Zombie with a Shotgun

Stricken with a strange virus, a man and his girlfriend decide to go in search of the potential cure learn that they're involved in a far deadlier scheme that brings them into contact with not only a mutant strain of zombies but the agents in charge of the operation and must race to stop it from happening.

This one here wasn't goo great but did have some enjoyable elements. Among the more troubling aspects here is the completely confusing and disorienting first half that throws us into the proceedings without much information. Going in blind on this group of mercenaries hunting down a woman on the city streets to a friends' apartment where she escapes their clutches before turning to this other stranger and his girlfriend making vague threats about being a victim of a conspiracy and some strange virus experiments just doesn't make sense. With this all being doe with the characters discussing and acting like they've been having conversations about previous knowledge, this is a troubling factor. As well, the entire first half is extremely troubling with the characters being willfully and blindingly ignorant of what's going on. Nearly everything that transpires here, from staying at the motel to the chase through the building and eventually meeting up with the traitorous friend by getting the police involved, is all brought about by their stupidity and stubbornness. Being well aware that they're sick and showing visible signs of something wrong with them by the information they both drop in conversations, it's extremely difficult to feel any sympathy for their plight when the entirety of their struggle is due to the inability to do the obvious for asinine reasons. That factor compounds everything, as when they don't behave reasonably and can't rationally defend it just makes for a problematic time. The other troubling aspect to this one is the underwhelming action scenes, on the rare occasions they pop up in the film. There's never much given on the virus so the weird zombie behavior here is quite confusing, where they do or don't seem to notice victims in front of them so there are very few attacks present when they appear. The few gunfights here are laughably staged and barely interesting or thrilling, speaking to the general lack of interest when what could've been the fun one is played out as crude animations to hide the gory aftermath. With no traditional feasting scenes with hordes of zombies or even multiple creatures on-screen at once and a series of scenes featuring him using a gun uncharacteristically, there's a ton to dislike about this one. The zombie makeup looks great but that's all that works here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Nudity.

This was a movie I decided to check out when I was reached out to via Twitter that it had been added to Amazon Prime as well as Tubi. I didn't know much about it and the title sounded intriguing so I decided to give it a go. The synopsis here is a feature adaptation of a popular web series of the same name. Aaron Walker (Braeden Baade) and Rachael Young (Kathryn Kuhn) are on the run due to him being infected with a virus. They must get to the truth of the matter before it is too late.

We start this off with a zombie who has a shotgun, like the title states. He then go into the past to the events that lead us up to that point. There's a woman looking for her brother. She goes to the apartment of one his former girlfriends but he's not there and she hasn't heard from him. She then calls another woman, but armed men break in. The two of them are taken and it seems like the one looking for her brother is sexually assaulted.

Inside of a car we get to meet our two stars, Aaron and Rachael. We learn that he's infected with something and she wants to take him to a hospital. The reason being that they won't kill him, but he states they're the ones that did this to him. He doesn't trust what they'll do if he goes in so they're meeting his friend. She is the same on that his sister called and she puts him up in an apartment.

It is during their time there that we see Rachael might not be exactly who she says she is. Aaron is having a vivid dream that involves her, him and his friend in some wild sex acts. These also include blood. When he gets up, he's not feeling feel and they need to go. They're being pursued by Hank Ray (Kyle Hester) amongst others.

We're also given flashbacks to fill in the back-story and that Aaron's father might be involved in this as well. He's been on the run ever since and Rachael also seems to have a dark past with this virus as well that involved her father. Who is behind this virus and what is its purpose? Can Aaron prevent himself from becoming a zombie in the process as well?

Now I wanted to go a bit lighter on the recap here, but to be honest some of it is that I'm not sure what some of the characters' names are and on top of that, this story is a bit of a mess. I don't want to come down hard on this though to start so I'll begin with what I liked.

The first thing would be the title. My initial assumption was that they're playing off of the more grindhouse title of Hobo with a Shotgun which would also be fitting that there's a hobo in the movie played by Jeremy Fultz. The more that I've looked into this and as the synopsis stated, this is a web series that is the basis and I'm almost thinking it could have been originally based on that title but I cannot confirm. The title makes me think this is going to be a bit of a comedy but it's not that at all. There are some interesting ideas and part of that is based in conspiracy theories.

It is fitting that I watched and am writing this review during the start of the Corona Virus quarantine as were dealing with a virus here in the movie. We do get some secretive, government agent aspects to the movie that is behind this. It is at first hinted at which I like as there's always the conspiracy theory in real life. The more we learn though, the less farfetched it seems.

