Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Michael Allen
Writer: Kevin Gates.
World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 is a sequel to the 2006 film The Zombie Diaries. Much like the zombie antagonists, World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 is a lifeless thriller that has been described as "the world's most tedious zombie movie" (Daily) and "lacking character development" (Mirror). Released on DVD in the United Kingdom June 27th, this film shambles around at a monotonous pace, until the ending finally finds something brilliant (irony). But most viewers will have fallen down dead from boredom before these final few minutes.
A squad of territorial soldiers embarks from their virus overrun bunker in search of Hope's Point. Here, there is a possible rescue by ships from Rotterdam. Zombies walking at 1/4 km an hour drive the plot at a sedate pace, as Maddox (Philip Brodie) urges his squad forward. Then, the first of three exploitative rapes begins, by a group of lawless thugs; the vileness of World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 begins to set in.
One of the better film elements within World of the Dead is the few minutes spent on the characterizations. Kayne (Vicky Araico), Carter (Okorie Chukwu), Jonesy (Rob Oldfield) and a young journalist (Alix Wilton Regan) each get their turn in front of the shaky handheld camera. They lament about lost loved ones and of being in the zombie apocalypse. Then, the camera shifts and the disorientation begins again. Your train of thought is lost and soon, the squad is diminished one by one by shuffling zombie attack, like something out of a parody.
The finale tries for a flourish, but there are too many negatives, by this point, to bring the film to any sort of interesting closure. There is some irony in the final few lines; yet, this film had already incited the fast forward button several times. The final feelings left with this reviewer was disappointment and boredom. There just is not enough tension here.
One final question: why would a soldier videotape an attack on himself and comrades, rather than fighting back? The answer to this question does not matter, as the meandering zombies impossibly spreading an infection has already broken the veil of believability. David Edwards at the Mirror notices this flaw as well: "wouldn’t it be great to see a zombie film that doesn’t have the undead shuffling around threatening the end of the world?" And it would be great to see some actual thrills in a zombie film, too!
Writing/plot/story: 6.5 (there is a focus in the film, the story is moving forward, but the characters are mostly cordwood - waiting to be chopped into finer pieces).
Pacing/music/believability: 5.5 (a shuffling infection - no, this does not work, there is no music, there are too many pauses for horrifying rape scenes, which are pointless).
Overall: 6 (pretty shabby).
David Edward's review of the film at the Mirror:
World of the Dead at the Mirror
Chris Tookey also reviews this title at the Daily:
World of the Dead at the Daily
You can order this title from the United Kingdom (Region 2). But, why would you want to?
World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 at Amazon
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