Director: Pablo Parés, Hernán Sáez
Year: 2011
Country: Argentina
Alternate Titles: Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante: Revolución Tóxica
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
With the infection still looming, a group of friends trying to survive the alien apocalypse affecting the town learn the true nature of their arrival and interference in the world and try to put a stop to their activities while trying to escape their overrun home.
Review:
This one was as much fun as the others and had a lot to like. One of the more enjoyable aspects of this one is the fact that there's quite a lot to like here with the early action scenes which are just as much fun as the others are. Seeing them clearing out the abandoned city in different solo encounters, from the hand-to-hand brawling against the swarm on the streets to the weapons-filled brawl on the rooftop as well as the battle in the suburbs all come off being exceptionally fun and somewhat bloody encounters with the zombies that have been running loose within the town and play off the same crazed, frenzied material of the past. That picks up considerably again in the second half where they reunite and take on the never-ending fleeing swarm running past them on the streets heading for the junkyard which turns into the series' all-time greatest gag in their endearing musical number with the creatures to distract them into escaping.
This failure leads into the same utterly frenzied and chaotic burst of gore gags and fighting which is the series' hallmark and is executed incredibly effectively once they start turning into the full-bore aliens within which is what makes that so much fun. The realization of it all comes from the enhanced and well-utilized budget here which employs CGI for the first time alongside the more traditional home-made gags for all the gore and bloodshed, helping nicely with the epic scale of the invasion for the finale and giving this one quite a fun finish.
Still, while there's a lot to like here it does have its flaws. One of the biggest is the fact that there's a decided lack of action here as there are only a few actual confrontations with the zombies which really drags the pacing down quite heavily. This is due to plenty of sequences here that keep the action down and never once bring about any kind of interest or appealing qualities to them, from the continuous run-ins with the corrupt officer that doesn't amount to anything due to his wrong-headed belief in their rationale, the utterly painful scenes of the friend with the domesticated zombie friend that isn't funny or cute and just comes off as excruciating and the flashback training montage with the former coach that just eats up time without ever amounting to anything other than dragging this one out. Likewise, there's also the rather low-budget CGI in here that doesn't come close to realistic even though it does work in that grander sense of scale here, which manages to make this one quite the obvious low-budget effort. These here are just enough to hold this one down.
Overview: ***.5/5
Yet another fun and wild over-the-top zombie effort that keeps the series going in fine form, the few flaws are the weakest in the series and the positives are enjoyable overall here. Give this one a look if you're a fan of the series thus far, looking for a wild over-the-top zombie film or curious about the franchise, while those who haven't been won over by the series yet or aren't into the low-budget style should heed caution.
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