TALES OF THE WALKING DEAD (2022)
Label: Acorn Media International
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Cert 15
Duration: 336 Minutes
Audio: English, French or Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with English, French or Spanish Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2:1)
Director: Ron Underwood, Michael E. Satrazemis, Haifaa al-Mansour, Deborah Kampmeier
Cast: Terry Crews, Olivia Munn, Parker Posey, Anthony Edwards, Jessie T. Usher, Danny Ramirez, Daniella Pineda, Jillian Bell, Poppy Liu, Samantha Morton
Tales of the Walking Dead (2022) was a six episode The Walking Dead spin-off anthology series that expanded the universe and was able to dabble in comedy, sci-fi and the supernatural in ways that none of the series proper could, free of series continuity and core characters with each episode being a one-off standalone entity, not connected to the main series, with he exception of episode three "Dee", which offers a origin story of The Walking Dead character Alpha (Samantha Morton).
First up is "Evie/Joe", which follows a doomsday prepper Joe (Terry Crews, Friday After Next) who after losing his beloved dog Gilligan to the walkers decides to leave his bunker on a 700 mile quest to find his online friend Sandra (Kersti Bryan) whom he connected with online in the immediate aftermath of apocalypse. On the road he encounters Evie (Olivia Munn, X-Men: Apocalypse) and together they embark on a road trip to each reconnect with people from their past, for him it's Sandra, for her it's her estranged husband. Neither find what they set out for, especially Joe who discovers that Sandra has gone murderously mental in the years since they communicated, but in the end the discover that they have each other. This one is generally quite a lighthearted road trip romp, but it does get quite dark with the demented Sandra luring Joe into her bunker.
Episode two "Blair/Gina" is set just as the apocalypse in unfolding, there are reports of violence erupting and we have nervous employees inside an insurance sales office in Atlanta, just across the street from the CDC, we have boss Blair (Parker Posey, Clockwatchers) and secretary Gina (Jillian Bell, Sausage Party: Foodtopia) who are quite hostile towards each other, but when they find themselves inexplicably caught-up in a time loop at gas station, they have to find a way to work together as they relive their deaths over and over again, usually by fiery explosion, until they find a way to break the loop. "Dee", episode three te1ls the the origin story of The Walking Dead character Alpha (Samantha Morton, The Harvest) is revealed when we meet her as a mother trying to protect her child Lydia (Scarlett Blum) and how she ended up with the Whispers. In "Amy/Dr. Everett" is an interesting one in that it pertains to scientist (Anthony Edwards, Revenge of the Living Dead) who post-apocalypse has dedicated his life to a solitary pursuit of documentation the behaviors of the dead, which he called 'homo mortuus', having given up on humans, until he meets Amy (Poppy Liu, Dog Man) who has become separated from her settlement, and she trues to convince to see the good in what is let of humanity, but he seems much happier being the David Attenborough of the undead.
Next is "Davon" a man (Jessie T. Usher, The Boys) who wakes up with a bloody head wound and shackled to a dead woman. He seemingly has temporary amnesia and as his memories start to trickle back int his mind he has flashbacks to the events which started a week earlier, the town people accuse him of murder and attempt to execute, he tries to clear his name, instinctually knowing he would never do such a heinous thing. This one has a claustrophobic small town vibe, with dreary damp woods and small town justice mobs looking to avenge the murder of their children, the truth is pretty twisted! Last of is another supernatural banger "La Doña", and yes, I realize that the undead are pretty supernatural already but the series proper never really explained the origin of the virus the re-animated the walkers, though spin-off shows certainly hint at it being manmade. Anyway, back to the series finale, a young couple Idalia (Daniella Pineda, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and Eric (Danny Ramirez, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) are trying to survive the apocalypse when they come upon a secluded house owned by the elderly Doña Alma who agrees to feed them and let them stay overnight, when Eric becomes angry that she won't them stay indefinitely she des after falling and hitting her head on a table. The couple decide to assume the home as it is well fortified, however, they have to deal with the irate spirit of of the elderly woman. This one has a terrific old dark house festooned with religious imagery, and includes a very spooky scene the Christ's on the mini crosses jumping right off the crucifixes on the wall to attack one of the invaders, it's super-creepy!
I really enjoyed this six episode anthology series, I like that you don't really need any familiarity with the show proper to enjoy it, the standalone episodes are handsomely produced, plenty of undead, lots of gore, and some interesting one-off stories that dabbled in territory not often treaded upon in series, like the the straight-up and comedy. I don't need anymore TWD spin-off series to be honest, I have sort of had my fill, and I get less excited with each on. However, I would be quite pleased for more of these bite-sized anthology style series to be coming our way, because I had a blast with these, I loved the variety or stories and the interesting casting choice like Terry Crews and Parker Posey.
Episodes:
1. Evie/Joe (46:32)
2. Blair/Genie (46:20)
3. Dee (42:25)
4. Amy/Dr. Everett (41:58)
5. Davon (43:49)
6. La Doña (43:49)
Special Features:
- None
Screenshots from the Acorn Media International Blu-ray:
