End Times

Yet another post-apocalypse, "let's see how badly people can treat each other" movie.

In this particular movie the apocalypse is a zombie one, but really, it could have been any apocalypse, it wouldn't really have made a difference. They skip the really good, interesting part about the actual outbreak, which is what makes a decent zombie movie, and just move straight into the endless rehash of nasty and degenerate things people do to other people (particularly women).

It's not like it even really has any kind of story to make it worth sitting through almost 2 hrs of pointless violence, degradation, and human misery.

Following a zombie apocalypse, a desperate woman and an aging mercenary decide to team up to navigate their way safely across the undead-strewn landscape, but when they join a group of survivors in a remote commune they find it threatens their safety as much as the encroaching zombie hordes.

Overall, there's quite a lot to like about this one. One of the big aspects to be had here is the highly enjoyable setup that serves the film's low-budget origins quite well. The post-apocalyptic zombie effort like this features the type of fare presented here means that this can really focus on the humanity of the two leads forced into the situation that sees a drastic change and shift in their personality over time. Initially starting the journey as a prissy do-gooder too afraid to fight back even if her life depended on it, the change into a cold, ruthless fighter at least capable of going into a fight is handled rather well which happens with the more encounters they have not only with other figures but survivors as well. It's serviceable enough in this type of scenario and makes their relationship fun to follow as the point is to help her toughen up and survive. This manages to provide some rather fun zombie action that pops up here. Starting with the necessary encounters that show off the post-apocalyptic scenario this is attempting to tell with the encounters showing the creatures arriving to take out the victims in their homes or out on the streets, it's a fine start to things while also showing off the kind of environment where her changing condition shows itself off rather nicely. This also serves as a fine means of getting them together when he saves her from an attack and they team up with their training sessions also providing the kind of first-hand training that's fun to see, especially when it's the only stuff here that really carries any kind of action until the finale when it offers the full scope of it's setup giving this a spectacular heartfelt conclusion perfectly in tone with the rest of the film. It's all enough to make this exceptionally enjoyable even if there isn't much to hold this back but it does have some slight issues. One of the main drawbacks holding it back is the somewhat overlong running length that could've been trimmed down somewhat. A lot of the film consists of him teaching her survival tactics and weaponry skills to help prepare her for the situation which can be somewhat redundant with it relying on him instructing what needs to be done, her failing it, and then trying it again when everything goes smoothly. That all helps to establish the situation present as well as their relationship but does feel a little overlong as they don't even reach the colony of survivors until an hour into here which is all to the detriment of the zombie attacks. There's not a whole lot throughout here which is kept to brief but thrilling encounters due to these other factors. These end up being the main drawbacks to this one.

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

I like zombie movies. I wanted to like this, but it's so unbelievable. First of, it does that annoying thing where it skips past the actual onset of the apocalypse. I understand why low-budget films do this, but that's my favorite part of apocalypse movies: the part where things start to go off the rails and people are trying to deal with it.

Anyway, it starts 2 weeks in, and we find this teenaged girl walking around in a pink negligee and flip flops. Wait, you've been running from zombies in Los Angeles for two weeks and you don't have pants or shoes? Really? And she has no ability to deal with people or danger? How the crap did she survive this long?

That being said, there's a decent mix of zombies, gangs, survival, and plot points. It would do in a pinch, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I understand that this is a low budget film and they did a good job in creating post apocalypse sets. The problem with every apocalypse/post apocalypse movie or series is the vanity of the actors. We are two weeks into an apocalypse and Claire has no food, no shelter, and is wearing ragged clothes. Somehow her priority is to keep her underarms cleanly shaved. This is always a problem with apocalypse films, especially The Walking Dead series. It seems like a small detail, but it immediately takes you out of the world building they are trying to create. The men are all unshaved. Lets have more verite, and less vanity.

Not the worst horror movie I've seen, (have you seen the 2020 remake of Children of the Corn? Yikes). But... not good. I won't lean too hard into the flagrant misogyny because it seemed so intentional that it need not be highlighted further. Needless to say, Alison Bechdel would not give it a passing grade. I feel like several fetishes were being brought to life on the screen - skimpy outfits on daft women, brutal rape, and ditzy blondes who say things like, "we're very open here" which is thinly veiled code for hot chicks who are about to make out.

The storyline is very "been there, done that, killed those zombies a thousand times" that has the overused desaturated grey look of every post-apocalyptic movie shot on a DSLR. Nothing new there unless you think mixing The Walking Dead with Midsommar sounds like a good idea (it's not). Craig Stark was the saving grace, once you got past the trite dialogue and forced machismo. Jamie Bernadette's character was written like a mindless 1940s female lead; I'm surprised she didn't have a fainting spell and was accused of "hysteria." I understand that Freddie (Stark) had to explain the backstory for our benefit, but that Claire (Bernadette) knew nothing about the apocalypse because "I don't watch the news, it's too depressing" was absurd. Her character was a failed attempt at the clichéd party-girl-turned-badass role.

Some of the pros were a few well-executed and gloriously bloody kill scenes and the zombie make-up was pretty good. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to save this unoriginal movie.

My suggestion is that you use those delightfully gory skills for something more imaginative. Zombies in Space? Zombie Babies? Attack of the Killer Stereotypes?