Tag Archives: 2011

World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries (2011)

February 27, 2018 BagpiperDon 1 Comment

World of the Dead, The Zombie Diaries 2, 2011 — Remember how the cover for the first film has NOTHING to do with the film? Well, consistency is supposed to be good…

Have you ever had the experience where someone you know excitedly says “Hey, ya gotta see this film!“? Then once you watch it you’re left thinking “What the heck was that about?”, or worse “There is something SERIOUSLY WRONG with my friend!” Welcome to to World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2.

Immediately you can tell that this project has a higher budget and is visually more satisfying than the 2006 predecessor. Then you get into the story and you start to see the problems…

The first thing you notice — as with the original film — is that the DVD cover is once again horribly misleading. The cover art looks better than the film, and it represents something other than the content of the film.

Field full of zombies — I’m warning you — act like threatening zombies or we’ll shoot you!!!

The zombies feel very non-threatening — even less than in the original film. The make-up is insufficient, the scares nearly non-existent, and the zombies are often so stiff they would be played better by untrained department store mannequins. Add to that, when it comes to shooting the zombies I get the impression that the British film makers don’t have a clue as to what firearms sound like anymore (especially in the scene pictured). The firearm sound effects left me non-pulsed — perhaps they were just the on-location recording of the blanks the actors were firing.

The biggest downfall of the movie…

… aside from the emaciated plot and the you-are-there hand-held cinematography — are some of the specific content choices that film makers Michael Bartlett and Kevin Gates included. Various gangs of survivors prove to be even more vile than the zombies. This is well summed up in a review by FlickeringMyth.com when they wrote…

“There are a couple of, frankly, unneeded rape scenes (one on a female zombie) that just felt like Bartlett and Gates wanted to do some kind of rape revenge film, but gave up and worked zombies into it”.

Frankly it left this bagpiper & humble amateur zombie-film reviewer astounded. I cannot recall feeling this disturbed by any zombie film I have previously seen. This content included a challenged young man bullied into delivering a beating upon one of the primary male characters, and then pushed into committing a graphic rape/murder on one of the female primaries. I have to wonder where the writer and his co-director think that this was appropriate, or fit within the film! I also have to wonder about the actors (or even the crew) assuming they saw the script before they agreed to do the film — why would they participate in bringing this film to fruition?

Is there any redemption for this film?

World of the Dead, The Zombie Diaries 2, 2011, gas mask — Me around people who smoke

There are elements to this film that really work — the albeit over-used zombie-trope military element, the military and civilian survivors trying to escape from England, and the guys who ambiguously appear wearing protective suits and gas masks. However it seems as though Bartlett and Gates thought that their ideas were so great — so sound — that they didn’t think to check their script or finished film with a third party. And if they did, they didn’t listen to them say “There’s some good stuff here, but over all THIS IS A BAD IDEA.” Or maybe they just half-assed it and figured this would fill a feature. In the end, it is as The Daily Mail described the film, it’s an “88 minute waste of electricity”, and I rate it Red Blood.

Seriously, I’m starting to think I ought to make a list titled “Zombie Films To Avoid Watching“. Do you think I would have this one on it? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!

A List Of Words Irrelevant To This Zombie Film

Smash hit
Phenomenon

Links

World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries – IMDb, Wikipedia, and RottenTomatoes
The Daily Mail (UK newspaper)
FlickeringMyth.com
If you noticed one of the soldiers say in the beginning of this film that they’re in the “TA”, that stands for “Territorial Army” which is the UK equivalent of the Army Reserve.

Movie, Review, Zombies

Rammbock Berlin Undead (2011)

November 13, 2017 BagpiperDon

Once again, a review in note vrs essay form by DPScobie
Rated – Yellow Puss

I think this is the first non-English-language zombie film I’ve seen. When I saw this on the library shelf I grabbed it up precisely for that reason — in this case, Germany. Personally, I watch DVDs with the subtitles on because I find I follow the story better — I’m glad that this DVD also had English audio over-dub. Also, I found that I had a hard time doing what I usually do while watching movies — type or work on a small hand project — I really had to just-watch the film. Yeah, I know, actually ‘watch a film’ — what a concept — it’s how I prefer to view films and spend my viewing time.

