Alive

source: Alive

source: Alive

A young woman is traversing the zombie apocalypse, with her teacher, boyfriend, and little brother...who has been bitten, but not yet turned fully into a zombie. When the group gets separated, and they fall in with a weird zombie-killing religious cult, who is seeking to secure themselves access to a sanctuary called "the valley". To do so, they need to provide the sanctuary with a "breeding female". And, thus, seek to use the young woman to get themselves in. While she is just desperately trying to keep her little brother safe...and human. Their only hope is a lone wolf named Dan, who finds himself in a similar situation as their own. So they must work together, if they have any chance at surviving. It's all a very low budget effort. And, as such, has the feeling of a student film. Very amateurish. But a valiant effort. With a bit of a twist, that puts it apart from the rest of the oeuvre. 3 out of 10.

On the brink of a zombie apocalypse, a woman and her family flee into the countryside to seek shelter with a couple of other survivors staying away from the zombie hordes when their presence is detected by a group of religious extremists looking to push their agenda and must get to safety before it's too late. Overall, there was a lot to like about this one. One of the better features here is the highly effective and enjoyable setup that provides the goods on a low-budget zombie apocalypse rather nicely. Establishing early on the nature of the pandemic and how to get the group out of the city and into the remote countryside where a slew of scenes show them adapting to their newfound state of survival in the woods, this is nothing new but works to the film's benefit by working in cramped, low-budget conditions that are quite logical and realistic. The family dynamic at play here by trying to keep them safe from the creatures while dealing with the inevitable infection of one of the members at the same time. That gives the film a great buffer in the second half to deal not only with the emerging zombie threat but the arrival of the religious cult that tries to take on the group in their quest for getting control of the situation. This section provides a solid counterbalance that allows for a fantastic human drama between the two groups which is necessary in a zombie film as the religious cult gets far more overt and dangerous about their intentions which makes for a great means of including the zombie action into the storyline as there are some fine interactions that take place around the house and the surrounding areas which let the low-budget zombie effects and gore come off quite nicely. These factors are enough to give this one quite a lot to like as there are some drawbacks to be had with this one. The biggest drawback to this one is the rather underwhelming amount of zombie action featured here which is based on several attacks in only a few sections of the film. This doesn't really make their presence feel all that intimidating due to these lacking attacks with the main focus here being the cult coming into play where the zombies are kept to the sidelines as a secondary threat. It also doesn't help that this comes under the secondary issue where its budget shines through at the worst points possible as the low budget makes the effects feel cheaper with the low-rent CGI for the spectacle sequences or the overall lack of zombies here with the hordes only being featured in small groups. These aren't that big though and are all that hold this back. Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.

From what I can see, it's a good effort from a director that doesn't have much under their belt. Definitely, you can see some good story boarding elements as far as being under a budget and his camera work. However, story and the editing somewhat detract. There's quite a few odd cuts. However, it's something they can polish up further along in their career hopefully. Also, I've seen better special effects even at these budget levels. Overall, zombie apocalypse story, the only spin on it is the positioning and view of the protagonist. There definitely is a ever common family thread in it. However, it is so annoying that it doesn't make any character likeable at all. All seem kind of detached, act on illogical premises. The movie could just be called "Barney", because a kid being the instigator of all the problems and death in the movie seems to be what they had in store. Personally, I found it rather insulting making a kid so dimitted. Also, the way it is framed makes me think none of these people have used firearms before. I can appreciate the abilities to working with budget constraints, and these film makers actually tell a decent story within those constraints. However, several things pulled me out of the story and I can only attribute it to that. Using odd cuts and foley, where a dark lighting and scuibs or flashing lights would suffice. Some of which aren't all that expensive. The climax of the film is filled with many of these jump quick cuts with little more than exposition. If you are a lover of low budget movies, then you might able to glean a more enjoyable movie than I can. Overall, I hope all these film makers get more of a chance in the future to polish their craft.

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