Maybe I’m being overly sensitive, but this bothers me. 

We previously covered what I deemed a zombies in Africa feature film titled The Dead, which toured the international film festival circuit successfully, and was released last year, reportedly grossing some $10 million worldwide. 

Impressive for a film of its size, budget ($150,000) and awareness; and likely thanks in part to its success, the filmmaker have made a sequel which will be making its world premiere at FrightFest in the UK next month, titled The Dead 2: India. 

Yes, the filmmakers (brothers Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford) are taking this act from West Africa (the first one was shot mostly in Burkina Faso and Ghana) to India. 

And just like the first film, the sequel set in India features a lone white male lead, who finds himself battling the living dead (made of entirely of Indians). According to the synop, he’s a British engineer who must trek from across the country to save his pregnant girlfriend, and unborn child, and, of course, it’s a suicide journey, given the devastating “Indian zombie outbreak” that’s taken over the country.

The first sentence of the synopsis takes the cake:

Another darkly mysterious Continent becomes an inhospitable and dangerous dead zone in the highly anticipated follow-up to the award-winning Ford Brothers’ critically acclaimed zombie road movie THE DEAD. 

Another darkly and mysterious continent… etc.

I despise that description immensely. I’m not Asian, but this is pretty much the same description that was used to describe the first film that was set in Africa, that other darkly and mysterious continent, which also starred a lone white male lead – an American, killing off hordes of “African zombies.” The trailer itself made me uncomfortable. 

There’s an imperialist stench to all of this that’s bothersome.

But, like I said, maybe I’m being overly sensitive, but I’m just calling it as I see it.  

District 9 (the “Aliens In Africa” project) I could swallow; but this one I’m having trouble with. And it looks like the filmmakers plan to continue with the Dead series as long as they’re successful. The question is what dark and mysterious continent will they set the third films next. They’re running out of them very quickly.