ZombieHood, 2014

    The story is a basic one: In Nottingham, England, an unexplained outbreak of Zombism forces random survivors to work together. 

    ZombieHood, however, starts off in a very different manner. Through a series of random and frequently quite graphic attacks, a core group of survivors comes together. Sounds simple enough, but throughout these attack scenes, a survivor is not guaranteed. Many of these scenes do nothing more than to display the ubiquitous nature of the outbreak. Others simply to remind the viewer that a zombie attack is a very bloody, gory and unpleasant affair!

    Among the living cast are two friends who escaped an outbreak in a nightclub, a guy who was trying to pick one of them up, a gun-toting bad boy, a cop, an old man, and a little girl. Occasionally, one of these people dies, and someone else comes along. 

   You see, and I liked this - I don’t know if its because these are all local actors and not big name stars, but NO cast member is safe. If a person is out in a zombie apocalypse, that person has a really good chance of not seeing the end credits. So, no stars, no guarantees.

    The zombies are Romeros in nature and adhere fairly strictly to the Rules of Romero. Their make-up and effects was also pretty decent - Surprisingly so for a smaller-budget film. And some of  killings these ghouls do is of a very, graphic nature, (the tub scene, while not so gory, had screams that were absolutely convincing… until they turned into gurgles. Nothing like an attack when you’re at your most vulnerable.)

    ZombieHood chugs along at a good clip, propelled by further, if not necessarily related attacks from the undead on the unsuspecting. No slow backstory development here or grieving scenes. This is a “He is already dead! Let’s move!!!”-type of movie.

    Critiques are few: The plot line is fairly non-existent, the characters aren’t given time to be developed, (the trade-off price in favor of a fast-paced film, I guess,) and the sound quality varies scene to scene. With all this said, and despite the local, non-big-name actors, and smaller budget, ZombieHood doesn’t carry too much of that 'Low Budget' feel.

My Zombie Movie Reviews Rubric board seemed impressed, too! Held up to its cold, unblinking eye of judgement and ZombieHood scored a solid 2.5 points out of a possible 4. This translates into a better than average, recommendable, re-watchable little addition to any zombie fans personal library of undead films. 

    And, of course, YouTube has a trailer to further pique the interest: ZOMBIEHOOD

 

   For a second opinion, or just some further research, check the flick out at zombiehood.co.uk or at the movies Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Zombie-Hood-232575326768828/

Re-Kill, 2015

Named after a reality-style show that airs five years after the zombie outbreak that wipes out 80% of America’s population, Re-Kill, (the television show,) features a COPS-style format that follows a squad of SWAT-type police who are charged with ‘re-killing’ the ‘re-ans,’ or re-animated dead.

Most encounters involve a tip-off that some family has secured a deceased loved one hoping for their return or the development of cure. The R-Division gets called in, handles the re-ans, the accompanying Re-Kill cameramen film it, and great television is made for what is left of the American viewing audiences.

Re-Kill, (the movie,) however, is centered around the men and woman of one particular R-Division,  (‘R-Div 8’,) and its mission/episode, which takes them inside on of the largest cordoned-off infected-occupied zones, Manhattan Island.

The movie never steps outside format, and even features commercials breaks from sponsors like The Coalition To Repopulate America, Desert Eagle .50 Calibre Handgun, and a cigarette advertisement that claims their product “won’t kill you before the re-ans do!” 

These commercial breaks provide some nice comedic relief without taking away the gravity of the situation or the character of the show’s stars. It also reinforces the whole T.V. show feel. It was a nice and welcomed touch.

The re-ans, (zombies,) are the running kind. Very fast, snarling zombies, that seem even more frantic by the almost intolerably shaky camera work. Oh, that camera work.

I mean, I understand that the feel of a field cameraman with a handheld camera under stressful situations was the intent here, but the amount of twitch going on here is pretty distracting! After all, these are supposed to be professionals with high-end equipment. This approach also takes some focus, (pun intended,) off of the zombies and the gore and carnage inflicted. Which is too bad, because they were really well done, despite being so athletic.

So, these zombies, combined with some decent acting, good effects and nice pacing all add up neatly on the Zombie Movie Rubric, (my objective rating tool,) scoring scoring Re-Kill a solid 2.4 out of 4.

This score adds up to a recommendation, too. It is a decent and different addition to the genre with some good scares, good gore, and with a different approach.

Of course, you can view the YouTube trailer by clicking here: RE-KILL