Director: S.J. Hermann, Mia Katz
Year: 2025
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
In the midst of the zombie outbreak, the survivors of the town try to find shelter from the creatures, only to end up at the remote farmhouse of a tyrannical leader, looking to use them to help replenish the workforce of his captors, forcing them to settle their loyalties to stop the zombies.
Review:
Overall, this is a slightly disappointing if still enjoyable follow-up. Among the better features here is the immensely likable series of exploits within here that helps to paint the main group as a worthwhile group who are forced together during the situation. This one picks up right from the finale of the other, with the group realizing how overrun the town is and being forced to move stealthily to get to safety while also trying to accommodate the different personalities that unfold for everyone, making for quite an enjoyable experience throughout. With the series of hurdles and hardships they face due to the different mindsets and mentality that are present since they all have vastly different reasons for hanging out in the group, this all gives the group a fine enough opening setup involving the group trying to stay alive.
With this established, the use of scattered zombie attacks becomes rather fun and manages to offer a solid enough slew of zombie encounters. Alongside the fun character-building that occurs as the group tries to escape from the creatures, the opening features some great moments of the group being ambushed by the creatures around town in a series of encounters that involve them being on the run against the creatures. The series of interactions on the way to the homestead house or the supply runs into town, featuring brief sequences killing off the creatures in the area, makes for a fun enough time as it leads up to the big finale, offering the zombies overrunning the compound to rip everyone to pieces. This all comes together to make for quite a lot to like here.
There are some big problems keeping this one down. The main issue about this one is the use of one of the most overdone and utterly asinine storylines involved in the genre, where it tries to introduce a human threat more vicious and evil than the flesh-eating zombies. The whole storyline about the leader of this commune living in the middle of the infected zone with a group of people under his authoritarian rule that renders everyone who talks back or speaks out against his will to be rendered expendable or sacrificed for the creatures. It’s all done in the name of getting and holding onto power, which is handled well enough on the technical fronts while making enough connective use from the rest of the film, but it’s all about the use of it in the first place that does stand out here.
The other slight flaw with this one is the sluggish and generally dragging pace that pops up in the first half. As this goes on for the majority of the first half, detailing the kind of interactions with the zombies and the different types of coping methods the survivors have to get through the type of world-ending scenario that this portrays, there’s a lot to like here with the kind of character-building that takes place. However, the fact that there’s quite a lot of emotional depth rather than zombie action in this kind of end-of-the-world scenario, which doesn’t highlight the type of environment in here all that believably, is that it’s in the apocalypse due to the overlong setup at play. Alongside the somewhat cheap and low-budget limitations in this one, these all manage to bring it down somewhat.
Overview: ***/5
A rather solid if somewhat slightly flawed sequel, this one still remains impressive and enjoyable enough that there’s a lot to like with only a few drawbacks to keep it from what it could’ve been. Those who appreciate this style of indie genre fare, are hardcore zombie fanatics, or enjoy the creative crew, will have a lotto like here, while most others should heed caution.
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