Because we are dedicated to honest customer opinions Dead Set (DVD), we have also included Amazon's customer reviews for this item (of which 5 are displayed below). Amazon customers have given Dead Set an average rating of 4.0/5.
Top Amazon Review
So very underrated.. I wish I could write a ground-breaking review for this thoroughly deserving horror, but after watching the entire list of episodes I truly am speechless. There's not much more I could add to the other 5 star reviews here anyway, but I really must insist that any zombie horror fan gives this DVD a go. I promise you won't be disappointed, I hate to say it but Dead Set beats anything by George Romero for me. It's refreshing to see such inspiring, incredible, original horror.
Customer Review 1
If a Zombie apocalypse would finaly see an end to the Big Brother franchise I'd say bring it on.. Watched most of this on C4. I'm not a BB fan. In fact as soon as the BB house came on i found myself wanting to turn over. I stuck it out for the zombie stuff but that was just as bad as the BB stuff. Lame characters, poor effects + BB. Not a good recipe for a horror program.
This was going to be the bit where I go on a rant about how bad Dead Set is but I just cant be bothred.
Basically if your an fan of films like Dawn of the dead (both remake and original)or have to watch anything by Romero and if you class yourself as a true horror fan or hate BB then Dead Sets not for you.
Loads of bad zombie stuff out there and this just adds to the collection.
I'd rather be a zombie than a BB contestant. That said there's probably not much difference between the two.
Customer Review 2
Accomplished, scary satire but the DVD leaves a little to be desired. Dead Set is a well-polished zombie production (particularly considering the limitations of it being an E4 TV series rather than a film) that rises above the zombie norm thanks to writer Charlie Brooker's wickedly satirical swipe at reality TV culture. What makes this work so well is just how easily and neatly the concepts of zombie horror and reality TV are married together. There's the stock characters, the pleasure/horror of voyeurism, the sly commentary on the idiocy of the general public...
However, whilst the series shows a great deal of knowledge of its obvious forebears, this sometimes means it comes across as highly derivative, particularly of Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later. Still, such is the cost of wanting to pay knowing homage to your predecessors, it seems.
As for DVD extras, the series includes about a dozen featurettes of varying quality. Some are semi-interesting interviews but a few are just compilations of behind-the-scenes footage that don't really communicate much of any value.
I'd be tempted to give the overall package four out of five, but I'm docking an entire star for the annoying decision to not include the feature length edit of the series that was shown on TV on Halloween. It seems a bit of an oversight to not allow people watching the DVD the chance to view the series as a 2-hour film. A "play all" option is available, but this means you're treated to the credits every half hour instead of a seamless product. This really is an irritating oversight.
Customer Review 3
Surprisingly Excellent. `Dead Set' is a TV show based around a fictional season of Big Brother during a zombie apocalypse. The remaining contestants as well as some of the production team try to survive in the only place that seems safe - the BB house.
I wasn't expecting much from this to be honest. I love zombie films but I despise Big Brother but I watched the opening episode on E4 a few weeks back and by the end I couldn't wait until the next night to watch the rest. I've since bought the DVD and watched it all again - it is that good! I thought as it is based around Big Brother it would probably be tongue-in-cheek and be similar to something like Shaun of the Dead (which I love, by the way) but it was more in the style of 28 Days/Weeks Later with its fast editing, vicious gore and is actually quite scary in parts. The special effects are great with some really gory scenes which really did turn my stomach at times. The setting of Britain in chaos was very well designed and felt very real. The acting from all of the cast is great too (hat's off to Andy Nyman who is especially superb in this).
Overall if you like zombie horror and would love to see Davina have her throat ripped out, then I can't recommend this highly enough!
Customer Review 4
Dead Set is dead good, even the zombies love it. I thought that there would never be a zombie epic to beat or even overshadow George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (apart from Shaun of the Dead) and now FINALLY I think we in Britain have finally got a film/TV movie/ mini series that does rival that. Dead set is a horror set around the Big Brother phenomenon and a terrifying real zombie apocalypse. The general public and the housemates even the crew of Big Brother become unknowingly involved in a vicious fight for survival as the dead start eating the entire British population one chunk at a time. I truly loved this, I love zombie movies (yes even the crap and extremely cheesy ones too) and this was the best millennium zombie based survival horror I have ever seen. As far as I was concerned the remake of Dawn of the Dead, remake of Day of the Dead, the new 3D version of Night of the living dead and every other `poser' zombie movie out there nowadays that doesn't fulfil the code of the zombie horror movie i.e. intense scenes and graphic gore, Dead set fulfils on all levels. Firstly the acting is great from Andy Nyman (severance) as the totally obnoxious producer of Big Brother Patrick to Jamie Winstone as the poor floor runner Kelly forced to become the heroine in charge of the survival of the housemates of the Big Brother house. Next I'll move to the gore. Don't think that just cause this was a made for TV movie that they skimp on the gore because they don't. I was very surprised by the gore and bloody carnage that they were allowed to put on the small screen. E4 have definitely pulled out their balls and had the guts (no pun intended) to show this movie he way we'd expect it to be seen in all its gutsy glory (again no pun intended.) Some of the effects rival that of Tom Savini's groundbreaking and very gruesome special FX on the original George A. Romero's Day of the Dead. I was in awe by what they were allowed to show on the screen and thank god they did. Next the social commentary that George included in Dawn is re-invented and used in Dead Set. How the characters talk about the zombies and how the zombies watch the revealing show via TV sets that they walk around finding their next meal and what society is reduced to. Lastly the zombies in this are genuinely chilling, they look menacing and vicious even at times somewhat evil and very ravenous... and I mean ravenous for human flesh (take note Resident Evil Trilogy) Yes even for the first time I can even pass the fact that these zombies can run and pretty damn fast. Just like the zombies from Dawn of the Dead remake, Day of the dead remake and 28 days/weeks later these will tear after you if you are seen and that is scary but although they can do that the slow style of zombie i.e. Romero's zombies are much more frightening than the fast future style zombies of today. The dark overtone of the story adds an air of dread to the atmospheric tension and terror that Dead Set has deep in the underbelly of Charlie Brooker's well thought out script. Britain proves that what Hollywood can do, with a bit of careful structure and preparation the UK can do it better. We did it with Shaun of the Dead which was a global hit and I believe that we can easily do it again with Dead Set when it finally reaches USA shores soon.
Dead Set is a thrilling gory exciting piece of UK style horror and should be seen to be believed.
