Let's face the bitter facts, dear readers: Like it or not, zombie flicks are apparently here to stay. Despite the fact that video stores across the globe are saturated in cheap, low-budget undead productions from a neverending stream of emerging talent, up-and-coming filmmakers still rely on this dodgy subgenre to help propel their wonky careers into the proverbial stratosphere. And as some of you well know, only a small handful of these pictures are worth seeking out; the rest, I'm afraid, should be immediately dumped into your local neighborhood cistern and stricken from our collective memory. I'm sorry, but it's the only way humanity will survive.

I'll bring the shovel if you supply the moonshine. Deal?

Anyway, if you're in the market for an action-packed, direct-to-video zombie film that attempts to shake things up a bit, perhaps you should schedule a meeting with Latin Dragon director Scott Thomas' enthralling undead splatterfest Plane Dead, also known as Flight of the Living Dead. While it may bear a striking resemblance to a certain Samuel L. Jackson vehicle involving snakes and planes, don't let the similarities dissuade you from experiencing this superior horror outing for yourself. Popcorn zombie productions are rarely this genuinely exciting.

When random groups of rogue scientists suddenly decide to transport their oh-so-mysterious cargo from one clandestine location to another, I'm sure they all choose to fly commercial. If nothing else, it allows for the maximum amount of bloody carnage should their dangerous luggage accidentally unleash a zombie horde on the unsuspecting passengers. Sure, they may sully their precious reputations in the process, but it makes for a lovely little anecdote once the legions of the undead have been properly contained. I speak from experience.

Who will fearlessly battle endless waves of shrieking zombies when they burst through the floorboards, chew up the flight attendants, and steal seats from the first class passengers? If you said Richard Tyson, Kevin J. O'Connor, David Chisum, and Kristen Kerr, then give yourself a firm pat on the backside. This unlikely group of makeshift heroes will ultimately band together in order to save everyone who's still alive from becoming a fleshy chew toy for the eternally damned. Can they successfully land the plane before the United States government blows them out of the sky, or will all their efforts be in vain?

If you only see one monster movie that takes place thousands of feet above the ground in your lifetime, Plane Dead is definitely the way to roll. Director Scott Thomas and his talented crew have crafted one of the best low-budget zombie pictures to come down the ol' pipeline in quite some time. Granted, the film is certainly not the most original slice of empty-calorie cinema you'll see this year, but it does manage to inject some serious fun into a subgenre that could use a little cheering up. Those of you who have grown tired of these so-called "mature" zombie flicks should definitely pick up this insane little number whenever it runs screaming into a video store near you sometime soon.