Director: Chris Maes
Year: 2026
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
Hoping to save a failing radio station, a DJ trying to keep it on the air finds her activities disturbed not just by a serial killer looking to hide out from the authorities but also by a ravenous zombie outbreak from a local chemical spill, forcing them to work together to deal with the threat before it’s too late.
Review:
Overall, this was a likable enough genre effort. One of the better elements is the enjoyable setup, which offers intriguing and varied plot points as a decent starting point. The whole idea of the girl staying at the station while it’s preparing to undergo its final days before it closes, and going through a special fundraiser trying to keep it afloat due to the importance she places on its presence in the digital airspace, sets this up incredibly well for the type of content it wants to set from the very beginning. The series of obstacles that she faces, from incompetent coworkers to the unmotivated management figures looking forward to closing it down and moving on without her, sets everything up as a hurdle to overcome from the very start, and with the subsequent plot about the serial killer coming to the station as a way to hide out from the police scouring the area for him, gives this another strange hurdle for everything to get through.
That makes the series of zombie encounters in the midst of everything here to be immensely enjoyable and come together rather well. The idea of the place existing mainly as a holding facility for the government dumping programs that took place decades ago, and the series of investigations into what happened to it, makes it all seem like the escape and subsequent infection in the rest of the community around the station, which is a fun way to get the zombies out and ready to invade. This leads into the main fun of this one, where the majority of the running time is spent on trying to remain safe inside the station as the encroaching hordes of zombies arrive outside ready to attack anyone who comes toward it, offering a nice mix of seriousness in trying to remain safe from the creatures while also managing to add in some comedy with the sitcom-like escalation of obstacles to overcome, with new visitors to the station also getting caught in the mix. These all manage to provide this with some likable enough features here.
There are some big issues here holding this one down. The main drawback here is the immensely bizarre and off-kilter presentation that tries to be a silly genre comedy but is so underwhelming about it all that there’s very little enjoyment to be had with this one. The main concept, involving her staying there at the station and being forced to entertain the various guests as she attempts her special fundraising push, but that only means that she spends the majority of the time interacting with the serial killer trying to escape the police on his trail, as the few police reports that trickle in never resolve anything. With the scenes here never managing to be fearful or tense and feeling more like the awkward conversations where someone is trying to understand a job or skillset that the other performer knows so well that it’s almost beneath them to be figured into the situation, the whole thing feels incredibly off and never feels funny or thrilling. That also leaves the zombies as yet another obstacle to overcome that interrupts her plans for saving the station, and the few encounters where we cut to them are almost afterthoughts rather than anything else, which, with the obvious low-budget limitations, are all that hold this back.
Overview: **.5/5
A likable enough, if somewhat flawed, genre effort, there’s enough to like here that it manages to be worthwhile, though the few flaws present hold this one back. Those with an appreciation for this type of indie genre fare, or who are curious about it, will have the most to like, while most others out there should heed caution.
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