Users Picks DVD Releases Release Schedule Reviews Smartcine Picks Classics Home DVD REVIEW: AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION 03/02/08 In “Automaton Transfusion” writer/director Steven C. Miller wanted to bring something new to the zombie genre. However, with movies like “28 Days Later“, “Fido“, and “Diary of the Dead” this is not an easy thing to do. As a matter of fact, Steven C. Miller doesn’t introduce anything new. Although, it’s still impressive to see what Miller managed to create with a $30,000 budget. Chris (Garrett Jones) is the high school outcast whose father Dr. Swartz (Kevin J. O'Neill) works at the local morgue. Things have been looking up for Chris as he is now dating Jackie (Juliet Reeves), a cheerleader. Chris decides to skip a party that Jackie is going to and instead heads to the city to see a band with his best friends Scott (William Howard Bowman ) and Tim (Rowan Bousaid). As they head into the city, they notices that there aren’t any cars on the rode even thought it’s rush hour. Once they arrive at the bar, they encounter a huge group of zombies hungry for human flesh. After they escape, Chris and his friends head back into town to try and save his girlfriend. After a successfully rescue, Chris and Jackie seek refuge at their high school where they meet their school’s janitor who may hold not only the answers, but maybe even a solution. The worst thing about “Automaton Transfusion” is the video resolution, it’s only a little bit better than a Youtube video. For first time actors, the acting was decent. The pacing of the movie was excellent as it keeps things moving. However, many will be disappointed with Steven C. Miller incomplete ending. Miller wrote the movie as a trilogy and ends the movie with Chris cocking his shotgun and the screen fading to black with a “To Be Continued”. Steven C. Miller although wanting to be an original owes homage to Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later“. As Miller incorporates the same fast editing style first introduces by Boyle. Although Miller uses it to hide his lack of budget the effect helps build intensity in his scenes. The DVD includes a pretty good 25 minute documentary on the making of the movie that really gets into the process. It also includes a short film by Miller which he shot, edited and scored in two days. Four filler deleted scenes are include which were a good idea to leave on the cutting room floor. One of the deleted scenes is a death scene for director Steven C. Miller. The DVD also includes two music video by Blinded Black and Dancefloor Tragedy. Overall this movie has some exciting action scenes, excellent pacing, and a story that manages to entertain; for this the movie deserves three stars. But the lack of video quality and audio, brings this DVD down to two stars. Maybe for part two, Automaton Transfusion: Contingency, which is currently in production and slated for a 2009 release, they will have better equipment and a bigger budget. I’ll look forward to see it. VIDEO: Widescreen (1.66:1) AUDIO: English 5.1 (Dolby Digital). Subtitles - English and Spanish  - Optional   SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary with by writer/director Steven C. Miller and producers William Clevinger and Mark Thalman Trials and Tribulations: The Making of Automaton Transfusion. Director, cast and crew are shown in the process of making Automaton Transfusion. A must see for anyone who loves the film making process. (25:49) Deleted Scenes - 4 filler deleted scenes that doesn’t add anything to the story. 1. Mayhem Montage 2. House Party 3. Director Dead 4. Producer Dead   Suffer or Sacrifice: A short film by director Steven C. Miller. This film was part of The Florida 48 Hour Film Festival which means the movie was shot, edited and scored in 48 hours. The video does look like it was done in two days. I could barely watch 2 minutes of it.(4:54) Can You Hear Me Now: Music Video by Blinded Black Arsenaholic: Music Video By Dancefloor Tragedy RATING BREAK DOWN: FILM REVIEW VIDEO AUDIO BONUS FEATURES Review By Brad Peterson brad@smartcine.com   People Movie Review Automaton Transfusion   Cisco 50 Please enough with the shaky cam and enough of the high school kids story.The high school kids being stuck in a bad situation has been bled dry since the end of Buffy. Its been done to death. The movie was ok considering the budget, however story wise it wasnt as solid as its being hyped. Submit Your Movie Review  Name: Movie:   Rating: None 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Review:   MORE MOVIE REVIEWS >>> SMARTCINE.COM Director:  Steven C. Miller Writer: Steven C. Miller Genre:  Action Horror Duration:  1hr 15mins Staring:  Garrett Jones                  Juliet Reeves                  William Howard Bowman                  Rowan Bousaid                  Ashley Elizabeth Pierce                  Joel Hebner Producer: Geoffrey James Clark                      William Clevinger                      Jeremy McCormick Distributor: Weinstein Company Rating: Unrated Release Date:  March 4, 2008 OFFICIAL WEBSITE VIEW TRAILER BUY THE DVD DVD WIDESCREEN       Home | DVD | Advertising |  Press Kits submissions | Publishing All movie titles, pictures, etc... are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of their respective holders Copyright ©2007 The Entertainment Report Group