Director: Rhys Davis
Year: 2010
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
After a dirty bomb is detonated, a woman attempting to care for her injured father lands in a hospital with other survivors who are soon cursed to learn that the fallout has started a zombie pandemic that's overrun the building and must team with several other survivors to get out alive.
Review:
Overall, this was a decidedly decent indie zombie effort. What really works nicely for this one is the manner in which the film builds up the idea of the outbreak and the initial mass zombie pandemic. With the creation of the creatures through the idea of the gases released and all the chaos the hospital experiences at that point, seeing the emergence of the creatures and the general confusion that arises from a terrorist attack as such gives this one a nice, strong starting point that really works nicely overall.
From there, this one really does good as building a continuous stream of zombie action within the building. The idea of confronting the overwhelming hordes that are found here, constantly putting them on the retreat as they go about trying to survive the different scenarios. From the first encounter where they try to get past the creatures and use the elevator to escape or trying to get past the zombies swarming in the lobby once they get off, the fact that the majority of the film details their experience trying to get out of the building overrun with creatures makes this a fun, fast-moving effort that works nicely with it's small budget. As this manages to make good use of the dwindling numbers to enhance the threat by the creatures as well as bringing about some solid gore, this section of the film moves along rather nicely to give this some solid positives.
There are a few flaws to be found here. The biggest issue is a decidedly puzzling tactic repeated several times throughout the film of distorting and flaring the camera during moments when there's no need for any kind of technical flourishes. Not only do these flare-ups not make any sense for being included here at all but the moments when they choose to include this tactic as it's done when people are simply moving around trying to avoid being bitten which shouldn't have any kind of special enhancement that makes the scene look blurrier than they really need to be.
That tactic also goes hand-in-hand with the film's low-budget look and feel. Not only does the relatively obvious one-location setting give this away as to what kind of film this really is, there's also the rather charmingly silly-looking zombie makeup as there's nothing more obvious here than dirt and mud smeared across them in places or the rather simplistic tone that just oozes off the film that carries throughout this one. With an underwhelming finale also getting featured, there's a few issues that do get featured here.
Overview: ** 1/2/5
While there are a few problems here, mainly centered around the low-budget hindrances that aren't always a flaw here as this one is still enjoyable enough overall. Give this a chance if you're into these kinds of simplistic low-budget indies or a hardcore zombie completist, while those looking for more than that should really heed caution with this one.
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