When I first saw information on this movie I wasn’t sure
what to expect. It seems like every week a new zombie movie is coming out and
for the most part they can’t compare to either George Romero’s classics or the
TV series THE WALKING DEAD. But on occasion a rare movie comes out that upends
the genre and tosses in something new that makes it exciting all over again.
This Australian movie is one of those.
The zombie apocalypse breaks out and it appears that the
disease is transferred via the air we breathe. Our story flips around from
location to location but mainly focuses on family man Barry (Jay Gallagher), a
skilled mechanic who rushes his family from their home complete in air masks to
avoid the rushing crowds in the streets. His goal is to reach his sister Brooke
(Bianca Bradey) in the country where they should be safe.
What he doesn’t know is that Brooke has already been exposed
but seems to have survived, not just the plague via the air but the attack she
faced from her roommates. As if that wasn’t enough to go through Brooke has
been captured by a group headed by a mad scientists who is trying to discover
where this all began and why some people are naturally immune. How mad? He
travels in a semi converted to a mobile lab with several zombies chained inside
that he experiments on while dancing to disco music. That kind of mad.
As Barry heads out his daughter and wife both succumb to the
disease and he has to kill them. Out of bullets he can’t kill himself but just
as he tries he comes across another survivor. Their cars can’t run for some
reason, apparently the airborne disease affects gas as well, and set out on
foot. As they travel Barry’s new friend is shot and killed by Benny (Leon
Burchill) who thinks they are zombies. The new duo set out to find help and
come to a garage where they meet two more survivors. Like Barry these two are
inventors of a sort and between the three of them they soon realize that the
gas emitted from the zombies works as fuel.
With a car in the yard they battle it out to bring it back
in the garage and rig it to run on the gaseous emissions coming from the mouth
of the nearest zombie that they captured. Before they can set out to find
Barry’s sister one of them becomes a victim of the zombies and now they’re down
to three. That’s enough to get them where they need to go but can they make it
in time or will the mad scientist use Brooke to find a way to cure everyone or
make them all zombies in the process?
What this movie offers more than anything is fun. From start
to finish the movie will have you laughing while fearing for the characters at
the same time. It’s hard to make a scary zombie these days since we’ve seen so
many and chances are these zombies won’t cause you to lose sleep. But the movie
will entertain you so much that won’t make a difference.
One thing that the film makers of this movie decided to do
early on was to ladle on the gore. Perhaps ladle isn’t quite the right word.
Maybe buckets would be more fitting as the amount of gore and blood flowing in
this film would be enough to make a football field turn red. The make up on the
zombies is solid and comparable to most in the genre with a few standouts among
them. While the CGI blood is found in the film the good old Karo syrup mixture
is plentiful as well.
For a movie filled with humor the actors do a fantastic job
of playing it straight. Each one of them brings something different and the
people they are playing all react differently to what is going on. Burchill as
Benny garners the most laughs and Gallagher is completely believable as the
disturbed husband/father who goes on living to save his sister. Berynn Scwerdt
as the mad doctor also does a great job as a threatening presence who is funny
at the same time.
The movie, as I stated earlier, brings on a fresh new zombie
presence and by the end of the film I found myself hoping that a sequel would
be the end result. Word is it is coming and that’s a good thing. In the
meantime you can enjoy this one with repeat viewings, it’s that good. Shout/Scream
Factory has once more found a movie destined to be a classic of horror fans and
done it right. The usual behind the scenes extras are included but those won’t
be your priority here. The fun will be.
Click here to order.
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