Director: Rob Jabbaz
Year: 2021
Country: Taiwan
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
Trying to make their relationship work, a couple heads off to work as normal only to suddenly see the city around them erupt in chaos as a viral outbreak affects the citizens turning them into mindless killing machines attacking without cause, forcing them to come back together to escape the situation.
Review:
For the most part, there’s a lot to like about the film. Among the better features on display is the topical storyline that manages to evoke current topical subject matters into the explanations for the viral outbreak. Touching on the idea of an initially harmless disease that doesn’t have much in the way of damaging effects to an infected individual beyond treatable symptoms, that the worry of it mutating into something far more dangerous is an eerie mirror of current society. The political ramifications of when the virus is unleashed upon the citizenry and how it’s to be controlled and wiped out focus much of the attention on other modern-day governments and how it’s all being treated in the pop-culture landscape regarding the sources to be trusted create a perfect parallel to the culture at the moment.
With this setup in place, the film goes overboard in featuring tons of outlandish zombie attacks that are incredibly fun. From the early sequences of the outbreak occurring on the streets featuring the couple going past infected citizens being detained by police to the chaos at the restaurant where he’s attacked by several infected zombies, there’s a frenetic quality to the encounters that’s quite chilling. Given the treatment of the zombies here where they’re shown to be mentally aware and cognizant of what’s going on but delving into their baser instincts without pity or remorse, it creates some tension and fear in the scenes where they’re confronted by the creatures with the way they run after victims, taunt them before killing, and are shown to be in complete control of how they’re behaving, which all helps to make them more terrifying.
This quantity of fun encounters produces an over-the-top and extraordinary amount of carnage and bloodshed on display. The amount of bodies shown being torn open, bitten, and devoured is staggering to think of as eyes are gouged out, necks are chomped, fingers ripped off, and much more. The straightforward approach to the effects-work means that these scenes never become campy or ridiculous but rather remain grounded in a realism that’s immensely satisfying as the film goes on. However, it’s the hardcore bloodshed on display from the multiple stabbings that really wins out here as the brutality inherent in these sudden ambush sequences produces an immeasurable spray of blood onto the attackers and surrounding areas. Featuring all kinds of great effects-work throughout, there’s a lot to like with the film.
That said, this one does have some issues. The main factor to get over is the change of pace regarding the zombies and their behavior, which might not be appreciated by most hardcore genre fans due to several changes made. The shuffling, slow-moving brain-dead undead who only desire to eat human flesh is gone, replaced by weapon-wielding, cognizant beings that merely act out their perverse and morbid desires instead. That basically amounts to murder and rape which can make the creatures questionable about being lumped into the genre, especially since there’s nothing about them dying and coming back to life. There’s also the overlong finale that goes on much too long for its own good, focusing on the confrontation between the two which goes nowhere instead of showing her trying to escape which she easily can. The speech is infuriating as it’s obviously a trap and the inability to recognize it makes for an overlong finale, factors which hold the film back somewhat.
Overview: ****.5/5
An unrepentant gore-fest filled with plenty of carnage and a topical story written around it all, this one is an immensely fun zombie film that does have some minor issues filling out genre qualities that might not even matter anyway. Gorehounds, lovers of Asian horror cinema, or grindhouse film aficionados are going to really enjoy this one the most while viewers who aren’t into those styles should heed caution with this one.
This review was originally written for Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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