A virus, the mad-cow disease, causes cows to run amuck, killing every man in sight. Now the virus has found a way to spread to humans, turning the infected human into a flesheating zombie. Driving through the Irish countryside Spanish tourist Marian Araujo and her beardy boyfriend accidentally runs over a zombie. Not knowing the guy is a zombie they decide to bring thim to the hospital but before they can do so the boyfriend is bitten and zombiefied, leaving Marian running for help. So she runs into Desmond the local gravedigger and together they try to fight their way to his house for safety. Well there, it's full of zombies as well. What to do, what to do.

This is a great little homemade Irish zombie surprise. Young director Conor McMahon has clearly wanted to make a tribute to the favorites of the genre but has also fully understood what it's all about and what made the classics so good, hence avoiding being so wearily tiresome as so many others can be. He just keeps it simple and old-fashioned, doesn't try to bring anything new to the genre (except for the killer cow twist) and it's basically the Night of the Living Dead plot done with the style of early Peter Jackson and with all the grittiness of a Lucio Fulci-movie. It's traditional yet still fresh, tounge-in-cheek but not too much. The obligatory homages to George Romero, a screwdriver in the ear or a clown-zombie, are all tastefully done, just enough to let the fans take notice. The last third feels a little drawn-out perhaps and some of the characters are just weird (like the girl who almost look like a zombie but mostly like a guy in drag), but if you're a fan of the old zombie movies from the '70s you'll feel right at home with Dead Meat. Recommended.

© The Inzomniac's Movie Madness Review.