Genres

Visitors Review

dee.reid 2012-05-22 02:03:09

Nice concept: "Cops" + "Reno 911!" + supernatural monsters = Something incredibly good?

MTV appears to be on the comeback tip in recent weeks. "Awkward." isproving to be quite a nice distraction and is actually a veryinteresting teen comedy series. Before that, there was "Teen Wolf" and"The Hard Times of RJ Berger." "Jersey Shore" is probably my guiltiestof guilty pleasures. And now there is "Death Valley.""Death Valley" is an unusual blend of "Cops" and every gory specialeffects monster movie you could think of that's been a hit in the last40 years. "Death Valley" follows the Undead Task Force (UTF), a specialunit of the Los Angeles Police Department that specializes in casesthat have a supernatural twist to them: monsters. It seems that the"Death Valley" in question is not just home to humans, but also tozombies, werewolves, and vampires. And the cops of this special policeunit dispose of each menace accordingly to the traditional horror moviestandards (i.e., zombies have to be shot in the head).In time for Halloween, here is "Death Valley," MTV's take on popularhorror movie trends and cop shows. The show mercilessly skewers saidtrends while still trying to be respectful of the movies that playedinto its inspiration and influence. The show is not scary at all, atleast to adults like myself (I'm 26) or teenagers, but young childrenwould be advised to not watch this show not just because of the goryspecial effects, but also because of the salty language and sexualinnuendo (vampire prostitutes?).MTV seems to be coming back into an era of semi-decent programming with"Death Valley." "Awkward.," "Teen Wolf," and "The Hard Times of RJBerger" have also played significantly in helping MTV's return tosemi-decent cable programming. I just hope I haven't jinxed thischannel's chances of coming back, honestly, by singing such highpraises for its newest shows."Death Valley" - 10/10

wolfgangvonposakilla 2012-05-21 11:43:37

could have been more

This show has been described as a mix between cops, or it's spoof reno911, and the walking death. While true, it does tend to lean more onthe horror part than on comedy, drawing in viewers with some goreadding some humor as a bonus. However, whenever the show attempts to befunny it get's little further than just attempting because it about ascliché as it gets.The writing is bad, the dialogues are boring and the horror is not veryimpressive ( And who'd honestly expect anything else from MTV?). So allin all, there's little more than a load of campiness for lovers of thatsort.Something specific that put me off: you either make a mockumentary oryou don't. it makes little sense to add scenes that are not shot fromthe inner-show cameracrew because it defeats the whole purpose ofadding them in the first place. Plus if you overlay all scenes with asoundtrack, as you'd do with a regular horror movie, it furtherdecreases the believability of the documentary aspect.if the horror had been in function of the comedy, and the comedy on thelevel of say the office, it might have been a blast. Now it's just animproperly blended mix of one half of stale comedy and one half ofunimpressive horror.

Jesse Pye 2012-05-19 13:16:51

Give me more!

Where the hell did this come from? I'm guessing the surprise mainstreamsuccess of The Walking Dead has opened the door for a whole new genreof horror/gore based TV series, and this one actually manages to havefun with it!The humour is low brow with an endless stream of one liners but I'm asucker for that when it's done well, and when you throw Vampires,Zombies and Werewolves into the mix you can't go wrong (as long as theeffects budget is there that is.)I've only seen one episode so far but I hope this takes off and doesn'tget cut-off mid season like some other gems that have come out recently(Walking Dead, V, etc)

shyla-m-robinson-1 2012-05-19 01:22:27

Cops and Zombies

A mix of Reno 911 and Zombieland, MTV's new mocumentary Death Valleyfollows the Undead Task Force. The UTF was created just one year beforeto combat the mysterious appearance of zombies, vampires, andwerewolves in California's San Fernando Valley.You might recognize Captain Dashell (Bryan Callen) as Eddie the weddingchapel owner from The Hangover. He's lost the accent and the overloadof affection but not the humor. Stubeck (Charlie Sanders) and Pierce(Bryce Johnson) are the dynamic moron duo. They are more worried aboutlooking cool and one-liners than doing a good job but they keep youlaughing. Rinaldi (Tania Raymonde) and John-John (Texas Battle) are theresident bad asses who kick butt and take names. They aren't afraid todo what they have to including take out one of their own, a zombiebitten camera man. And no good spoof would be complete without thenewbie, Kirsten (Caity Lotz). She may be new and the Captain may notbelieve in her but it's clear that she knows her stuff. But doubtfulshe'll ever get the credit. The show has an interesting take on the zombie/vampire phenomena.Zombies are a part of everyday life instead of an apocalypseoccurrence. The cops see zombies as just another criminal and take careof the problem like they would any other. Well, they beat them withbats and blow their brains out, so not exactly like any other. Vampiresare prostitutes who get paid in blood. The show pokes fun at thezombie/vampire genre and does a good job of it while not being mean.Best of all the camera people get in on the action which is somethingyou usually don't see. These supernatural happenings are everyday things. One of the cameramen even asks why people don't just move away instead of staying anddealing with the supernatural foes. The reply? It's their home, wouldyou leave? They make a good point. Except for the being undead anddrinking blood parts these cops seem to be dealing with the same thingsthat real cops handle every day. The show could be a commentary on thecraziness that people and cops are dealing with in the real world. Wemay not have zombies but we do have drugs, crime, and prostitution thatcan be just as bad. Although the show is full of laughs there is an overkill of sexualinnuendos. A few are funny but when they keep coming up they really getboring. There is a lack of back story. The audience is thrown into theaction immediately following two cops running after a zombie and that'sa little jolting for a first episode. This leaves you wondering wherethese supernatural beings even came from.If you like zombies and shows like Cops you will like this show. Thereare a lot of laughs to be had and lots of zombie killing. It's a nice30 minute show to watch and take a break from the stresses of lifewithout having to think too hard.

drew_atreides 2012-05-17 17:16:46

Where the heck did this come from?

