I Survived a Zombie Holocaust (2014)
From the land of early Peter Jackson comes another Braindead movie in bad taste. It’s the third day of shooting the low budget horror ‘Tonight They Come’ on location in the wilds of New Zealand. Director SMP is already beside himself having to work with a self-obsessed leading man and a bimbo actress when into his line of fire comes a new runner, wannabe screenwriter Wesley Pennington. Clearly an accident-prone nerd, Wesley nevertheless tries his best to fit in with the crazed cast and demented crew while falling head over heels for Susan, the set caterer. But something nasty has entered the local water supply and suddenly the zombie extras start acting like genuine members of the living dead, gore stunts looks even more authentic and actual severed limbs fly. Reel life turns real as Wesley attempts to save the day while ensuring his latest script will get made.
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I would have loved to have enjoyed this and had been able to support local cinema, but alas this was quite painful to watch... in fact I couldn't even make it past 45 minutes. The production itself was ~okay~ but the script, toilet humour and needless over sexualisation of women made it impossible for me to enjoy. I can only hope the next film these guys put out will be a bit better thought out.
Even though zombie horror in currently en vogue, and the lighter side of it (ie. comedy) has its pearls, this one is actually better than average.This one does the meta-thing: on the set of a zombie movie, a real zombie apocalypse breaks out. And even though the entire movie is laden with clichés, does not mind being trashy and silly, it sill manages to be fun. I assume the budget was tiny, but in my opinion this requires the makes to actually put some thought into the story, the characters and the script. In this case worked out okay.However, there are some shortcomings. Some scenes are a bit too slapstick, some dialogue lines are plain too silly (instead of being funny). Also, the end is, IMO, a bit lackluster. I thought the writers simply had no idea how to finish it properly, so they reverted back to the meta-story. Seems they reference the entire meta-theme here, since the writer of the first meta-movie had also no idea how to end the movie.(Breaking 3rd, 4th wall?) We end, where we started, at the set of low-budget zombie movie. Unfortunately without any explanation on how the characters managed to escape the sticky situation they were in.Spoiler alert: two people stand opposite a whole town turned into zombies. CUT and we're back in the meta-level. Huh?If they would have resolved this little conundrum, the entire movie would be much more fun and more consistent. Apart from that it's another nice NZ production, certainly not en par with Deathgasm or Houseboud, but still fun to watch.
On his first day as a lowly runner on a zombie film, aspiring film-maker Wesley (Harley Neville) meets the girl of his dreams, pretty cook Susan (Jocelyn Christian), but also finds himself fighting for survival against real zombies who have invaded the set.From its broad characters, absurd humour, and outrageous gore, right down to its awkward nerd-turned-hero who falls for a nice 'girl-next-door' in the midst of a zombie epidemic, it seems pretty clear to me that the makers of New Zealand splatter comedy I Survived A Zombie Holocaust set out to emulate Peter Jackson's Brain Dead (Wesley couldn't be more like Lionel if he tried). And for much of the time, they get it right: the gruesome effects are suitably messy, the crazy and sometimes delightfully crass comedy mostly hits the mark, and the cast do well in creating some memorably fun characters.Unfortunately, where the film does suffer is in its pacing: things take an awful long while to get going, and at 104 minutes, 'I Survived ' is far too long to sustain the central joke. Some judicious editing to trim away all of the fat, and this film could have been great rather than just good. As it stands, it is still the second best low-budget Kiwi zombie film I have seen, but with only the disappointing Black Sheep as the other contender (I've yet to see Last Of The Living), I suppose that could be considered faint praise.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
I actually liked this flick,it's not big budget but you can see they had fun with it.This was made in New Zealand who brought us the zombie gem "braindead"which is still one of my favorites and certainly the best non "Romero" out there.This never gets on that level but it has enough to be a nice addition to the whole genre.It's not the most original either but it does have some elements that are and which works for this movie.Especially the zombie movie within a zombie movie felt some what unique and gives the story a change to be funny without feeling forced.The crossing of reality and fantasy is superb and handled very well by the actors who give it a real"down to earth"feeling.The ending was a real surprise and fitted this story well. It also leaves room for a sequel or even a trilogy but if they do they gotta keep adding elements to keep it fresh, but...time will tell.If you don't like zombie movies or non Hollywood films than this probably is not a movie you'll enjoy.If you like zombie movies or a different approach to the genre you might wanna check this one out.A good mix of horror and humor. It don't happen often but with this one it does.It's just....great living dead fun!.