Movie fans need to face facts. After so many movies come out
with the same tired theme used over and over again those genres of film begin
to show signs of being worse for the wear. One or two movies become a hit and
suddenly everyone and his brother is making movies based on the same concept be
it sparkly vampires or misunderstood werewolves. The most current victim of
this trend is the zombie movie. While George Romero had no one else making
zombie films in the late 60s the same can’t be said of today’s films. The
success of THE WALKING DEAD (which actually deals more with the interaction of
people as opposed to zombies) zombies are now everywhere.
Into the mix comes this film with perhaps the most
stupendous and ridiculous theory behind the living dead I’ve ever heard.
Seriously, when they were explaining it I had to pause the DVD until I stopped
laughing. The movie takes place in a small town where folks have gathered
together to attempt and live during the zombie apocalypse. Surrounding their
town with a fence they also make sure that anyone who is infected or even seems
to be infected is tossed out. The town is run by a doctor who tries to do all
he can for the people and policed by a group of zombie killers (hey good name
for a movie!) that handle the job of killing the zombies and traveling outside
of the fence when they need supplies.
But being cooped up inside of the fence is nearly as
damaging as being outside. One group of zealots is led by the overly religious
Lia (SLEEP AWAY CAMP’s Felissa Rose) who blames the whole thing on sinful ways.
She leads the group in condemning a young woman who is now pregnant by a man
who had to kill his wife when she changed. The zombie killers have problems of
their own, most being young, arrogant and reckless. The result is some getting
killed and others fighting among themselves.
Then there is the man who thinks he knows how all of this
began. On a trip outside of the compound in search of supplies he has them head
to the local mining sight. There they discover paperwork that explains how the
reason people began to turn into zombies was what was in their water from the
fracking that was going on there. Yes, the zombie apocalypse was caused by
fracking folks.
On top of everything else a horde of zombies is fast approaching
the compound and people are arguing about what to do. Love is in the air for a
couple who live in this compound, one of them being a zombie killer. And…oh
well come on do you really need more than fracking induced zombies and love
struck late teens trying to make a life for themselves in this troubled world?
Yeah I kind of do and hope you do as well.
While the movie is competently shot it leaves a ton to be
desired in the way of a script and acting. Some notable actors who appear in
this film like Billy Zane and Dee Wallace handle their parts well but the rest
feel like first timers making their on screen debut. It’s not high school play
level but you can tell this is their first or nearly first film.
I love horror movies and have completely enjoyed many of the
zombie flicks that have come up over the past few years, including all of
Romero’s films as well as THE WALKING DEAD. But movies like these are what give
the genre a bad name. It feels like a movie found on SyFy and my guess is was
made for that channel. If you watch that network at all you’ll know exactly
what I’m talking about.
Needless to say I can’t recommend this movie to anyone, not
even fans of the genre. For me it felt like just another quick flick made to
cash in on a successful genre that may soon fade away as the next one takes its
place.
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