I also think this is an interesting time for the movie to be released. We have issues with quarantines and questioning how our medical system is working. Now Aaron doesn't trust going to a hospital as he believes they did this to him. This isn't that much similar to my age group. I personally don't like going to doctor. For me it isn't the cost, as I'm healthy so it's just check ups. That's not why Aaron doesn't want to go, but it doesn't change the fact he doesn't trust them.

Since I've laid out Aaron's belief who is behind it, this movie does some cool stuff with the zombie mythology. If you know me, this is a genre that I love the heavy hitters, but you need to do something new with it if you're going to make one now. I like that this one, the zombies do eat flesh, but they're not mindless. There are some slight inconstancies here though. With something revealed at the end, I think that the other zombies should just act like we expect them to, but that's not the case.

I'm going to shift over the pacing, which I hate to say that I was bored for a good chunk of the movie. I think it's trying too hard to present this back-story and mythology here, but it just didn't hold my attention. There are some lulls that go on a bit too long and that could really be part of it as well. It just takes too long for us to get to the crux of the movie and it seems there are trying to build to a sequel or possible a series I think it might be too ambitious if you don't make the original stronger.

The acting was something else that I wasn't overly impressed with, but I don't want to say it is bad. I thought that Baade was fine as the lead. He really comes off wooden, but I think that works as he's infected so he's in pain from that trying to take him over. That worked for me. Kuhn is easy on the eyes, but I don't like that we're presented very early on that we probably shouldn't trust her as that really goes no where. There's just one scene and then ignored from that point on. The rest of the cast was fine. We get a bit of nudity which was nice, but no one really stood out aside from that.

Something that was really hit or miss for me was the effects. I think that for the most part the look of the zombies was good. The only gripe I had is the one that is featured in the beginning and ending, I could see it was a mask and the teeth on it didn't look real. It didn't help that I could see in the mouth too. Aside from that they were good, including the blood in the movie. The only other issue was the CGI we get along with the gun flashes in the movie I did think the cinematography was well done and there are some really good establishing shots.

Last thing to cover would be the soundtrack and sound design. I did notice this one and I thought the selections were good. It fit the movie and helped to build the feel of the scene during the moments I noticed it. I did have an issue with the sound design though. They did some things were it just didn't sound right as it felt like the sound was coming from a tunnel. It just seems that the rooms they were in were not conducive to recording and it showed. Not enough to ruin this, but it didn't feel consistent.

Now with that said, this was a movie that I thought did some good things, but others not so much. Since this is legitimately independent cinema, I'm a little bit more forgiving as they're not working with the same budgets. There are some good concepts and the story behind it is interesting. If I have a problem there it is just the mythology being a bit inconsistent. The acting is pretty amateur. The effects were hit or miss as was the soundtrack design. The soundtrack did work for me though. If I had to give this rating, I'd say that this is average for me. I don't think most will like this one, but I didn't mind it, just wanted a bit more.

I'd rather die in a zombie apocalypse than finish sitting through this garbage.

First let me say I hate to write a bad review. That being said I cannot believe what I just seen. It was painful to watch. I can sit through a lot of low budget movies with robotic acting, bad f/x, poor dialogue and still find some saving grace that I can talk about. This movie has nothing. It's almost as if they came up with the title first and then tried to film a movie the next day. Another reviewer asked - How do people feel when they've watched what they filmed? I think the answer is they felt horrible and stopped watching after the 5 minute mark. As for all the 9/10 and 10/10 reviews? I think those are based off of people that know people that were involved with the movie. There's no other explanation. No one could rate this higher than a 2 without having their nose grow faster than Pinocchio's.

I recently watched Zombie with a Shotgun (2019) on Prime. The storyline follows a group of friends trying to survive a zombie outbreak. One of the friends appears to be infected, but his symptoms are unique compared to others. As the friends debate whether to trust or follow their infected companion, they are pursued by agents who seem to have a hidden agenda for them.

This film is written and directed by Hilton Ariel Ruiz (The Outsiders) and stars Braeden Baade (One Under the Sun), Kyle Hester (The Chair), Emilie Paap (Awaken the Reaper), and Jeremy Fultz (The Greed of Men).

This is a very frustrating film that feels like it was made for television, with some splashes of nudity. The writing and acting are poor, and even the kills, including those with the shotgun, are disappointing. The makeup and creation of the zombies are excellent and easily the best part of the film, but they aren't featured nearly enough. The plot is clichéd and unimaginative, and the "cult" aspects come out of nowhere and feels awkward. Everything about this movie is underwhelming.

In conclusion, Zombie with a Shotgun has nothing going for it. I would score this a 3/10 and recommend skipping.