Zombie bite + angry victim = another zombie
Potentially the human immune system can beat the zombie infection over time providing the victim stays calm while their body beats the infection

The zombies are rather rabid, including frothing and drooling at the mouth

Initially this doesn’t have The Journey” element (for the first 54 minutes of the film) — instead the people are trapped in their apartments

The zombies are repelled by strobes because their retina’s are sensitive to the light

Has a bit of a 28 Days Later vibe to it — like this is the B-team in the same story line or what’s going on around the same time but in Germany

When in a zombie apocalypse, find a nice guy in a gray sweater — he’ll take a dive for you

I’m unclear if there are supposed to be some comedic elements — this could be the difference in the timing between the original German execution and the English over-dubs

Deals with the personal experience of a person changing from a human to a zombie

Shows people who aren’t able to handle the stress and emotions of the catastrophe, killing themselves in various ways

The film is shorter than what I’m used to — it ends (goes to credits) around 58 minutes

There’s a fun and campy video in the bonus features — a PSA on zombie identification and eradication

ENGLISH DIALOG
Ladies and gentlemen, The German parliament has authorized the immediate use of military force. A state of emergency has been declared according to article 35 of the constitution. It is now clear that a pervasive epidemic is spreading via a virus of unknown origin. The pathogen is thought to be transmitted by bodily fluids exchanged through bites from infected individuals. Within hours or perhaps minutes the virus spreads through the body. Infection does not mean a full blown illness. The pathogen only enters the brain when the body releases adrenaline. I repeat, adrenaline released under strong emotional stress activates the illness. If you think you may be infected, it is very important to stay clam. Stay away from others and, if possible, sedate yourself. There are indications that the immune system can conquer the disease if the illness remains dormant. If illness develops, seek safety away from the infected person. Under no circumstances should one attract their attention, even if they are family members or friends. Remain calm. If you are in an urban area do not try to leave on your own. All major traffic routes have been blocked. The army is preparing to evacuate large cities via waterways. Stay in a safe place. Barricade your doors and windows. Keep your radios on. As information becomes available this station will broadcast the latest updates. You are urged to stay tuned and, as we stated earlier, remain calm. Authorities are working to find a solution to the crisis and medical personnel are treating infected victims at make-shift crisis centers across the city.

SUBTITLES
a pervasive epidemic is spreading
via a virus of unknown origin
The pathogen
is transmitted by bodily fluids
via bites and bleeding wounds.
Within minutes or hours, the virus spreads
through the body.
Infection does not mean
a full blown illness.
The pathogen only enters the brain
when the body releases adrenaline.
I repeat, adrenaline released under strong emotional stress
activates the illness.
If you think you may be infected, it is very important to stay clam.
Stay away from others.
If possible, sedate yourself.
There are indications that the immune system
can conquer the disease if the illness remains dormant.
If illness develops, seek safety
away from the infected person.
Under no circumstances
should one attract attention,
even if they are family members or friends.
Remain calm.
If you are in an urban area do not try to leave on your own.
All major traffic routes have been blocked.
The army
is preparing to evacuate large cities via waterways.
Stay in a safe place. Barricade your doors and windows.
Keep your radios on.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The German parliament has authorized immediate use of military force.
A state of emergency has been declared according to article 35 of the constitution

Links

Movie, Review, Zombies

Exit Humanity (2011)

November 13, 2017 BagpiperDon

Film by Bloody Disgusting
Notes by DPScobie

Okay, so here’s the explanation to hopefully un-confuse this review…

Usually I write my reviews as a film is ending or right after I watched it. Sometimes I’m busy and just write notes, maybe because the ‘what’ to write wasn’t flowing for me. It’s been long enough since I watched Exit Humanity I don’t remember what the situation was. A year ago (2016) I had a hard drive crash, and of the data I lost these notes (from 2014) survived. I didn’t go back and write these notes into essay form then and I’m not doing it now — so you figure it out.

The short of this is as IMDB puts it about Exit Humanity “A young man’s struggle to survive in the aftermath of a deadly undead outbreak during the American Civil War.”

