SPOILERS AHEAD! ***************
I don't think it quite matters that there's no 'worst movie ever' thread on here. Although there IS now obviously.
Just that it seems puzzling that quite a lot of people actually LIKE this movie in the message board!
I'm glad raters give this 5.8 though which is a true reflection of how bad this film is.
I watched this film literally last night with some friends and we all have patience with zombie films as we all find that our fave horror sub genre. But this was sadly one of the worst zombie movies I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot! Even Zombie Lake was better than this and that's saying something!
The movie started off well and mysteriously, but things went badly after the plane crash. I think it was a major mistake to not give Murphy any fellow survivors to travel with and talk to for a quarter of the film.
And even when he meets the African soldier NEITHER of them asks the obvious question 'WHO ARE YOU?'. So we don't even know their names until 3/4 of the way through. This bothered me as you obviously need to know your travelling partner's name in order to warn them of impending attacks. 'Hey white guy watch out' obviously won't work!
Not only that but the film had a really tedious plot pattern of - drive along, stop for some reason, zombie attack, escape, drive along, stop, attack, escape x 10 for most of the movie. No tension in any of the attacks as you could see them coming each time. Also a chicken is caught and killed for dinner and then never seen to be eaten. The 2 characters are so dumb that even when they set up a warning system to wake them if zombies attack, they still end up getting attacked. With richly-deserved results for their stupidity. The only vaguely clever thing (which I'd do in a zombie apocalypse in the desert) is sleep up in a tree and hope no zombies see you.
It's the sort of film you can do something else whilst it's on and just look up occasionally. It severely tries the patience and doesn't entertain AT ALL. Slow zombie movies (SZM - as in the zombies move slowly not the pacing) are so old-school and passe. Don't get me wrong I like classics 'SZM', but 'FZM' are were it's at nowadays I'm afraid. There's no threat, no menace, characters only die through stupidity, tiredness, lack of ammo, being crept up on or overwhelming odds.
Fast zombie films (FZM) like 28 Days Later really up the horror of zombie attacks because you literally have to run for your life. This film you can just dodge them easily with minimal effort. The only 'slow zombie movies' which work are Shaun of the Dead, Zombie Flesh Eaters and the original Night of the Living Dead of course, and that's only because of the skill of their talented directors in building tension and menace. The Ford Brothers just don't cut it sadly.
In the end I actually felt guilty for urging us all to watch this for the novelty of an African-set Zombie film as it was so long and tedious and none of us deserved to go through it. 1h45 felt like 3hrs. Indeed, one of my friends even started wrapping christmas presents halfway through it was going that badly!
If you're planning on watching this film then don't bother. Watch an entertaining zombie film like Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, REC, Dead Snow or Zombie Flesh Eaters. DO NOT WATCH THIS FOR ENTERTAINMENT. You'll be disappointed. When the only positives I could come up with for this film are novelty value, good make-up and realistic CGI blood splatters you know this movie should just return to the grave. And stay there!
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GeneticSugarKane
11 years ago
This film was nearly as good as Zombie and REC and much better than that dorky slapstick romcom Zombieland. The only other recent zombie film that I can think of that was as novel and well crafted is Pontypool.
Pretentious Pseudo-Intellectual Hipster TorturePorn: www.imdb.com/user/ur5570856/lists
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