Dead Season is one of those rare no-budget zombie movies that gets it right. You can forgive the production values given it’s solid script and mostly effective cast. The hero, a dead ringer for Anthony Edwards named Scott Peat, isn’t your usual zombie movie hero. Instead, he’s a convincing enough everyman. Except for his godawful sledgehammer skills. Someone show that man how to hold a sledgehammer or he’s never going to level up. The heroine, who happens to the be the only character in the movie to wear shorts and I think I know why, is the weakest link. Imagine if Shelley Duvall was a hot redhead who couldn’t act.

One of Dead Season’s strengths is its use of Puerto Rico for a Dead Island style Caribbean zombie apocalypse. When it’s not trying so hard to be a Danny Boyle zombie movie with a John Murphy score, Dead Season has the downbeat conviction of an arthouse movie. It’s more concerned with the harsh reality of survival than the lurid fantasy of headshot special effects. If you’re going to make an amateur zombie movie, this the way to do it.

Dead Season is out now on DVD and video on demand.