Writer: Steven C. Miller
Director: Steven C. Miller
Cast: Garrett Jones, Juliet Reeves, William Howard Bowman, Rowan Bousaid, Ashley Elizabeth Pierce
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Weinstein Company
Release Date: March 4, 2008
I love horror movies. I love horror movies that are labeled so gruesome that they aren’t able to be shown to mainstream audiences. However, one thing I don’t love is when a movie claims to be the scariest, nastiest thing I will ever see, and then turns out to be a yawn-fest not even capable of igniting one moment of adrenaline pumping fear.
Welcome to my hell, because Automaton Transfusion is officially as scary as watching your grandfather masturbate. Scratch that, because that would be pretty scary. It’s about as scary as watching him play shuffleboard. I’ve never watched gramps play that, but I imagine it’s not too scary.
I usually do not have hopes too high when it comes to zombie movies because I have seen enough to know that the storylines are all pretty similar. For one reason or another, zombies have overtaken an area. They are hungry and out for blood. They want to eat brains and other miscellaneous body parts. Most of the zombies succeed and get to eat people. One small group gets stuck in various buildings and tries to get away. Some do. Some don’t. All zombie movies are about like this. Unfortunately, seen one, seen em all. Automaton Transfusion is just like every other zombie movie in how the story unfolds, but for various other reasons, it’s much worse.
Release Information:
Automaton Transfustion is an independent film that was shot in exactly nine days, on location in Florida. It is actually set to be the first in a trilogy though with as bad as this one is, I am hoping that they rethink this idea. The film is known for its bad acting, poor special effects, and extremely low budget. I am not one to knock a budget usually, looking for the quality of the story above all else, but the acting and story leave much to be desired. Having bad special effects due to budget restraints only makes this move worse in the end.
Automaton Transfusion was released by the Weinstein Company. It has been available through Amazon since March 4, 2008, where it is available for under $20. You should also be able to pick it up at most major retailers.
The Automaton Transfusion Plot
Automaton Transfusion is a zombie movie. It differs from other zombie movies because it offers the appearance of a movie trying to do something different. It fails because nothing different in this genre ever happens or at least it does not happen here. In the past, there have been better or more entertaining zombie films. The Fidos are funnier and the 28 Days are scarier.
Automaton Transfusion, on the other hand, is just the leftovers of the bunch. It would have been hard to produce anything new with an amazingly small budget of only $30k, but with a bad script, poor actors, and non-existent spark, Miller would have been better taking the cash and using the $30k as the down payment on a house.
Things get rolling with our main characters Chris (Garrett Jones) and Jackie (Juliet Reeves). He is an alternative, outcast type and his girlfriend, surprisingly, is a cheerleader (think Grease, with less talented actors). Chris lives with his Dad (Kevin J. O’Neill), who is a doctor and works in a morgue. The first night of the film has Jackie going to a party with her preppie friends and Chris heading to the bigger city to see a band play with his friends, Tim (Rowan Bousaid) and Scott (William Howard Bowman).
The first sign that there is going to be trouble (at least the first sign, the boys notice) is that there is no traffic on the freeway during rush hour. They are at the bar soon enough. The only problem is that the zombies are there, as well, and they are hungry! Are you scared yet? No?! Yeah, me either.
So, the zombies want to eat their flesh. Shocked? No?! Me either. They do manage to escape though (the main character rule prevails) and Chris soon ends up finding Jackie. They manage to get to their high school where they attempt to fight off several zombies along the way. Random adults are tossed in to help the teenagers determine what has caused this terrible fate, but even when an explanation is given it does not mean a solution will be available.
Stephen C. Miller, the man who is responsible for this slop, had plans of making this a three part series so he ends it in the absolute most moronic way possible. Being a traditionalist when it comes to movies having a beginning, middle, and end, I managed to be even more disappointed because of the ending. All I have to say to Miller is, “way to go Jackass!”
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The video quality is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and is available in widescreen formatting. The film quality is atrocious and looks like one of the uploaded videos you might find on the Internet. It certainly does not appear to be DVD quality by any standard. Naturally, small budgets apply here, but this quality goes from soft to grainy with moments of blur and glare mixed in for some extra annoying effect.
The audio comes in with Dolby Digital English 5.1 sound with some optional subtitles that are available in both English and Spanish. You will need them because the sound ends up being disgustingly loud or altogether hard to hear. Like the visual transfer, the audio is nothing to write home about, especially if you are the one claiming the work.
Visual:
Audio: 
Bonus Features:
Like all bad movies, the special features are out in full force! Take your pick because this is likely the best part of the movie and they still aren’t very good. You will receive the typical features. The commentary comes courtesy of the writer/director and the producers. There are four deleted scenes, though it is easy to see why every one of them were deleted, as none of them add anything to the film. Two music videos are included, one for “Can You Hear Me Now” by Blinded Black and the other, “Aresenaholic” by Dancefloor Tragedy.
Finally, there are two larger special features. The first, “Trials and Tribulations: The Making of Automaton Trasfusion“, lasts for nearly 30 minutes and is a fairly complete look at how the film was made. “Suffer or Sacrifice” is a short film that was shot, edited, and scored all in 48 hours. Surprisingly enough, it does look like a two day movie. This was worse than the full-length film, I will give him that, though not by much.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
Automaton Transfusion was by far the worst movie that I have seen this year. I hope that it’s the worst film that I ever see because I honestly don’t think that I can ever handle seeing something worse than this. This movie wasn’t even really worth reviewing in this manner. I could have summed it up in five words. It sucks, don’t buy it. Enough said.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Movie, Slasher Flick, Horror Movie, Zombies, Military, Bad Films, DVD Review
