Viewed – 30 September 2010 DVD
There have been loads of Zombie movies over the years, from the legendary Night Of The Living Dead, Italian shocker Zombie, and also 28 Days Later. Even remakes such as Dawn Of The Dead. So it was just a matter of time, in wake of the rise in popularity of French horror movies like Frontiers and Martyrs that the talented guys from that country would deliver their own zombie apocalypse.
Following a night time raid on a high rise apartment building, a group of cops find themselves teaming up with the criminal gang they had set out to apprehend, when a ravenous army of zombies attack the building. This wafer-thin setup offers some fairly competent characterisation, with bickering brothers on the crooks side, a bitter, gutsy female and a hard-as-nails guy on the cop’s side, that are soon joined by an over-zealous ex-war veteran / pensioner with stacks of weaponry. Lacking the biting social commentary of a George Romero movie, but with plenty of gunfire, hand-to-hand smackdowns and oodles of blood and gore, this is certainly entertaining. The kills go for a more brutal, nasty approach rather than anything remotely inventive and at times the violence felt a touch cartoonish. Yet what spoils this is firstly an erratic camera that although attempting cool just proves annoying, then a setting that is 80% in darkness, meaning its not always clear what’s happening. Add to this moments of character stupidity I haven’t seen since the 80s – There’s someone growling and scratching at the door – don’t bloody open it!!!
So in closing, considering the otherwise stellar output from France when it comes to horror, this just lacked imagination and a personality to call its own amongst a crowded genre.
Verdict: 2.5 /5
Craig's Movie Report 