I'd heard about this one, another apocalyptic combo takeoff on I AM LEGEND and THE OMEGA MAN, that was independently produced on a low budget and released direct to DVD on the Asylum label. It's about a man who is one of the few survivors on Earth after some sort of catastrophe (it's never made clear) has turned people into grotesque and marauding zombies. He meets up with a couple of other guys who need his aid in reaching one known female survivor somewhere who may have the cure within her own blood.
There is nothing that's new or unique here, but it functions very much like a "LAST MAN ON EARTH meets DAWN OF THE DEAD", and is more of a zombie film than anything else. On that level I think it succeeds pretty well in spite of the lack of funds... the ghoul makeup and special effects are actually quite good, and there is a decent amount of one-on-one threat and action with the creatures (who are played by real people). In fact, while watching this I thought to myself how much better this aspect of the movie played out than ANY of the silly and needlessly cartoon-like "dwellers" of Will Smith's mega-budgeted I AM LEGEND (which wasn't released until after this, also in 2007) ! Sometimes less is more in this regard, and a tiny budget requires more realism. Sure, there are many curious mistakes (how do computers still work, and why are there lights everywhere at night, for instance?) but I got the impression that hearts were in the right place and the filmmakers did the best with what they had. **1/2 out of ****
There is nothing that's new or unique here, but it functions very much like a "LAST MAN ON EARTH meets DAWN OF THE DEAD", and is more of a zombie film than anything else. On that level I think it succeeds pretty well in spite of the lack of funds... the ghoul makeup and special effects are actually quite good, and there is a decent amount of one-on-one threat and action with the creatures (who are played by real people). In fact, while watching this I thought to myself how much better this aspect of the movie played out than ANY of the silly and needlessly cartoon-like "dwellers" of Will Smith's mega-budgeted I AM LEGEND (which wasn't released until after this, also in 2007) ! Sometimes less is more in this regard, and a tiny budget requires more realism. Sure, there are many curious mistakes (how do computers still work, and why are there lights everywhere at night, for instance?) but I got the impression that hearts were in the right place and the filmmakers did the best with what they had. **1/2 out of ****