Deadsight

Right, well with my unhealthy interest in all things zombie, of course I had to sit down and watch "Deadsight". I didn't know anything about it, much less knew of its existence before I stumbled upon this 2018 movie by random chance in mid-2019.

Well, the storyline in "Deadsight" didn't really deviate all that much from your average, generic zombie movie. A couple of survivors band together to live through a zombie outbreak. And the audience is, of course, given no insight into the outbreak - where it started, what it is, or anything of the like - surprise, surprise.

The movie had essentially just two characters you needed to relate to, the rest was just random filler. That meant that Adam Seybold, playing the blinded Ben Neilson, and Liv Collins, playing pregnant police officer Mara Madigan, had to perform on a higher level to carry the movie. So did they? Well, to an extend. It would have been working better if they had been given characters that were more fleshed out. Ben Neilson, for instance, didn't know how he ended up in an ambulance being blinded, but he had no problems remembering other things, and Mara Madigan seemed very surprised at everything they came upon while traveling, and she was supposed to be the local police officer. No, it just didn't really work all that well.

"Deadsight" is a fairly slow paced movie, which was a fact that worked against the overall enjoyment of the movie I'd say. And also the shortage of zombies wasn't really working in favor of the movie. And I love how the police officer resorted to shooting people in the head as her first option when entering a hostile situation. How very police-like. Duh!

The make-up on the zombies was adequate. Don't expect the usual gut eating scenes as zombie movies tend to include. But the make-up was, for the most part, good on the zombies in the movie. I didn't like the fact that the zombies were able to open windows and doors. That was just odd.

All in all, "Deadsight" is a mediocre entry in the zombie genre. It is a movie that came and went without as much as a groan, much less a bite. I sat through it, and I can honestly say that it is hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing.

A blind man capable of stumbling through the zombie apocalypse unbitten. A near to term pregnant woman capable of repeated cross-country travel.

They are able to find each other in different remote locations in the Canadian countryside time after time by pure happenstance. Then make every poor decision possible, and somehow survive.

These two bumblers shouldn't have been capable of trip across the city on a normal day, much less the countryside during an apocalypse.

They should have named this movie "Blind Luck".

Sometimes it's good to have a small cast, in this case not so much. To base a movie on only two characters only means you must have a really enthralling story. Not that this is an awful movie, it's just a bit slow and dull.

The two main characters Ben (Adam Seybold), is blind and in the back of an ambulance, and Mara (Liv Collins) a pregnant police officer find themselves in a town full of zombies. And with no way of escape there seems little chance of getting out alive. Not that there's a lot of zombies either, but plenty of scenes in the dark.

Shame as this should've been a lot better with more excitement.

No talking you to death about the meaning of life or how the new reality of zombies has existential metaphorical purpose. Good jump scares, actual action, and the pervasive feeling of the leads being under constant threat makes this a fun movie to watch.

7/10

Have a thing for good concepts in films, love it when the film, shows etc lives up to it or exceeds it but hate it when it is wasted by lacking execution or when it doesn't quite hit the mark. There are numerous examples of both in film and television, but recently it has sadly leaned towards the latter and it is especially frustrating when the concept is more than good and then there are other things that show so much potential.

'Deadsight's' concept was one of the best for any film seen recently, and that it appeared like it tried to do something different is to be admired. It was not an over-familiar one, and while there are recognisable elements of course for a film with zombies didn't find myself thinking that it was your typical zombie film and don't really class it as one. More a horror-thriller with them featured. The good news is that in my view, the concept was not wasted, as there are good things about 'Deadsight'. Do think however that there was big potential to do so much more and it was one of those not sure what to make of it films.

Will start with the good things. 'Deadsight' looks good, surprisingly so considering the cover made it look as though it would look very cheesy and cheap. That's not the case, found the photography stylish and atmospheric, the effects are not overused or abused and the make-up is suitably freaky and doesn't look goofy. There is some eeriness in the music, and there are tension and thrills to be had (there could have been more certainly but they were there) and genuine they were too.

The two lead characters are worth rooting for, their chemistry unforced, and while the zombies are underused they do have menace. Adam Seybold and Liv Collins fare more than adequately in the lead roles, even actually found them good where they seemed to care about their predicament.

On the other hand, there are things that 'Deadsight' could have done better. The story, even for one with a deliberate pace, did drag and there are uneventful stretches that indicated that there wasn't enough in the story to sustain the length. While a good job is done with the leads, the other characters are very bland and don't fit as comfortably, some didn't seem necessary either.

Also felt that the dalogue could have flowed much better and when there was any it was a little too heavy on exposition, especially in the early portions. The film really peters out at the climax, it is predictable, any attempts at explanation (and too much is left unanswered) are vague and there is a complete lack of tension or anything really.

In conclusion, not an easy film to rate. Not bad but could have been much better. 5/10