La noche devoró al mundo

The curiously titled The Night Eats the World is a french zombie movie, though to appeal to the masses was filmed in English.

It tells the story of a man who falls asleep at a party only to wake up to a zombie apocalypse. If you're expecting an action packed bloody zombie movie, this simply isn't for you.

The movie takes a simple and rather realistic approach, namely one man alone and what he does to pass the time while the world around him turns to chaos.

Early on I was impressed, it was looking like this might be a likeable zombie affair but sadly the quality dips and it falls into the grindy repetitive and excessively depressing category.

The film has its moments but when the credits roll you'll likely be very aware that this movie will be gone from your memory within a week. It's all just so very underwhelming and ultimately goes nowhere.

I'd say nice try, but I'd be lying.

The Good:

Has its moments

Original take on a waning sub-genre

The Bad:

Rather dull

Goes out with a fizzle not a bang

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Lonliness causes insanity? Guess I'm a lunatic

Everyone needs a zombie friend.

I love a good, deep movie filled with symbolism and thought provoking scenes. But when it comes to horror flicks, I want to leave my intellect behind and just simply get creeped out. This is an unusual zombie movie. It is not scary, or even creepy. This movie is more about survival and loneliness than battling the undead.

Enter Sam. He goes to his former girlfriend's apartment to pick up his things. After some awkward conversation amidst some overly loud music and a crowd of party guests, his former girlfriend sends him down the hall to the office for his things. You can feel Sam's uneasiness with the people and the noise. Avoiding the loud crowd, he sits in the office and finally falls asleep. When he wakes up, the world, as he knows it is gone, replaced by flesh-eating zombies. We never know how or why.

This is the story of his survival, alone, isolated and trapped, in an apartment building in Paris. The first part of the movie was interesting as he searches the building, marking off apartments that harbor undead residents. Going into the various apartments, he begins gathering food in tote bags like a doomsday shopping trip.

What's missing here? A couple of things. We don't know Sam, and very little happens in the movie to really clue us in as to who he is, and what makes him tick. We get glimpses but nothing concrete to make us care about him and hope for his survival.

The second thing missing is zombie interaction. This is less of a horror movie and more of a psychological study on being isolated and alone, and the effect it has on one's mind. If you're looking for a movie that makes you think, with a side of zombies, this might do the trick. There is definitely a lot to think about here.

The was a pretty good movie right up to the end. To me, a bad ending ruins a movie. That is what happened here.

Is it better to be alive and alone in a zombie apocalypse or dead and or a zombie? This one does a thorough and solid job of answering all those questions. Zombies and effects are done well but there are long stretches of being stuck with the main character which adds to the sense of claustrophobia. A dilemma worth watching.

So I watched more than 50 zombie movies for my studies, and this one is one of the most originals I seen.

I like the pragmatism of the main character, who welcomes the new life of survival with a certain calm and meticulous mind. This movie felt quite satisfying and relaxing, like OCD-based, because of the precise character.

I can relate to Sam annoyed by the crowd of the party and then being almost relieved in this zombie apocalypse. But he starts to feel lonely though, and the character progression is really interesting.

Also, zombies make no sound. Huge difference from the main line in zombie tropes. Much scarier. I definitely recommend.