Director: Marcus Dunstan
Year: 2022
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
Preparing for a field trip, a group of students is suddenly thrust into the middle of a zombie outbreak when they witness a series of attacks by a series of crazed individuals trying to kill them, but the longer they try to fight them off the more they realize something isn't right with the attacking creatures.
Review:
This was a pretty decent if overall somewhat flawed effort. When this one works nicely is due to the highly impressive setup that gets them out into the location in the first place. The field-trip setup that manages to bring together their various sidestories and personal issues that get explored before dropping them off at the compound in the middle of nowhere works quite well here as we get to know the kids before getting the fateful accident that strands everyone in the middle of nowhere. The resulting chaos that emerges from these sequences offers the kind of ravenous fun that derives from their need to escape the infected running after them through the woods and into the abandoned building where the constant attacks mean a pretty reasonable high level of violence and action that comes off quite nicely as the panic and shock expressed here is enough to drag this part of the film out rather nicely. These here, though, are basically all that hold this one up. The film does have a fair share of issues that hold it back.
The biggest drawback here is the utterly problematic and troublesome second-half twist that takes place here where the motivations around the whole project. Since this becomes far more of a lesson-building experience surrounding the zombie outbreak regarding the perpetrators and what their purpose behind it is, there are some highly unrealistic motivations that come about trying to provide the function of the whole experiment but becomes just so mind-numbingly infuriating and stupid it's hard to believe this coming together to improve the film. This introduces so many inconsistencies and inner contradictions regarding the mechanics of how this is going to play out which stand out incredibly obviously with how they interact with each other from scene to scene and within the rest of the film. It all makes this a struggle to comprehend how everything in this one works and putting any thought into this one is folly.
The last detriment here is the utterly unlikable and problematic cast here that manages to drag the fun out of this one. The entire group of students that comes together here falls into every imaginable genre stereotype and cliche that pulls up everything irritating and reprehensible about the genre which then does nothing with it to the point of being absolutely aggravating. Nothing is ever done to change up who they are and what they're all about the entire time which keeps everything barely tolerable for the most part. Lastly, the twist of this one also manages to keep the film's gore and bloodshed relegated to just a few spots here without actually managing to make it mean anything so it's even less effective here when it appears, with all these issues coming together to hold this one back overall.
Overview: **/5
A generally underwhelming and problematic effort that has more issues than positives, there's just enough here to be watchable at the slightest bit but all the issues here do manage to keep this one down. Really only give this one a chance if you're a fan of the target teen audience this one aims for or don't mind the negatives, while most others who are turned off by the style of film or don't find the negatives worthwhile should heed caution if not outright avoid.
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