Humans vs Zombies (2011)

Overrated and overhyped

Dreadfully Boring

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Another ruinous no-budget zombie flick that helps to drive this particular sub-genre further into the ground. HUMANS VS ZOMBIES is apparently based on a live-action roleplaying game of the same name, one that's popular in colleges across the USA. As a film, it's entirely devoid of wit, intelligence, and merit.A toxic leak at a chemical plant results in a zombie epidemic and some geeky roleplaying kids are the only ones who have a chance to fight back. That's the extent of the storyline, and for the rest of the running time we get stuck with a group of annoying teenage characters as they outrun zombies over and over again.There are the requisite shoddy gore effects, crowds of bloody zombies, and low rent action, and all of it is captured by a director barely capable of shooting a watchable film. In the end, though, it's the poor quality script - one which is entirely derivative of pretty much every zombie flick that's come before - which scuppers this mess of a movie.

It takes a lot for me to not allow a movie to finish so I know what the ending is like. I even finished "2012:Ice Age" and that has got to be one of the most ridiculous movies I have ever seen or reviewed.Now before anyone says that I don't get the genre, I love "The Walking Dead" and have seen almost all the zombie apocalypse movies out there but this one was just...BAD.The plot was err...lame, although with some creative writing it could have been made into something.The dialogue for this must have been written by an eight year old because in reality, my cat could craft better dialogue. Now that doesn't mean that all good movies have great dialogue because there are some out there with very cheesy dialogue, but with a good actor or actress it can be delivered very powerfully.Unfortunately for this movie, only one of the actors appeared to have actually studied the craft. I think the casting interview consisted of one question, "Hey, want to be in a zombie movie?" I place this movie into the category of: "There are some thing we just wish we had never seen."

OK, I've been following HUMANS VERSUS ZOMBIES for almost a year I guess and finally getting a chance to see the final product is like little kids waiting all year long for Christmas morning and getting to tear into that big present they had asked for. Christmas came early for this big kid!Getting to HVZ. Director Brian T. Jaynes gives us a new approach to the zombie virus with H1Z1 aka the zombie virus, we've all heard of H1N1, right! There are several very slick "what if scenarios" thrown into the movie. We've seen movies where rabies is thrown into the story and develops into the rage virus but what if there are other animals or even insects that could carry a virus like this? Oh yeah, could this really happen?The movie follows a group of students who team up with a paranoid security guard to take on fellow classmates and some local townspeople who have all been infected with this "swarm" virus. Outnumbered, the small group keep fighting while they look for safety and ultimately find refuge in a small church and a preacher who answers a few questions about the virus.Dissecting the movie, as if I was dissecting an "ant" is easy. HVZ starts off strong. We have some really cool aerial shots that I really liked. The movie does focus more on our surviving characters than some other zombie movies that simply rely on blood and gore. We get way more than that with this movie! The FX and makeup in the movie are great and look awesome! We get some cool up close shots from the camera of blood and brains getting splattered all over the place. Music always sets up a scene but you have to use the right music for the right scene! The music plays a cool part in the movie and it all fits in really well. The HVZ story is original and very unique and is a breath of fresh air for this zombie fan!The character development in the movie is great! We have all types too, the hero and heroine, the funny guy, people you'll question, plenty of victims and lots of zombies! The movie definitely has its stand outs too. Madison Burge plays Tommi, the strong female lead who in the beginning is a little too standoffish but ultimately ends up kicking zombie ass. Frederic Doss plays Frank who is a paranoid, shell-shocked campus security guard who is the movies anti-hero and is a lot of fun to watch. Chip Joslin also stands out as the funny side-kick friend who ends up being one of the movies heroes and delivers some great one- liners while battling the undead and his timing is great. Watching these characters come together to kick zombie ass and try to survive while watching their relationships build as all this happens is a cool watch.Humans Versus Zombies takes a whole new approach to zombie story telling! I always go into reviewing a movie by asking myself, can I watch this again and HVZ gets a big HELL YES!Bottom line is if you're looking for a new zombie movie with a great story and fresh approach I highly recommend Humans Versus Zombies!

I caught the world premiere of this film at Splatterfest last night in Houston, and was really surprised by how good it looked. The direction, editing, lighting, and quality overall is really amazing considering this is another low budget horror title. The acting is mostly good, save for some predictably cheesy moments. I have to say Chip Joslin gave Nick Frost a run for his money as the funniest fat guy in a zombie film. There are a few moments when the sound was an issue. Without giving too much away, one actress is speaking to the group in a tunnel and the audience simply couldn't hear a word. However I'm sure these problems will be fixed by the time it goes to DVD and, from what I heard last night, TV on the Chiller channel. Anyway, if you enjoy zombie films (or expertly crafted low-budget films) then this is one you're not gonna want to miss. -Brock