World Ends at Camp Z

Well, I have to admit that when I stumbled upon this 2021 movie here in 2022, and seeing that it was a zombie movie, then of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch it. Sure, I had not even heard about this movie from writer Diane Janna and director Ding Wang, but it being a zombie movie was all that I needed to know.

The movie's cover/poster seemed interesting, but it was actually overselling the movie, because the movie itself was rather mundane and generic. But hey, I managed to get through it on the account of it being a zombie movie. However, if you are a zombie aficionado like me, then this is hardly an outstanding foray into the zombie genre.

The storyline in "World Ends at Camp Z" is pretty straight forward. In fact, the storyline is rather simplistic and doesn't bring anything new to the zombie genre. Of course it is a spin-off on the worldwide pandemic that we are still struggling with in real life, just made into a tale of the reanimated dead. So you're not exactly in for a grand cinematic experience here.

The acting performances in "World Ends at Camp Z" were a bit wooden for the most parts. There were some performances that stood out and helped to make the movie watchable. But you're not in for an award-winning performance here.

With "World Ends at Camp Z" being a zombie movie, then you might be disappointed with the zombies in the movie being fast, agile runners with their faces painted gray - but forgetting to paint the exposed skin on the neck down - and bleeding from their eyes. A strange type of zombie in my opinion. Then again, I am not a fan of running zombies, nor of subpar make-up just limited to the face. Nor am I a fan of zombies that stop dead in their track when they come before a body of water.

For me then "World Ends at Camp Z" came and went without as much as a groan or a bite. And if you are a fan of the zombie genre, then this is not really a movie that I would recommend you spend your time on.

My rating of director Ding Wang's 2021 zombie movie "World Ends at Camp Z" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

I've actually seen World Ends at Camp Z twice, and it's not as bad as some of the reviews suggest. It's no masterpiece, but I've definitely seen zombie movies of significantly lower quality. While the acting isn't exactly stellar, the story holds up reasonably well, with elements of both drama and horror woven into the plot. There's even a touch of romance added to fine-tune the overall experience.

That said, when working with a low budget in horror filmmaking, there's often a trade-off: should the money go toward the monsters-in this case, the zombies-or everything else? I feel this movie opted for the latter, and that's where it falls short for me. The zombies in World Ends at Camp Z just don't look very convincing. I would have preferred them to at least look cool or scary, but some appear quite underwhelming-almost pathetic.

The film appears to be a Canadian production, set in the French-speaking province of Quebec. It's in English, though, which I found to be a nice twist. Quebec's natural scenery is truly beautiful and adds a unique flavor to the movie, especially since the entire horror unfolds at a camping site.

All in all, I think World Ends at Camp Z deserves a higher rating than it's received.

For a film budget of just over half a million (CA) dollars, Worlds End at Camp Z by Diane Janna is a fine example of what a decent script can get you. This was more than an enjoyable film.

The film itself was a nice mixture of camp, corporate, and living dead apocalypse, with news reports and the corporate jerks adding extra spice to the buildup as you wait eagerly for the living dead to attack Camp La Tuque.

There were many fine performances throughout, Dean Person (Julien), playing the irritated and frustrated camp worker, Anne-Carolyne Binette (Vanessa), the business representative of the potential buyers, and. Michael Czemerys (Aaron), a spoilt and obnoxious rich boy who has come to buy the camp, pushing fake pretence to get the deal done. Not forgetting Osawa Muskwa, AKA. Clay.

So to reiterate, World Ends at Camp Z is a delightful zombie film, a nice addition to the genre, and one that will not disappoint you at any point throughout its ninety minutes.

When I judge the "quality" of a zombie movie I usually take into account the budget. "Okay, it's not that good, but it was made for just 500.000 dollar so what could you expect?" This weekend I checked out World Ends at Camp Z that only costed 300.000 dollar. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there is bad acting. Yes, there is bad dialogue. And the zombies look very bad too. But I thought a lot of things were done okay.

The story takes place in Canada. Young Dean has lived and worked all his young life on this camping La Tuque. He's not happy to learn that his "home" will be sold to some rich guys. His uncle just couldn't pay the bills anymore. To make matters worse the new owner Aaron, a spoilt kid in his twenties, wants to check out the camping with his friends before purchasing. They start a big party. Now Dean must be their butler before the deal is done. He does have a connection with Vanessa, a young lawyer who must check the paperwork. However, she turns out to be the girlfriend of the owner. Damn! When a friend of the owner gets injured, they must go to town to take him to the hospital. And then the zombies turn up...

What I liked about World Ends at Camp Z was the beautiful locations. The makers used drones to film the camping (which is located near Quebec?) surrounded by trees and water and it looks great.

Also a good point was the fact that one of the heroes is a Native Canadian named Clay. Clay is a father figure to Dean and knows how to deal with the threat when the zombies take over the camp. I think we should see more Native Americans or Canadians in movies, also in "normal" roles.

Lastly, I enjoyed the two leads. Of course Dean and Vanessa don't really get along at the start of the film. But the way they get closer to each other wasn't bad. Overall Vanessa (played by Anne-Carolyne Binette) gives us the best performance.

When the first zombie appears in the movie (after 55 minutes!) the film goes downhill. The action scenes with the undead aren't the best part of the movie but it does have a satisfying ending.

Not brilliant, maybe not even good, but I did like World ends at camp Z.

7/10.

I could barely make it through this movie because despite the plot (middling), the actors were SO BAD. I'm literally typing in other words just so that IMDB will let me tell you how bad the acting was.