Set at the end of the American Civil War, Exit Humanity shows struggles and conflicts from both the living and the dead. And within one man’s self.
A found diary is the vehicle for this story, narrated as a voice-over, which allows for the thoughts and feelings of the author to be explained - important, as the first 15 to 20 minutes of this movie are him alone dealing with grief, rage, and hopelessness. It is NOT a ‘feel good’ film!
As a more linear storyline unfolds, a mission to follow and some other characters are introduced, the film shakes off a little of its oppressive gloom, and sees a little action take place.
Aside from the narration, said diary contained some illustrations. In the film, these were really well-done animations sequences in the style of journal drawings. They provide some nice explanations as to the properties of the undead, some action scenes, and maintain the feel of the story while bridging scenes together. I am sure they also saved a couple of bucks on the movie’s budget as well, but they don’t come off like short cuts.
As to those undead, they are almost straight up Romeros, (see ‘Zombie Classification Chart,) slow and stumbling, killed only with head shot, have an infectious bite, and eat the flesh of the living. (Occasionally growling, but infrequent enough for me to overlook.) My only real complaint with Exit Humanity’s zombies is that they are far too infrequently seen.
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Another diary feature utilized here is the use of chapters. This was especially helpful to sort out the myriad of plot lines and objectives that arose as the film trudged along. Come Chapter Three, a main antagonists is introduced to shift the mood a bit, from crushingly depressing to that more of a righteous struggle.
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Despite all of the plot devices in place to aid in the storytelling and passing of time, this is a slow-moving film. And racking up a runtime of just a whisper under two hours, it is NOT for those with shorter attention spans. And that is the movie’s biggest problem: the pacing. This, combined with the oppressively somber mood, make Exit Humanity difficult to sit through.
And this is the irony. Exit Humanity scores so highly on my Zombie Movie Reviews Rubric in all other places: Originality, characters, SPFX, zombies, outbreak, acting, targeted audience, and budget, getting high points, with only the action/pacing slowing it down. Based solely on the ZMR Rubric, this earned itself an objective 3.4.
But as I feel the purpose of these reviews is to recommend Z films, or to not, I feel justified in including my personal rating here as well. I would personally score this movie just under a 2.5 out of 4 points. I enjoyed it, but found myself growing bored at various times.
In the end, this gives Exit Humanity a composite score of 2.95.
Still pretty good numbers!
And, of course, here is a LINK to a YouTube trailer for those interested in checking this one out for themselves.
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