Plan Z

You can't cover up bad acting and terrible special effects by shaking the camera more and more. There are segments that I don't know why they bothered filming because they shake the camera so much you can't tell what you're looking at. Skip this movie if just ate. Better yet, skip this movie altogether

I have to say that I watched this film with reserved expectations, for me independent films carry with them a certain stigmata. Unlike a blockbuster that can cover poor elements with budget or cast, independent films feel a lot more exposed to criticism.

The good news is, because I had managed my own expectations what I got was a very enjoyable story-led, zombie thriller. I was engaged with the characters and story because throughout the film I felt genuine tension. The score and cinematography were superb. I often caught myself admiring the quality of the shots, the consideration of the angle and the accompanying score. There was one particular shot of the Isle of Skye that was stunning.

One previous film likened this to a 'Poor man's 28 days later', well I actually consider this to be praise. I love the atmosphere and style of that film and for Plan Z to compared I think is a great feat considering the difference in cast and budget.

If I had to be overly critical, there was one plot point that left me confused to what actually had happened (I don't want to give away spoilers but it's a major point of the film) and there was one piece of music towards the end of the filmed that didn't like it mixed very well and was out of place.

When watching, please don't expect a Hollywood blockbuster or compare it to the big Zombie films as it won't compare. Have a bit of perspective to how it was achieved and I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.

While I Don't Think This Was A Very Good Zombie Movie (I Thought It Was More Of A Character Story Than Say A Zombie Movie), I Think It Had A Great Plot And A Good Allegory For Making It Through Life ... Not Just A Bad Time But Through Life In General ... Be Prepared, Have A Plan, Stick To Your Plan, Don't Be Afraid To Change/Amend The Plan, Always Do The Right Thing, Do Unto Others ... And So Forth ... The Acting Isn't The Worse I Have Seen In A Zombie Movie ... I Was Interested Enough To See How It Ended ... I Imagine For The General American Viewer A Zombie Movie That Is Slow Paced (Typical Of English Movies) Could Seem Boring But This Movie Is Anything But Boring ... I Found This Movie To Be More In Line With "Maggie" (An Excellent Character Study Around A Zombie Apocalypse Featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger) As Say A Typical Zombie Movie ... My IMDb Rating 6 Out Of 10

I'd checked out quite a few reviews of this from fellow Letterboxd-ers and, while managing to avoid any serious spoilers, it was already very clear what the consensus of opinion was on this film.

Now I'm not the sort of awkward pedant who'd pretend to hate it because it was popular and easy, to make me look all dangerous and interesting ... but I would argue my reasons for liking unpopular films (such as R.I.P.D, Daredevil (with Ben Affleck!) even Batman and Robin which my brother loathes and I always stick up for, just to piss him off - if explained clearly enough and with reasonable examples for the basis of your opinion, then who am I to tell you, you're wrong?!

In spite of all the above, I actually found this hilarious.

Found myself take an immediate dislike to the way He carries himself in front of the camera, speaks in a Michael Madson-esque lazy drawl and just instantly rubbed me up the wrong way.

That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, I appreciate a good villain. However in this, he's the 'hero'? Nah... really?

What would he do if the zombocalypse occurred when he was off on one of his international photography jaunts? Hadn't planned for that had you smartypants?

He comes across like some kind of Badly Drawn Boy/Chuck Norris hybrid, even when he's just heard the grisly sounds of people being torn to bits and eaten right outside his front door. I contemplated how it would have affected the film if the main man was Ewan Bremner, playing it like Spud. Instead of barely raising a designer-scruffy eyebrow when coming to terms with Zombocalypse, he'd be running around, crying, swearing and shooting up smack.

This would have made it a brilliant film.

Ps - If nothing else, I am grateful to this film for introducing to me to John Fairhurst whose bruising groove 'No Shelter' (wow! It's like they gave it some thought) blew me away. I'm off to Emusic now to see if they've got his stuff included in my subscription.

One reviewer here said that small independent films such as Plan Z are more vulnerable to criticism because higher budget productions can hide behind special effects and their cast - they were absolutely spot on.

I think it was a good effort and I liked the main character, which is more than I can say for many other zombie productions. There were very few actually Zombie scenes which was understandable with the budget constraints. Its not Dawn or Day of the Dead but if you want 90 minutes of entertainment then give it a look..