Operation Undead

There are now literally 100's of these B quality Zombie movies. I have a hard time watching them now most of them are so poorly done.

So I'm here to tell you Operation Undead was excellent. Granted some of the effects and makeup was cheesy, but the whole premise of this movie and the character development was such a nice surprise. I loved it. It's not Train To Buslan, but it's close. Give it a go, you want be sad.

The idea of humanizing the undead or giving them intelligence and emotional complexity is nothing new.

George A. Romero did it in Day Of The Dead and his following sequels. Return Of The Living Dead (the entire series) did it. And many, many others have tried as well. Some were successful. Most were not.

This film attempts to make one see the undead as intelligent, complex, emotional beings while at the same time show them as the brutal flesh eaters they really are.

And? It kinda falls flat.

There are logic holes and confusing convoluted plot points that take you out of the film and leave you saying, "why?"

The gore effects are somewhat impressive and creative but the CGI is less than stellar and in some scenes it is so obviously bad you think they switched over to a 10 year old video game suddenly.

Don't think however, that this makes it a bad film.

It's actually quite good. Entertaining. Exciting. Intelligent. Fun.

It's just flawed and can feel somewhat unfinished at times.

It is well worth watching one time but I don't see this as being a repeated watch experience.

With the backdrop of World War II, the plot explores the historical fiction of Thailand's involvement in the war conflict and how the Japanese-engineered chemical weapon outbreaks, as well as how the Japanese military experiments on Thai soldiers.

The pace is rather uneven at times, where intense actions are suddenly interchanged with slow moments.

Unlike any typical mindless zombies, in this movie, the zombies retain a degree of consciousness and emotional depth, where they can communicate among themselves. This could be unacceptable to some audiences!

In terms of character development, only Mek and Mok (the two brothers) are well-developed, while the other supporting characters lack depth and growth, making it less impactful even though they are killed.

In general, this movie critiques the brutality of war that tears families apart. It also focuses very much on family bonds and the relationship between the two brothers, Mek and Mok. For instance, even in their zombie state, they strive to protect their family and loved ones. In short, the movie's emotional weight mainly comes from the strong family ties.

In summary, the movie offers a new and daring perspective on the zombie genre, infusing with humanity, social commentary, and emotional complexity. Oh ya, there is an end-credit, so remember to stay back for it!

I saw this one in the cinema because the story and trailer intrigued me. A made-in-Japan zombie virus lands on Thai shores during World War II, so the Japanese and Thai army have to contain the threat and keep it under cover at any cost. There is enough war action and some interesting set pieces (tropical beach, jungle, cave etc.), plus good portions of blood and gore, which was a nice surprise. However, as usual with Thai movies, a lot of unnecessary melodrama kicks in and it's made worse from the fact that the zombie ghouls...speak and weep for their families and loved ones... As a result, it's not as good as the previous Thai zombie film I'd seen (The Black Death from 2015), but it still has some interesting zombie mayhem moments to offer. As an extra note, the director started as part of the 'Ronin Team', responsible for the black magic horror classics Art Of The Devil 2&3, so he shows a taste for blood and gore in this offering as well. And it's not a zomedy, which is a good thing.

About to leave for war, a small squadron of Thai soldiers in a remote village is suddenly inundated with a strange Japanese-made biological virus that raises the dead and brings them back to life, forcing the two sides to work together to stop the creatures from carrying out a deadly plan.

This was a massively enjoyable and entertaining effort with a lot to like about it. Among its better elements is a strong and impactful storyline that creates a series of effective storylines within here. The initial series of scenes here focusing on the exploits of the trop getting their first hints of life in military training with their rambunctious antics, childish pranks, and disrespect for authority before going into combat give us a great chance to get to know who they are and what type of life they're going to lead once the war is over. That it only briefly touches on the actual war itself, with the first combat bringing them into contact with the zombies on the outskirts of the storyline, manages to offer up a realistic enough connection to human events to allow for an intriguing gateway into this universe. From there, the film spends a great deal of time offering up the kind of insight and treatment into the zombies that's rarely afforded by most other movies. Given their backstory as an agent of a Japanese chemical virus that's gotten loose and turning the infected rabid, that isn't altogether new, and that is glossed over nicely by the scenes showing their community and bonding as a whole. With them to be shown pining for lost lives when they were still human, communicating, grieving, or even forming plans of action together in far more intelligent reasoning than expected, it draws a fine parallel to the dehumanizing nature of war itself, turning youthful, vibrant soldiers into hardened, bloodthirsty maniacs as a result. While still being monstrous creatures, this sympathy towards them is quite palpable and adds a fun dimension to the film. Still, the main gist to be enjoyed here is the high-end zombie carnage, as this falls in line with genre conventions immensely well. The initial attack featuring a soldier escaping battle only to fall into quicksand and get rescued at the last possible second by what he thinks are his squad-members only to find it be the zombies is masterfully executed, while later rampages across villages and military outposts showing them feasting on decimated remains and ripping people apart, serve to get nice and bloody. The various scenes attempting to capture them so that they can study them have some energy to them, and a frenetic series of encounters with the ravenous creatures on sandy beaches or inside darkened caves illuminated only by the flashing gun barrels are fun and lively, all giving the film quite a lot to enjoy. There isn't much, but there are a few slight drawbacks to this one. The main issue here is the series of overly melodramatic moments in the middle section that manage to repeatedly hammer home the troubled nature of the soldiers without accomplishing much. We already know their troubled state from the numerous experiments performed on them by the Japanese soldiers, comparing everything to the treatment of their fellow Thai group, so to continually hammer home this state of being makes for a repetitive and overlong feeling, drawing out what's going on. While not needing to be removed, this section is in need of a trim to avoid doubling down on aspects we've already gotten familiar with by that point. Ignoring a logical ending point to continue for another ten minutes also hurts this somewhat, but they're not detrimental issues overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, and a brief sex scene.