When it comes to zombie movies, there is very little that the audience asks of those who release their films. If one is going to have zombies in their picture, the least they can do is have them look like zombies and in The Chilling, the makers of this film were not even able to do that.

Does that mean it was terrible? Not in and of itself, for the rest could have been gold and the movie might have been pretty good but sadly, the rest of what made it to the big screen was not. The ingredients to make a good film were here – Linda Blair of all people was present and accounted for and even Dan Haggerty, Grizzly Adams himself would star within. There were zombies and cryogenics and an evil villain who was harvesting organs for the black market as played by Troy Donahue and he was as smarmy as one could imagine. What was missing was a good script that would tie this all together into a movie one might enjoy. At the very least, it was coherent as one event would lead into the next as cliched as it might have been and that too could have been improved to set itself apart from other zombie films but there are only so many things one can do with the undead.

To truly appreciate just how bad the dialogue in this affair was, one simply has to look at the two security guards who would be there at the beginning of the zombie outbreak. They sit in their guard shack, playing cards and whatnot, having fun like old friends. As the outbreak comes into play, the discourse between the two is all over the map and is one of the most uneven exchanges to ever take place in any film. Factor in the tinfoil zombies with green facepaint and one has almost had enough before the movie is even halfway through.

The only reason to pick The Chilling up is for those avid viewers who need to have everything Linda Blair has ever been in or for those who really love Haggerty. There is little to enjoy about this picture even though one really wants to and at the end of the day, it is a shame it could not have been better than it was.

1 out of 5