I was on vacation with the family in Sanduskey, Ohio. Everyone else wasasleep in our hotel room, so i turned on the TV.. Flipping around icame to MTV, and some show that looked like a COPS rip-off with..wait.. what's that? ZOMBIES?I kept watching, and laughed my ass off.It is now airing on MUCHMUSIC here in Canada, and I've watched thefirst 3 episodes. I have fallen in love. Why had i not heard of thisshow until now? It deserves to be on a bigger network and get moreattention.It's got some sparkling writing, and the chemistry between the ensemblecast is electric. Most enjoyable show i've seen in a LONG time.Hope it survives!

ashoka1 2012-05-17 04:31:46

A great buddy comedy! (Forget the gimmicky "zombie" & "mockumentary" labels.)

On TV, what I like to see are interesting characters who have greatinteractions & decent evolutions. To my surprise, this show isdelivering all of that! Forget all the gimmicks other reviewers are highlighting. This show ismore fiction than mockumentary - the camera-crew are actual charactersin the story and they have dialogue. The gore & supernatural elementsaren't the reason for the shows existence - they're used to create ahumorous & surreal environment.'Death Valley' IS a great "buddy cop" show. The characters are socharming. Each one is "fleshed out", with his/her own beliefs, quirks,skills. When they start interacting, it's just some of the besttelevision you'll ever see.The charm of this show is that the comedy is derived from thefriendships between these characters...not artificial & annoyingconflict. Because of their jobs (& the acting, & the writing)...you seea group that has a believable family bond. But because of their uniquecultural, moral, & even sexual baggages...you get hilariousinteractions & reactions whenever those baggages are brought up.Compare this to say...'The Office' (American version). In that show,all they do is parade out any number of ridiculously annoying mentalhandicaps (Michael, Dwight, Andy, Kelly, etc.). Their unsubtlestupidity & artificial conflicts are supposed to generate comedy.Another thing I'd like to highlight is that this show actually hasnumerous arcs!. Everything from the macro (police vs. demons) to themicro (Carla vs. John John) evolves as the show goes on. It's all donesubtly, but by the end of the season...there are pay-offs on all thesefronts (sort of!).When you add this show to 'Awkward', MTV starts to look like aformidable & respectable network. This is praise from someone who'snever...ever...thought highly of them.

samitestar 2012-05-06 00:55:18

Reno 911! meets The Walking Dead

Somebody said Zombies are the new vampires. I don't really care (sinceI like both so much), but I can't help but wonder why my favorite newshows have zombies (am I the only one with a countdown for The WalkingDead's second season?).Just like the old show COPS, Death Valley starts out with a chase, twocops following a bloody faced woman through a small convenience store.There's shaky video as the videographer (is that even the right termfor the person who follows the action?) chases after them and catchesthe shocking and somewhat funny conclusion to the chase.Anyway, I love this show. It has just the right amount of earnestpolice procedural to balance out the bloody gore and humor of copschasing after zombies and vampires in Los Angeles.If you think this will be a one hit wonder, think again, like othergood cop shows, it's the characters that really carry the show, but Iam hoping for some kind of overarching plot, maybe something to do witha vampire prostitution ring, werewolf mafia, zombie ultimate boxing,something ridiculous, of course.Death Valley hasn't hit a high with a cop like Captain Jim Dangle (myfave cop from Reno 911!) but you can't go wrong with characters like"John John" and my Death Valley favorite, Joe Stubeck, who made megiggle so much I almost spit out my coffee.Anyways, I'll be tuning in for more.

pontram 2012-05-05 15:56:31

Disrespectful, Violent, Amusing, Serious........and Good.

This show was a big surprise for me. Normally I am deeply bored with Zombies, especially with the recenttrends, which are seemingly bent on making Zombie movies and Zombieseries all around, only to mask the total lack of new ideas. It's like"I dunno which business I should run, so I open a beer shop, and peoplewill come and drink beer."'Death Valley' is very different. It combines a generic Policedepartment show with a Horror/Monster show and creates a newcomedy/action show, leaving the Police department part intact anddeveloping plot lines from the Monster part, all together in a scenarioof daily life, not the usual End-Of-The-World.The great thing with 'Death Valley' is, that it is intentionally funny,ridiculous and silly. In the first few episodes there are a few sceneswhere the concept is exaggerated, but it gets continuously better.Especially the Captain (great: Bryan Callen), obviously designed as alaughing stock, gets a profile and grows up with every episode.The serious part is also surprisingly well designed. For instance, inone episode, John-John (well played by Texas Battle), the team'sstrongest Zombie-basher, finds out that his father is now a Zombie,used in illegal Zombie fights like a dog. At this moment, all laughteris gone, and the show reaches another level of quality, which is rarefor action-comedies. In another episode, Stubeck (excellent: CharlieSanders) tries to get a Vampire hooker off the street, but fails. Whilethis is of course a cliché, it has it's quality between all the cool(or sometimes not so cool) lines and gives the characters seriousbackground.The most funny episode for me up to now was, where Stubeck and hispartner Billy (perfect as a sex addict: Bryce Johnosn) have apresentation about their work at the Kindergarden where Stubeck'schildren are, and suddenly are both forced to handle a threat by aZombie prepared with a bomb, in front of the kids.The show is not perfect, but has much potential with the various storylines and conflicts opened in this first season. It is refreshing, welldirected and well cast. From my point of view it is good for a hit;hopefully the ratings will follow my impression and allow a second(third, fourth...) season.