Collapse

Collapse is a film about a family on a farm attacked by zombies… traditional, slow walking zombies. Due to the overwhelming love for zombies, I find it's a lot harder to make a good, interesting and original zombie movie. The Walking Dead has made it almost impossible to compete with, but because I love zombies, I appreciate the effort. Collapse is a zombie movie that is typically like every zombie movie you've seen up to this point… Or so I thought. It's about a loving couple trying to survive the apocalypse and not get bitten while doing so. The first half of the movie is a little on the slow side, it reminded me of a made-for-TV type movie, but then the course of the story completely changes into a totally unexpected direction. The twist at the end is pretty sweet and for that I'm giving it a solid 5. The movie overall is a tad on the slow side, but boy that ending is pretty awesome. Probably the closest we'll ever get to an actual zombie apocalypse.

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This movie gets off to a good start with typical zombie fare done pretty well. It slows down a lot toward the middle of the movie (I skipped a good 10 minutes and missed nothing), but the ending made it all worthwhile. The ending was a specially well shot, and a fresh idea in this genre. For me it bumped the movie from a three out of 10 to a six out of 10, which is to say I think it is worth a look for those of you who love zombie movies but have watched every one that has ever been made me like I have. I also watched this for the lead actor who I met at a horror convention. He is in a lot of low-budget movies and was just generally nice guy so it's fun to see him take the lead: so there's my bias if you wanted to know!

Perhaps a 7 out of 10 is a little generous, but I did warm to Collapse. It's certainly a low-budget production, and it shows, but the acting, props and makeup are adequate.

The camera work is very "closed" and close-up, despite the sweeping rural and small-town setting. We get to see very little of the surroundings or countryside in which the story is happening, everything is very focused on the actors themselves. It feels a little claustrophobic at times (but not in a good, "horror" way) and I wanted the camera to just pan out for a little in some of the shots, to set the scene a little better.

One other slight issue was where the main character bludgeons to death a couple of zombies and it's obvious both times that the blows (off- camera) are not connecting with anything. The gore is quite toned down for this zombie movie, and quite a lot of the violence isn't explicitly shown.

As mentioned in other reviews, there is a major plot twist at the end, and I for one loved it, didn't see it coming at all (although I should have done), and this twist alone lifts the film from being a so-so film to a good one. Don't expect too much, forgive its flaws, and there is an enjoyable zombie film here.

"Collapse" wasn't as bad as I had initially expected it to be.

For a zombie movie, "Collapse" was a bit out of the ordinary. Sure, you had the unexplained phenomena of people returning as zombies hungry for human flesh, as in most other zombie movies, but it was also a story of one man's spiraling journey into madness.

The zombies in the movie were not too badly made. The make-up was adequate. Though one thing did puzzle me, why did every single zombie have to be wearing torn pants? Is shredded pants a requirement for being a zombie? The zombie eyes could have been made better, have them wear contact lenses. When you see a zombie with ordinary eyes and even see them blinking, the whole undead menace thing falls shattering to the ground.

And there was one scene where Morgan was shooting zombies in an office, and one zombie was shot in the head. The zombie adjacent to the shot zombie flinched and squinted her eyes as you would do when something is approaching your face. That kind of error is just fatal in a zombie movie, as it was painstakingly obvious that these were not reanimated corpses.

The story did take a twist for the unexpected in the movie. I hadn't seen that coming at all, so it was a nice twist. Now, whether or not you approve of how the story took a turn with that twist is individual, for me it was a turn for a downward hill. I didn't like that direction of the movie. It was a great plot twist, sure, but I personally think it was just not plausible. I am not going to ruin the story for anyone, as I think you should see the plot twist for yourself and make up your own impression of how the story took a twist of events.

Being a zombie aficionado, I can not cross "Collapse" off the list. It didn't leave a lasting impression really, as it was neither good nor bad.

Maybe I'm being a bit gracious with a rating of 7, but I'll tell you why. Aside from overacting or most probably over directing/writing in the beginning it plays out like a higher budget film. Not to be confused, it looks like a lower budget film. The over acting/directing/writing is from dialog where one character speaks and nods and pauses giving off to much of a reaction rather than a more normal reaction which is of course more natural. Next the problem is the writing is quite good in hiding twists and turns, but just gets a bit off here and there. Didn't care for the lighting in places.

Now for what's good about the film. Once it's rolling the acting is fairly nice. From the get- go it's apparent that something is off about both the lead male and female character. One knows something isn't right, that it's not just bad acting, but that there are wheels turning upstairs on both of them. This is key mild foreshadowing as the film plays out. The zombies are the slow footed classical kind with rather nice makeup, all a bonus if you ask me. The final plot twist is excellent. I'd say this is a directing/producing team that could do good work with studio backing.

If you're expecting Miramax or 20th Century Fox quality you're going to be disappointed. But if you're looking to be entertained with an interesting story about flawed characters and can look past the budget issues this film delivers.