After Effect

No spoilers: Three of these turd movies about the same crap came out the same year. The Facility, Blood Work and this. This was the worst of the three. I couldn't rate any of them over a 3. This one is the worst. If you make it pass the classroom scene you might make it to the end.

After Effect otherwise known as The Removed, otherwise known as Patient Z: The Infected is a bit of an under the radar horror film and I can more than slightly see why.

It tells the story of a bunch of students in need of cash who join one of those dodgy medical testing thingies. Needless to say things don't go well for them in this feature zombie movie.

Wait, zombie!? Yes that's what it's advertised as but is it? This is more a 28 Days Later (2002) affair, I say this because zombie have rules and some people are quite stringent on that (Me included).

Truth be told going in I expected worse, I expected a hyper low budget zombie affair but it simply isn't. The movie looks great, on par with plenty of fairly high budget undead themed films I've seen lately so it certainly has that on its side. Character development? Also one for the win column, good job on that front.

Flip-side time, it just fails to come together. It lacks new ideas, though the setting is great what happens within it is generic, cliched and just not all that good. It's not bad, it's just that if you're a fan of the sub-genre you'll be seven steps ahead of the film itself.

Then there is the obligatory Baldwin brother, on this occasion Daniel. Have you noticed how some older/veteran/lazy actors have been having parts in films but don't liaise with any of the other cast at all? As if they never came onto the set a single time and was filmed separately? I've seen it a lot lately and that is what you have here again so certainly don't watch this for the Baldwin as he's not a big part of this movie.

If you're a big zombie fan you might find enjoyment (If you don't care about the zombie rules) but you'll have seen it all before.

The Good:

Looks decent

Great character development

The Bad:

Some of the films logistics are beyond dumb

Not zombies

Weak finale

You can tell it is low budget from the look right away, but it's not the worse I have seen. Made for TV level quality. The first 30 minutes or so are incredibly boring with pacing problems too, but once it picks up. It has some interesting things going on. The first 30 minutes are so dull I did actually almost switch off.

The set up is students signing up for a medical study, and they're being experimented on. They're locked up in a hospital, which actually is a great way to do this on a lower budget.

The first "zombie turning" was well done from a horror point of view. They're a bit different to "traditional zombies" but I think indies that play with ideas are pretty great.

The acting is extremely average. Again I've seen a lot worse. Like if the first 30 minutes wouldn't have been so dry it would have been a much more decent watch, but I did enjoy it after things got moving.

A group of students sign up to take part in a military research scheme, a test that sees each of them due to cash in $1000. Some of the subjects are novices, some are experienced, the trial isn't quite what they'd planned for.

You could be forgiven for thinking that this was a rubbish film, multiple negative comments and a very low score, however, for horror lovers like myself, there is definitely something here to enjoy.

The subjects are all assembled, in an almost Agatha Christie style, then one by one they suffer their fate.

It's not quite a zombie movie as such, but there are shades, the 'monsters' are just a little bit different somehow.

The aids remark I thought was a little tasteless.

It is definitely not Daniel Baldwin's finest hour, he's a little hammy to say the least, but otherwise the acting is decent enough.

One of the more effective 'students take part in a medical trial' type horrors.

6/10.

So, this was hilariously bad. Like, MST3000 bad. D'list bad. The only actor I recognized was Daniel Baldwin and that should give you a clue. 😆 However, I managed to watch it anyway just to giggle at the horrible quality of the direction and terrible performances. It just might be the worst movie I have ever seen. 😂🤣