"Realism" is all the more scary

Rating: 8/10 (13 May 2007)

I know that realism is an odd point concerning Zombie films (I know they're officially not "zombies" but for the sake of argument I'm going to refer to them as such) but once you accept most of your fellow humans are out to eat/hurt you with no thought for themselves, its the practicality of such a real life situation that gives me the most interest. With this being set in Britain without the mandatory gun shop on every corner, it makes for a far more gritty, "hands on" horror film. The panic and squalor of quite literally fighting for your life amongst the normally mundane countryside/urban scenarios are far more upsetting than any cocky American, confidently shooting a corpse with a witty sound bite or overly sentimental reaction (although that does sadly occur a little in this film). I was fearful this film would fall foul of the zombies showing recognition or mercy on loved ones but instead the catastrophic change in victims is shown brutally well (in the medical room for example). The currently very popular "night vision" tool is used well in one scene and although the film does fall back on tried and tested structure (kids being naughty/annoying, people and zombies surviving the unsurvivable and then handily coming across each other to tie things up nicely etc) the film gripped me enough and pulled me in sufficiently to not hold them against it. I know my Utopian ideal of a zombie film where the events and horrifically realistic situations form the bulk of the film (what would I do questions raised etc) and overly emotional character plots are spared instead going for a more general overview of human response is unrealistic, my fingers are still crossed.