Category: Zombies

“Zone of the Dead” aka  “Apocalypse of the Dead” (2009) Starring Ken Foree / Z-View

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Zone of the Dead aka  Apocalypse of the Dead (2009)

Director:  Milan Konjevic, Milan Todorovic

Screenplay by:  Milan Konjevic from a story by Vukota Brajovic, Milan Todorovic

Starring: Ken Foree and Kristina Klebe

Tagline:  This City Is a Living Hell

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Agents Mortimer Reyes (Foree) and Mina Milius (Klebe) are transporting a dangerous criminal when a zombie apocalypse breaks out.  The agents and criminal join forces in an effort to fight their way to safety.  Think Assault on Precinct 13 meets Night of the Living Dead (but not nearly as good as either).

Zone of the Dead isn’t good by any stretch of the imagination, but if you’re in the right frame of mind and enjoy zombie films, you could do worse.

Zone of the Dead aka  Apocalypse of the Dead earns 2 of 5 stars.

“The Plague” (2014) / Z-View

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The Plague (2014)

Director: Nick Kozakis, Kosta Ouzas

Screenplay by:  Kosta Ouzas

Starring: Don Bridges, Tegan Crowley, Scott Marcus and Steven Jianai

Tagline:  Pray you don’t survive.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

After a zombie outbreak, a small group of survivors have taken refuge in a barn.  Arguments about what do next tear the group apart and lead to murder.  Everyone but Evie (Crowley) is ready to move on.  Evie wants to wait for her boyfriend, John (Marcus) to return.  He finally does, but only Evie waited.

Neither Evie are John are well-suited for survival in this new world.  When Charlie (Jianai) arrives at the barn, they gain renewed hope.  Charlie is an outdoorsman, a marksman and just wants their companionship.  Charlies says in return he will feed and protect them.  What could go wrong with that?

John and Evie should know that sometimes the humans are the most dangerous part of a zombie apocalypse.

The Plague has an interesting idea, but falls short in the execution.  It’s not a bad film, especially for a low budget production.

The Plague earns 2 of 5 stars.

“It Stains the Sands Red” (2016) / Z-View

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It Stains the Sands Red (2016)

Director: Colin Minihan

Screenplay by:  Colin Minihan, Stuart Ortiz

Starring: Brittany Allen, Juan Riedinger and Merwin Mondesir

Tagline:  It NEVER rests. It NEVER sleeps. It NEVER stops.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

A zombie apocalypse has just started.  Molly (Allen) and her boyfriend, Nick (Mondesir) have left Vegas and are driving to a remote desert airfield where friends are meeting to fly to a safe location.  When their car becomes disabled and a zombie kills her boyfriend, Molly has no choice but to attempt to walk across the desert to the airfield still miles away… with the zombie in slow pursuit!

It Stains the Sands Red takes an interesting premise and through dumb / illogical choices of Molly (and the screenwriters), the film becomes less scary and more irritating.  The idea of a zombie chasing you through an area where there are few places to hide, little in the way of weapons and a climate that will wear you down, while the zombie never tires, never sleeps and has no need for food or water is a good one.

Still it would be hard to sustain a feature film where a zombie follows a person for 90 minutes.  To their credit, Minihan and Ortiz add things/people to the mix.  Where the film goes south (for me) is when Molly begins to talk to the zombie and it responds.  C’mon folks!  Zombies are mindless eating machines.  They don’t think, they don’t listen and they don’t respond to commands.

It Stains the Sands Red earns 2 of 5 stars.

TRAIN 8 – The Zombie Express / Z-View

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TRAIN 8 – The Zombie Express

Created and written by David Stephan and Marysol Levant
Additional writing and dialogue by Brian Phillipson
Art by Alex Cormack
Colors by Ashley Cormack and Alex Cormack
Letters and book design by Alex Murillo

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Train 8 is a high speed train traveling from Seattle to Chicago a few days before Thanksgiving.  It is barreling along when a passenger infected with a virus dies and reanimates as a zombie.  Soon things are out of control as passengers fight an ever-increasing number of the undead.  Surviving the zombies may not be enough, since the government plans to destroy everyone and everything on the train!

Train 8 was originally written as a film script.  It probably would have made a cool movie.  It’s not bad as a graphic novel.  Although the writing is a bit redundant/clunky in places, the story moves.  Some scenes are colored a bit too dark, but that’s expected when the lights go out.  ; )    Props for the ending which is foreshadowed but is still a surprise and sets up a potential sequel.

Overall, I enjoyed TRAIN 8.  If you’re a zombie fan, you should give it a look.

TRAIN 8 – The Zombie Express earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Carter” (2022) / Z-View

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Carter (2022)

Director:  Byung-gil Jung

Screenplay by:  Byeong-sik Jung, Byung-gil Jung

Starring:  Joo Won, Kim Bo-Min, Sung-Jae Lee and Mike Colter

Tagline:  No Memory, One Mission

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

A man wakes up in a hotel room with no memory of who he is or how he got there.  A voice in his head tells him his name is Carter, a transmitter only he can hear is in his ear, a bomb has been implanted in his head and his mission is to rescue a young girl whose blood is the key to a cure to a virus quickly spreading around the world.  With that we’re off and running.

Carter is an all out action film with a small mix of sci-fi and a touch of zombies.  The movie takes place in real time and features over the top stunts and seldom slows down.  This is the film’s greatest strength and perhaps biggest weakness.  The fight scenes are so over-the-top we quickly understand that Carter is going to be able to take out dozens of attackers without so much as a scratch.

Normally this would be a turn-off, but the fight scenes take place in unique situations (outside of a building stories above the street, on motorcycles, in three side-by-side vans speeding down crowded streets, falling from an airplane without a parachute while engaging in a gun battle to get a chute, on a train, on a helicopter, from a truck to motorcycles, etc.) that it is easy to suspend disbelief.

I really enjoyed Carter, but was in the right frame of mind for an all out action film.  I hope we get a sequel.

Carter earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Birth of the Living Dead” aka “Year of the Living Dead” (2013) / Z-View

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Birth of the Living Dead aka Year of the Living Dead (2013)

Director:  Rob Kuhns

Written by: Rob Kuhns

Starring:  George A. Romero, Elvis Mitchell, Mark Harris, Gale Anne Hurd and Bill Hinzman.

Tagline:  1968. Peace. Love. And the undead.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Rob Kuhns goes behind the scenes on the making of Night of the Living Dead.  George Romero is interviewed and some of his earlier commercials are shared.  Elvis Mitchell, Mark Harris, Gale Anne Hurd, Bill Hinzman and others share the impact Night of the Living Dead made on them.  If you’re a George Romero or Night of the Living Dead fan, then this is for you.  I give it 4 of 5 stars.

DARK OF NIGHT by Jonathan Maberry & Rachael Lavin!

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Jonathan Maberry is one of the best and most prolific writers working today.  His Joe Ledger series is my favorite.  Others prefer his Dead of Night/Fall of Night or Rot & Ruin series.  I’ve read them as well and wouldn’t argue against someone liking them better.  With his new novel, Dark of Night, Maberry does something he’s not done before: He collaborates with Rachael Lavin and combines characters from all three of his series!

Dark of Night: The dead rose. We fell. The survivors are trapped in a world of monsters who prey on the helpless. Some of them are zombies…but they are not the only predators who feed on pain and suffering. DARK OF NIGHT is a story of worlds in collision. Three heroes who have survived the apocalypse are in a deadly race to save a busload of children from ravenous zombies and ruthless human scavengers. This brand new novella brings together three of New York Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry’s award-winning novel series. Captain Joe Ledger (PATIENT ZERO and CODE ZERO), Officer Desdemona Fox (DEAD OF NIGHT and FALL OF NIGHT), and Rachael Elle (BITS & PIECES, a Rot & Ruin novel) are caught between an endless wave of the living dead and an army of corrupt men who want to enslave the last human survivors. Jonathan Maberry teams with debut novelist Rachael Lavin to tell a sweeping story of adventure, horror, and heroism. Flesh and Fire: In the midst of a midlife crisis, Todd is haunted by Chloe, the lover who died not long after their relationship ended. When Chloe escapes Hell in search of the peaceful rest that has eluded her, a demon named Samael is on her trail and she needs Todd’s help. While on the run Todd and Chloe face demons real and personal, soul-threatening danger, and their long-buried feelings for each other.

Dark of Night Paperback
Dark of Night Kindle

“Day of the Dead” (1985) / Z-View

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Day of the Dead  (1985)

Director: George A. Romero

Writers:  George A. Romero

Starring: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Sherman Howard and Gary Howard Klar.

Tagline: First there was “Night of the Living Dead” then “Dawn of the Dead” and now the darkest day of horror the world has ever known.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The zombie apocalypse is well under way.  A small group of soldiers, scientists and civilians have found safety in an underground military bunker.  Isolation and increasing hordes of zombies are wearing on the groups’ nerves/sanity.  When the group learns that one of their scientists has been using soldiers in experiments, the breaking point is reached. The living become as dangerous as the dead.  Will anyone survive?

Day of the Dead was George Romero’s favorite of his “…of the Dead” movies.  I wish I could say the same.  I prefer my zombies as unthinking killing machines.  In Day of the Dead, not only are the zombies learning but one uses a gun!  I also didn’t care for any of the living characters.  Still, it is a Romero zombie film and even if I don’t prefer his vision, I respect it.

Day of the Dead gets 2 of 5 stars.

Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead” Wins 1st Ever Oscar as Fan Favorite!

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With all the talk about The Slap at last night’s Academy Awards, the fact that Army of the Dead won a Oscar in the (first ever) Fan Favorite category may have slipped by.  From Variety…

This year, a best popular film category was added to recognize a film chosen by fans, based on Twitter votes. That award went to Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead.

Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead won a freaking Oscar and I couldn’t be happier about it.

The HOPELESS are Coming to Get You, Barbara!

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Hopeless is a new horror graphic novel that sounds/looks good.  The ‘Hopeless‘ Team consists of Mike Raicht (co-creator, writer), Zach Howard (co-creator, art director), Danny Earls (artist), Clara Meath (Kickstarter manager), Thompson Knox (letterer) and Ed Lavalee (logo design).  The Hopeless Kickstarter runs until 7:34am on April 24th.  I’m in!

Check out the synopsis and a few preview pages (click on the art to see ’em biggie-sized) to see if you want in as well.

‘Hopeless’ is a 100-page graphic novel that begins on Chrisler Street, a dead end street in the fictional town of Hope, New York, enduring the turmoil of the late 60s. Set during the Vietnam war, Hope, like thousands of small towns across America, has been gutted by the draft, the horrors of Vietnam, and the ongoing battle for civil rights.

Now, that landscape will be invaded by one final, horrific twist- the Tagged.

Who are the Tagged? Those unfortunate souls infected by vicious parasites during their time deep in the jungles of Vietnam. These parasite-infected soldiers are about to unknowingly unleash a new type of hell on their hometowns. Slowly driven mad, their minds ravaged by mind-destroying parasites, these Tagged soldiers will viciously tear their communities apart.

“Wyrmwood: Apocalypse” – The Trailer is Here!

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I haven’t seen Wyrmwood, but a movie that sounds like Mad Max with zombies?  Yeah, I need to find that!  But today we’re talking about the sequel, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse.  Check out the trailer below and see what you think.  I’d give it a go.

WYRMWOOD: APOCALYPSE Trailer (2022) Zombie Action Sequel

PLOT: Rhys is a soldier and a hunter who lives in the zombie infested wasteland. His job is to capture civilians & deliver them to what’s left of the military & the brutal Surgeon General. When Rhys captures a half-zombie-half-human named Grace, he comes to believe she is the key to ending the apocalypse. Working with her sister, Maxi, he works to free Grace before she is subjected to horrible experiments.

CAST: Luke McKenzie, Goran D. Kleut, Shantae Barnes-Cowan, Nicholas Boshier, Bianca Bradey, Jay Gallagher

DIRECTOR: Kiah Roache-Turner

“Virus:32” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Virus:32.  Zombies?  Trailer that looks good?  Deal me in.

Gustavo Hernandez’s VIRUS:32, starring Paula Silva and Silver Bear winner Daniel Hendler, depicts Iris (a security guard) and her daughter during a night shift and unaware that a virus outbreak is infecting the whole city. Their only hope of salvation arrives when they discover that, after each attack, the infected seem to have 32-seconds of peace before charging again. VIRUS:32 debuts on Shudder on April 21.

TRAIN 8 – Zombies on a Train is Coming!

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Train 8 is a graphic novel that will be in comic shops on May 4th.  Written by David Stephan, Marysol Levant, and Brian Phillipson with art by Philip Phillipson, Alex Cormack, Lureline Weatherly and David Stephan.  Here’s the synopsis…

Two college girls, traveling the famous Train 8 from Seattle to Chicago, find themselves at the center of an experimental GMO virus outbreak that causes passengers to turn into blood thirsty primordials. The surviving girls and a handful of passengers are faced with the moral dilemma of stopping the train to save themselves – and let the deadly virus infect the world – or keep the train running, buying more time until help comes but only if they can survive the killing horde of the Infected.

Let your local comic shop know if you’re interested.  As for me, I’m on board.

“All of Us Are Dead” Season 1 / Z-View

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All of Us Are Dead: Season 1 (2022)

Creator :  Chun Sung-il,  Lee Jae-kyoo,  Kim Nam-su (based on the webtoon Now at Our School by Joo Dong-geun)

Directors:  Lee Jae-kyoo,  Kim Nam-su

Writers:  Chun Sung-il

Stars:  Park Ji-hu, Yoon Chan-young, Cho Yi-hyun, Lomon, Yoo In-soo, Lee Yoo-mi, Kim Byung-chul, Lee Kyu-hyung and Jeon Bae-soo.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

With All of Us Are Dead we get the zombie apocalypse from the perspective of high school students trapped in their school surrounded by the walking (and running) dead!  There are subplots involving a father trying to get to his daughter, and the political/military aspects of dealing with the crisis, but the main story is how the students work together to survive.

All of Us Are Dead provides plenty of action with a large cast of characters (many who will not live through the season),  This adds to the tension and raises the stakes of the series.  Another interesting aspect is when a zombie variant appears.  Is the virus mutating?

It seems like a real nit to pick when I say a little less high school drama would improve a zombie series set primarily in a high school. I enjoyed All of Us Are Dead and hope we get a season 2.  All of Us Are Dead rates 3 of 5 stars.