APOCALYPSE OF THE DEAD

(A.k.a. ZONE OF THE DEAD; ZONA MRTVIH)

"This city is a living Hell" ...

The film begins in a Yugoslavian research centre in 1985, where scientists mull over the origins of exhumed corpses discovered on the site. This brief prologue ends with the lead doctor instructing his underling to store the bodies in a secret vault - and offers us a brief glimpse of why these cadavers are of such concern: they're not dead!

Then we cut to Pancevo, Serbia. It is the present day. A local train station has closed down its services for the evening to accommodate a covert military operation taking place in the area. The operation concerns a huge tanker with bio-hazardous warning signs on it's sides, guarded closely by men in protective masks.

Unfortunately an altercation between the station guard and a trio of drunken off-duty soldiers results in a bullet being shot through the tanker - causing a toxic green gas to seep out into the night air. Before long, everyone at the station has been transformed into fast-moving flesh-eaters. Everyone, that is, save for a terrified aged Professor (Steve Agnew).

In another district of Serbia known as Vrsac, we're introduced to agent Mina (Kristina Klebe) who has the arduous task of transferring a fist-happy criminal (Emilio Roso) from one state prison to another. As the hard-arsed prisoner is cuffed and led to the back of a waiting van, the nervous first-timer Mina carefully plans her route while waiting for her guide, Mortimer (Ken Foree).

We first meet Mortimer in his hotel room, preparing to face the world by taking a concoction of pills to help forget the wife he keeps a photograph of at his side. His assistant Belic (Miodrag Krstovic) calls round, and together they saunter out to meet Mina, her driver Petrovic (Zivko Grubor), assistant agent Bottin (Vahidin Prelic) and the prisoner. Mortimer chuckles to himself, remarking upon how easy this assignment is going to be...

Elsewhere an inmate escapes from a local asylum after witnessing a nun transform into a rabid zombie; the country's President (Nenad Ciric) has problems of his own when he realises a certain level of culpability for the unfolding zombie epidemic rests at his feet; a young couple out driving for the night encounter some folk shuffling oddly in the night.

It's not long before this disparate assortment of characters are drawn together for a very long night of fighting for their lives against increasingly large hordes of the living dead.

Can Mina and Mortimer make it to the other side of Serbia unscathed? Will they be forced to trust their prisoner and join forces with him in order to survive the night?

From the film's UK title, the DVD cover art, the synopsis and the inclusion of Foree in the lead role, it's not difficult to guess where co-directors Milan Konjevic and Milan Todorovic have drawn their inspiration from. Furthermore, having characters that go by names shared by luminaries of the horror genre (Bottin; Savini) is a tell-tale fanboy trait that was used to equally cringe-inducing effect back in 1985's THE DEAD NEXT DOOR.

APOCALYPSE is indeed a shameless homage/rip-off of Romero's living dead films (with a little bit of RESIDENT EVIL thrown in for good measure), offering hardly anything in the way of originality to speak of. But the Serbian filmmakers have compensated for the weak story and unabashed convention-adhering, by turning in a breathless zombie-actioner with a breakneck pace and startlingly high body count.

The film's shortcomings are familiar ones: beyond the contrived and familiar storyline, you'll find terrible dialogue spoken largely in broken English by a cast of Serbian actors. Foree gets to holler laughable clichés like "Die you zombie bastard!", but does so with his usual gusto and at the very least looks like he's having fun during his paid holiday.

Characters are two-dimensional and further add to the sense of déjà vu that permeates throughout the film. A tough veteran cop with a troubled family background, trying to make it through his last day of work before retiring? Check. The female rookie who learns the hard way how to become a nails-hard heroine? Check. You get the idea.

Also, the shaky hand-held camera work (a nod to Romero again, pointing at DIARY OF THE DEAD perhaps?) is simply tiresome now. I'm sure I'll develop cataracts sitting through the dozens of 21st Century horror films that employ this annoying (and quickly-becoming-dated) technique. Inevitably the film recalls DIARY on a visual level because of this, as well as perhaps [REC]. But it's possibly even more influenced by modern computer games than anything else once it escalates into little more than a shoot-em-up in the latter half.

On the plus side, the pace is brisk as previously suggested. Foree could sell shit on TV and I'd buy it; he doesn't disappoint here.

The gore FX of Miroslav Lakobrija are plentiful, and for the most part are pretty good. I also like his zombie make-up. It's primitive, but effective in illustrating the undead as ugly decaying monsters. None of those "blue paint" DAWN zombies here ...

Dramatically, the film keeps a dark tone and builds steadily to a violent climax. In other words, it ticks the boxes that most unrepentant zombie hounds will be looking for. This is hardly surprising, seeing as though esteemed Italian genre critic Loris Curci had a hand in co-producing the film.

And so, APOCALYPSE OF THE DEAD stands as a flawed but fun cheapo proffering; it's Serbia's first zombie film, and despite my misgivings it's not all that bad.

APOCALYPSE is presented uncut in it's original 1.85:1 ratio, enhanced for 16x9 TV sets. The colour schemes employed in the film are somewhat washed out, and the transfer stays true to this. A dull veneer doesn't stop images being clean and relatively sharp though, with only the occasional murkiness and image-blur that you'd expect from a shot-on-digital production.

English audio comes in two options: 2.0 and 5.1. The latter is a surprisingly competent mix, allowing for fine balance between channels and a nice amount of bass during the meatier set-piece scenes.

A colourful animated main menu page leads into a scene-selection menu providing access to the film via 12 chapters.

There are no film-related extras on Metrodome's disc.

The disc is defaulted to open with trailers for THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, MANHUNT and Wes Craven's original THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.

APOCALYPSE OF THE DEAD is a so-so addition to the 21st Century zombie onslaught, making an impression by way of some high-octane action sequences and an agreeable amount of undead gore.

The broken accents make it sound like you're watching a video game and the script is so hackneyed that at times this feels like a pastiche. But it's a commendably serious-natured horror whose greatest flaw is it's own naivety.

Worth a look.

Review by Stuart Willis