting out of her car and walking into the store. What is she doing there when she is supposed to be in the office? She explains that she needs to purchase some snacks for herself, seeing how Blair had neglected to get the vending machine back in the office, which had been broken for weeks, fixed. As the two begin to argue, a fuel tanker truck appears and triggers some deja vu experience in both women, with fatal consequences. Alas, shortly after we find ourselves back in the office again where a similar scenario begins and also ends at the petrol station, this time round with a slightly different outcome but just as fatal… It’s like a groundhog day scenario, only ever with different outcomes. Can Blair and Gina alter fate and save themselves (not to mention the many people stuck in a traffic jam underneath a bridge, which are attacked by Walkers…

‘DEE’ (Director: Michael Satrazemis) is boxing clever and stars Samantha Morton… what’s not to like! This one is a prequel if you will, depicting Sam Morton’s character Dee before she morphed in Alpha of the Whisperers. Predominantly set on a community steamboat, surrounded by a treacherous swamp full of alligators and even more treacherous mainland (full of Walkers and such like…), Dee has her handful trying to protect her precious daughter Lydia (Scarlett Blum) from harm though ends up bitter and jealous upon realising that Lydia seems to get on much better with decidedly more glamorous looking and way friendlier boat resident Brooke (Lauren Glazier). The fact that Dee is always aggressive, on edge and ready to fight sets her miles apart from Brooke and matters aren’t helped that Dee had killed her husband (Lydia’s dad) for being ‘too weak’ - something her daughter never really forgave her for. Nonetheless, it’s precisely Dee’s constant suspicious attitude which alerts her to fellow boat resident Billy (Nick Basta) when, during a musical evening below deck, he plays bartender and converses with Dee - resulting in an argument with Brooke later that night on the upper deck, during which she remarks that “I don’t trust Billy”. Brooke dismisses Dee’s suspicions, which unfortunately turn out to be correct, namely when Billy and some of his mates attempt to seize control of the boat by taking the other residents hostage and start shooting them. Dee, always thinking ahead, has already managed to hide Lydia in a lifeboat and, cutting the ropes, rows to the mainland where it doesn’t take long for Walkers to appear and she tries in vain to teach her traumatised daughter survival skills. As they wander along, they discover Brooke, who had also managed to escape by jumping into the swamp and swimming to the shore (it would seem the alligators feasted on less lucky victims). Now, the two women play out their final confrontation, with the presence of Lydia responsible for Dee’s ultimate fate….

Disc 2 kicks off with ‘AMY/DR. EVERETT’ (Director: Haifaa al-Mansour) in what is pretty much another two-hander. Here, reclusive nature documentarian and scientist Dr. Everett (Anthony Edwards) is of the belief that the undead, which inhabit the so-called Dead Sector formerly known as the Wiregrass region, needn’t be the enemy everything thinks they are. In fact, he feels that while humanity as we know it is in danger, the undead, which he has dubbed Homo mortuus, will play a massive part in the next stage of nature’s evolution. He accompanies a young woman named Amy (Poppy Liu), whose life he saved when she found herself attacked by Walkers but soon the pair begin to quarrel and disagree: while Everett’s priority is finding and then saving one of his missing research specimens, Specimen 21, Amy’s priority lies in warning and saving her friends, who happen to camp in an no-go zone. Everett attempts to stop her from her plan. After another blazing row, Amy sets off on her own. If only she’d listened to Dr. Everett…

‘DAVON’ (Director: Michael Satrazemis) offers an interesting premise in so far as it concerns a young man called Davon (Jessie T. Usher) who, in a small town in Maine, gains consciousness after temporary amnesia, complete with a nasty head wound and finding himself shackled to a dead woman named Amanda (Embeth Davidtz). Through flashbacks, we find out how Davon got to be in this most unfortunate of situations to begin with and what follows is a truly nasty tale full of false accusations and a hell lot of shouting.

Finally, ‘LA DONA’ (Director: Deborah Kampmeier) is the odd one out in so far that it feels more like a ghost story rather than a tale of the Undead. That’s not to say it’s disappointing, far from it - together with ‘DEE’, this really is one of the very best tales! When loved-up couple Idalia (Daniella Pineda) and Eric (Danny Ramirez) are trying to escape some Walkers, it would appear that luck is on their side when, just in the nick of time, they find refuge in the house (more like a luxury pad) of of its elderly owner, Dona Alma (Julie Carmen). Ignoring the fact that the entire house is filled with crucifixes and other religious artefacts, the couple are looking for as sign of life and there must be one, as countless candles are lit in practically every room. Finally, the owner herself appears although she doesn’t seem too happy about the unexpected intrusion (would you be?). Nonetheless, she is kind enough to allow Idalia and Eric to stay for the night and even offers them dinner, but is adamant that they must leave the house the following morning. Idalia half agrees to Alma’s demands but Eric takes a different stance, pointing out that if they have to leave the house again, it would mean a death sentence as the house is surrounded by the undead. Still, Alma keeps on insisting and in the ensuing heated argument, Eric grabs her angrily, causing Alma to suffer from a sudden heart attack which causes her to stumble and knock her head against the heavy table leg. Now as dead as dead can be (yeah, right…), Idalia and Eric have unexpectedly ‘inherited’ the house of the old lady, complete with her pet parrot. But not is all as it seems and soon, dark forces begin to play havoc with Idalia and Eric’s mind, causing terrifying hallucinations. Soon, the couple turn on each other but that’s nothing compared to the ghostly apparition of Dona Alma appearing in the doorframe…or is it an apparition?

TALES OF THE WALKING DEAD is the perfect Christmas present for all those who like some spooky tales over the festive season. It’s part of Acorn Media International ‘Christmas Crackers’ Bumper Box Sets - perfect for binge lovers, with other monster franchise box sets including ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon 1-3’ / The Walking Dead: Dead City 1 & 2’ / Anne Rice’s ‘Interview with the Vampire 1 & 2’ and Anne Rice’s ‘Mayfair Witches 1 & 2’.