Infección

Forget the social commentary and Venezuelan unrest this is a very watchable zombie film. There are suspenseful scenes galore and the lead actors are likeable and believable. The trip is worth it if you like solid film-making. It has pacing flaws but I cared about all the characters and their journey to find a safe place.

Venezuela's entire economy was based on oil. For decades, it was one of the most prosperous and developed South American countries. Then it elected a dictator at the same time that oil collapsed.

Now the country is run by a madman, torture and murder are used to keep the police State in place and people are leaving by the millions. The "infected" are Venezuelans killing Venezuelans, and the epilogue about countries like Mexico, Colombia and Peru refusing entry to the country that sent them aid is true.

Unlike many of my American countrymen, I have no dog in the fight over who should be running Venezuela. I am sad to see the human suffering when any country collapses. I am, however, married to a Colombian-American, and I hear the antipathy in the discussions by my Colombian in-laws about the Venezuelans who are pushing the border between the two countries to collapse. I fear that the internal collapse of their country and the anger by the Venezuela's neighbors are going to make the lives of Venezuelans hell on earth for a long, long time.

Mediocre zombie movie. Better social commentary.

The ending felt rushed and ambiguos. The post credit scene is the best part of the whole movie, juxtaposing the infection with the plight of Venezuelan migrants.

Well, taking into consideration that this is a Venezuelan movie, then things weren't actually all that bad. And truth be told, the movie was definitely watchable for a zombie movie.

However, if you compare it to some of the Western or Asian zombie movies, then "Infección" sort of pales in comparison and stands out as being a mere mediocre foray into the zombie genre. When in fact the movie does offer nothing new to the zombie genre.

It was the fact that this was a non-American zombie movie that sort of made the movie interesting for me. Story-wise and contents-wise, then "Infección" wasn't overly impressive. Entertaining enough for sure, but not impressive or outstanding.

The zombie make-up was okay. Again, not outstanding. And for a life-long zombie fan like myself, I found that the movie was grossly lacking in the gore and mayhem department. I enjoy watching decaying and slow shambling zombies, not fast-running agile zombies that are little more than people in tattered garments with a few splatters of blood here and there.

If you are new to the zombie genre, then "Infección" is perhaps a good movie, but for those in the audience that have sat through an abundance of zombie movies already, it doesn't bring much of anything new to the table.

I am rating "Infección" a mediocre five out of ten stars. While it was watchable and a zombie movie - which in itself counts for something with me - it just wasn't an outstanding movie in the zombie genre. It did, however, put Venezuela on the zombie world map, so thumbs up for that.

I found this movie predictable, uneven, rushed and premature. You have seen it all before, but so much better. At least some settings looked really bleak and abandoned and the camera work was good. But the plot was a shame. Absolutely nothing new, except it's in spanish (mostly)!