Just released on Netflix disk, this very slight film by Jorge Olguin is a nice change of pace amid the continuing glut of zombie apocalypse films. The main story clocks in at a short 63 minutes, but it is augmented by another two or three minute vignette after the principal end-credits that is labeled "10 Years Before," consisting of newscasts from different countries describing the build-up to the main film.
Since the lead players are primarily children, the acting is a bit forced and monotone at times, but that doesn't necessarily limit enjoyment of the film. It moves along slowly, telling the tale of Camille in a combination of real time and flashbacks. There is one major logic gap to overcome -- really just a lack of viewer information that might have been taken care of with one or two additional lines of dialog. The conclusion is quite good, imho. It wasn't telegraphed for me, although it probably should have been. Special effects are generally acceptable, using matte shots, some forced perspective, and nice colorization of individual frames that really make zombie transformation work well. There is some pretty bad CGI right at the end of the 63 minutes, but I can rationalize that as children's imagination rather than actual event.
This is another nice, short international addition to the zombie/rage virus milieu. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys intelligent variants on the sub-genre.
... Reed
Since the lead players are primarily children, the acting is a bit forced and monotone at times, but that doesn't necessarily limit enjoyment of the film. It moves along slowly, telling the tale of Camille in a combination of real time and flashbacks. There is one major logic gap to overcome -- really just a lack of viewer information that might have been taken care of with one or two additional lines of dialog. The conclusion is quite good, imho. It wasn't telegraphed for me, although it probably should have been. Special effects are generally acceptable, using matte shots, some forced perspective, and nice colorization of individual frames that really make zombie transformation work well. There is some pretty bad CGI right at the end of the 63 minutes, but I can rationalize that as children's imagination rather than actual event.
This is another nice, short international addition to the zombie/rage virus milieu. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys intelligent variants on the sub-genre.
... Reed
