All of Us Are Dead

When I heard of this Korean high school zombie series I was interested, despite the subject matter being done to death over the years. Then I saw the trailer and thought it looked amazing. Having just finished up the show, I can confirm that this is one of the most entertaining shows out there, and far surpasses the likes of THE WALKING DEAD. The small scale works a treat and somehow they manage to eke out the momentum over the whole 12-episode arc. It never feels too small and it never feels dull, packed as it is with expertly directed action and tense mayhem. The Koreans excel in this one and I loved every minute of it.

The action of the zombies in this show is very realistic. It is interesting to watch the relationship between friends. Well executed until the middle of the series. From the ridiculous lines, to the moronic "decisions" to the horrible way they treated some characters. The typical Netflix-style ending was a bit disappointing, but I really enjoyed this show.

I've read webtoon "All of us are dead (Now at our school)" right after watching the trailer of this show. It wasn't a lengthy comic with a heavy conversation, so it was easy to turn to the next chapters. I'm not a fan of the style of the comic, but it was still fun and intense. I'm in the 5th episode right now, and so far I've felt the show adapted the original webtoon quiet well which is why I wanted to write a review about it. However, I get to see these assumptions of promoting High school of the dead from the comments which is not okay seriously. I also watched High school of the Dead long time ago. All I can remember is that the anime was more about female body images rather than zombies and stuff. Plots and characters in both shows, there's no any similarity between the two. The only similar aspect is they both use high school students as main characters. Honestly, Is there anime that doesn't use high school students as main characters? Seriously, google High school of the dead anime, and watch it on youtube, you'll get the idea within 2 minutes. I would not recommend to watch it with female companions or friends though. Back to the show, All of us are dead, it's well made, and it adopted the original story very well.

Update: I ended up watching the whole series for 2 days. It's worth it just as other positive reviewers say. It's well paced, and mixed with good actions. Also it created a different type of zombie.

There's a lot to unpack here, but the core problem is that there are maybe 6 great episodes worth of content in this 12 episode series.

When it gets it right, it gets it very right. Love, loss, longing, poignancy, savagery and pathos, it's all there. The writing, acting and production are strong enough to get you engaged, so as the cast get chowed on, you'll feel it.

However, it suffers from uneven tone, with too many cliched tropes and characters. Big-awkward guy, punky-girl, straight-laced nerd hottie, alpha and beta heroes, coward, and generic thug villain. You've seen them all before, many times.

Some scenes eschew peril for jarring slapstick, which breaks you right out of immersion. There's far, far too much shrieking, repetition, indecision, repetition, pointless sacrifice, and repetition.

Still, the effects, both practical, makeup and subtle CGI are top notch, the overall story arc is well conceived, and there are a few touching character developments.

It's not amazing, but it's solid, and it ends strongly and credibly without pushing the To Be Continued too hard. Just about worth your time.

All of Us Are Dead is South Korea's latest entry into its esscalating body of undead mayhem (Train to Busan, #Alive, Happiness).

All of Us Are Dead pulls no punches and unleashes a savage and seemingly never-ending assault of fast-running zombies on an unfortunate squad of students who've managed to survive the first wave of a zombiecalypse. With 12 episodes running 1 hr long each, it gets a bit exhausting at times due to continuous gore and violence, yet it sticks to the basics and delivers a positive outcome, although there's nothing new.

All of Us Are Dead's zombie action is never not impressive. Whether it's giant chaotic crowd shots, massive ensemble brawls, or tricky "oners," this is massively kinetic storytelling that will drain you as emotionally as it drains our heroes physically. Likewise, there are dozens of instances involving astounding body acting.

All of Us Are Dead may not offer up anything exactly new in the realm of zombie carnage other than its somewhat cruel and unrelenting nature, but sometimes that's enough to pull off some damn effective survival horror.

My Rating : 7.5/10.