ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction

I suppose this film’s major ‘plus point’ is that it has tried to call itself some variation of ‘.... of the Dead.’ The title ‘ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction,’ refers to the loosely-alluded premise that this particular zombie outbreak is some form of terrorist attack.  But then who cares how zombie outbreak start?  We just want to know one thing: what’s the gore like?

And, in ZMD’s case, it’s actually not too bad.  Yes, it’s a B-movie, but then 90% of zombie films are, therefore you’re probably not expecting a ‘mega-budget’ epic of a movie.  So, this does manage to deliver – it’s pretty horrific and what little budget they have is used well on some nice/gruesome zombie and victim kills.

ZMD also has another unusually plus point for a B-movie – the central characters are actually pretty different (remember, we’re talking horror B-movies here).  We have a girl of Middle Eastern descent and a gay couple.  And this worked.  Their originality made them quite likeable and easy to root for.

But it’s not all good.  What starts out pretty excellent sort of stalls midway through the film.  Even though the main characters are good, those who they meet aren’t.  It’s like the writers wrote the characters into situations which separated from the main threat element, i.e. the zombies, so they had to introduce all sorts of nut-job characters to pose a new threat.

Plus the film isn’t that original.  It seems to borrow elements from at least five different zombie films.  I counted the basement lock-in from Night of the Living Dead, the boarding-up-the-church from Return of the Living Dead, the situations of Shaun of the Dead and the tone of Braindead.

It’s a pity the overall story isn’t a little more focus.  I was really enjoying the first act, only to find myself getting a bit bored during the second half.  Overall, the end kind of drags the whole thing down.  What could have been an excellent little B-movie ends up being only just about watchable because the story meanders about the place of its own make.  Pity.  Still worth a quick watch if you liked Peter Jackson’s Braindead and you’re a fan of gore.

6/10 May just keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights