When a neurological pandemic decimates the population Daniel
(Alton Milne), a desperate man bereaving over the death of his family, finds
solace at an isolated farmhouse owned by April (Sandra Louise Douglas), whose
family is all dead. This is the premise
behind the infected-zombie film The Dead
Outside (2008). I love zombie and
infectious disease films of which there have been a lot in the past few
years. With such a glut of product being
released on a monthly basis film makers have to do something different with the
material in order to set it apart from other films. There is nothing new in this film that hasn’t
been done a thousand times before.
The film suffers from having two unlikable characters in
April and Daniel. Neither make for
interesting characters as Daniel is someone who does questionable actions
throughout the film whereas actress Douglas as April doesn’t have the
experience to pull off the complexities to make April a complex character. The film also suffers from uninspired
direction by Kerry Anne Mullaney (who also contributed to the screenplay). The look of the film is as best as I can describe
it is “domestic” as most of the action takes place in and around the farmhouse
with a lot of time spent on flat dialogue between the two main characters. The film wants to be a smart and intelligent
take on the genre but there is not enough suspense or action to place it above
anything other than another trivial horror film.
The film has nothing to recommend it unless you are a fan of
UK horror films. It’s a timid mess that
if made in the ‘90s probably would’ve fared better but in this day and age with
the glut of zombie-infectious films out there this film should’ve probably stayed
in its grave.
No comments:
Post a Comment