Director: Robin Aubert
Year: 2018
Country: Canada
Alternate Titles: Les affamés
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
In the middle of a zombie apocalypse, several groups of survivors make their way across the Canadian wilderness looking for safety, and as each group attempts to find a means of survival in the situation they find obstacles imposed by the creatures which hinder their chances significantly.
Review:
This here turned out to be quite enjoyable overall. One of the better features here is the zombie action that shows up in here, making for a fun time when it occurs. The opening encounters in the woods feature several fun encounters, from the trap setup in the woods that captures their attention to the ambush at the hunting shack where the horde begins spilling out of the forest as they try to escape. Likewise, with the vignettes moving around to the different survivors encountering the creatures, there's plenty of fun with the scenes of the creatures out in the tall grass hunting or the especially creepy idea of the zombies gathering in the field of debris as if transfixed on the location.
That carries over nicely into the final half where there's a lot to like. From the night-time ambush on the house where they get chased into the woods and have to battle them in the surrounding trees in the light of daybreak, to the groups' harrowing trek through the field of debris and the encounter with the creatures outside the shack, this all prepares for the fantastic finale in the open field. As the horde comes out of hiding and rushes the open field, there's plenty of action, gore and emotional trauma brought about by the entirely ambiguous final half with all the zombie encounters featured. Combined with the great zombie make-up and a stellar payoff to an irritating side-characters' running joke, these here are the film's best aspects.
There are a few minor problems with this one. The main issue here is the absolutely dreadful pacing present that keeps everything that's happening in the same general tone and tempo. Rarely does this one deviate much from a languid, lethargic pace that meanders along at the same speed, even for the zombie scenes which fly by in the same exact setting which never lets any kind of emotional impact come through. That this setup is boring in the first place as everyone gives the same monotone reaction and reading to everything makes it stand out as the flat, monotonous way this is presented through the existentialism conversations or the consistent matter-of-fact manner of the scenes together.
The other real problem is the utterly confusing and disjointed storyline that makes it hard to tell what's going on. The early scenes of this one going around to the three separate groups of survivors, with the old farmer and his son, the man and the woman he meets in the shack and the other women living isolated in the wilderness, all happening simultaneously. However, its nearly impossible to tell that since the shorthand nature of spending so little time with each group, oftentimes not even getting names to them until much later that it's sometimes hard to tell where where we are during this setup, which all hurts this one significantly.
Overview: ***1/2/5
As there are some rather enjoyable elements to be found here from the zombie action when it occurs as well as a rather big obstacle to overcome, this is still a decidedly watchable and at times engaging genre effort. Give this a shot if you're a hardcore zombie fanatic or looking to gather something more than the usual genre effort, while those that only want a full-on, high-action genre feature with plenty of gore and zombie-splatter should heed caution.
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