''Gangs of the Dead'', originally ''Last Rites'', is a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

survival film released in 2006, starring Enrique Almeida and

Reggie Bannister Reginald Horace "Reggie" Bannister (born September 29, 1945) is an American musician, actor, producer, writer, and activist. He is known for his role as Reggie in the ''Phantasm'' film series. Biography Bannister is known for playing the gun-t ...

Plot

The film takes place in the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and follows two intertwined plots. The main plot concerns a

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

that crashes in Los Angeles. It carries alien spores that spread across the city, transforming humans into flesh-eating

s. The other story is about two rival gangs, "The Lords of Crenshaw" and "El Diablo", who continue to fight for dominance of Los Angeles even as it falls to the zombie horde.

Cast

* Enrique Almeida as Santos * Howard Alonzo as Jerome *

as Mitchell * Stephen Basilone as O'Bannon * James C. Burns as Campbell

Release

The film was first released under its original title of ''Last Rites'' at the

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

on June 30, 2006. It was later released

direct to video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

on May 1, 2007 under the new title of ''Gangs of the Dead''. In both

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, the film was released under the title of ''City of the Dead''. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the film was released under the title of ''48 Weeks Later'', in an effort to capitalise on the success of '' 28 Weeks Later'', which had been released in 2007.28 Weeks Later: Fox International

References

External links

* 2006 films American science fiction horror films 2006 independent films 2000s science fiction horror films American zombie films American independent films Films set in Los Angeles American post-apocalyptic films Hood films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{2000s-horror-film-stub