Fighting zombies with a bad chest cold is unadvised

Starting out this makes me think of Asylum Films — ripping off other films and being screen-tests for wannabe actors … but better than Asylum … and better than SciFi channel films.
This particular story makes me think they’re ripping off the book version of World War Z … I haven’t read it all yet but I have listened to some of the spoken-book featuring a number of actors/artists/famous-voices … just this is a whole film that focuses on a historic occurrence of zombies outbreaks.
Not an ideal first date…
Think of it like this … you’ve seen films that feature the lone person surviving in the aftermath of a zombie-outbreak — living off of what remains from civilization, running from the undead and slaying zombies to stay alive. This film is that but set in post US Civil War period. There would still be certain problems, at least with the people of this film, they’d run out of bullets to scrounge.
Interesting that there is only narration for the first 23 minutes of the film, no actor lines/dialogue
The film looks like some that I’ve seen on YouTube — but then I’ve seen some rather well done DIY shorts there.
Surviving would be easier in a period where people already live closer to the land.
I like the personal experience this film gives.
SSSHH — I’m a Ninja!
There are period-incorrect details that become immediately obvious — clothing being the big one, the ninja poncho the main charactre makes for himself, gas can, and I am in question of the rifle (less obvious detail) the main charactre has following the Civil War.
Not to be confused with Rocky Horror Picture Show
Something about the start of this film made me think of the 1999 film “Ravenous” with Robert Carlye (IMDB and Wikipedia).
This is one of the few films I’ve seen without a sub-title option … but then that saves you from screwed up sub-titles … like my copies of Star Wars Episodes 4, 5, and 6 where Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker talk about their “life savers” — mmm, tasty! I wonder if it doesn’t have sub-titles because it is a low-budget film.
IMO some of the pacing or mood lacks making scenes drag.
I like that the film was able to go from a narrated personal account into a story-line, however I think I enjoyed what I was seeing as the narrated film and would have liked to seen the whole story experience carried in that same way.
I’ve noticed the lack of Indians and blacks — only white zombies and survivors. This is not an equal-opportunity zombie film.
The book and the Eve’s house makes me think of Evil Dead I & II.
Had this been kept as a narrated piece it would have made for a unique piece — period film and zombie theme prose. Frankly, I did what I often do while watching a film — kept myself busy with a project — so I did not give my full attention to this piece. Had this been the narration-only driven piece it could have been, as with the sections it does feature, that would have better commanded the attention of the viewer in my opinion. This film could be re-made into a stronger piece with more feeling and horror, however using this film as an example to a remake I’m sure someone with the money for a project would say that it’s not worth spending the money because you’d only be making this a bit stronger ultimately … but then it wouldn’t be the first time the wheel was re-invented and only slightly improved.
I don’t believe I have seen a z-film where there are people who have immunity to the z-virus
The ‘witch’ Eve could be more convincing … I think the problem is the charactre needs to be played by an older actress … maybe it’s just that her hair is too black … as-in dyed black not a natural ‘black’ … so if she had some gray hints or her hair was not as smooth, that might help me to buy in to her charactre. (This is peculiar to say seeing as this actress is the most experienced out of the whole cast – to clarify, my issue is with her appearance, it doesn’t match with her acting or the profile of the character.)
Despite this film’s short comings, I would strongly encourage zombie enthusiasts to see this piece.
Dinner will be ready in a minute….
The source of the zombie outbreak was a bit predictable but does have a slight twist that I haven’t seen before — SPOILER — this has zombie-virus coming from witchcraft or as they elude to Vodou. Once this is revealed the film takes a bit more of a World War Z touch.
I can think of 2 z-films I’ve seen that are ‘zombies in the old-west’, I would say that this one is arguably better than the both.
As zombie make-up goes I’ve seen better and I’ve seen much worse — for what this film is the zombies look great.
Something I really appreciate about this film came from the watching the making-of piece (titled “Blood Sweat And Tears”) in the special features — this film is low budget and very DIY. It was shot in a matter of weeks and many of the crew personnel were volunteer, including family members of the director. I’d be surprised if the Civil War solders at the opening of the film weren’t volunteer reenactors. (When you watch the film with the director’s commentary he indicates that these actors were reenactors, more interestingly they’re Canadians.)