The Killing Strain

I love a good zombie film, great bit of escapism, most times it makes for good viewing, even the B grade variety are OK to watch for a laugh. But this horror of a film is as bad as a B grader will get! Where do they get these 2 bit actors from? no not the people that act the zombie roles. The blood and guts parts are OK, but that's where it stops, the acting is so poor it nearly turned me into a brain dead zombie! And damn that script is horrible, and yes the directing is not much chop either. Should you watch it? sure why not, but be warned it is crap, but it is a great film to remind you of better films from the past, or hopefully better one's to come.

A very solid 1 out of 10

The Killing Strain is your run of the mill low budget zombie/virus movie. In all honesty the movie was not bad, it just was not good. There was nothing extraordinary to separate it from movies such as anything from the Dead Series by George Romero or even the 28 Days Later. So as you can already see the bar is set high to begin with. Yes, this is a low budget reflection of great movies in this genus, however; budget restraints aside there still was nothing that popped out at you and immediately or grabbed your attention. No amazing scenes of violence or compassion. Nor was the sub-standard acting done well, it was hard to tell if the actors played there parts purposely over the top, or was the acting that God awful again, hard to say. The pace of the movie was enjoyable at least they were no long drawn out explanation of what lead to this disaster. I just wish the Directors and writers would have taken the time to put a plot together that would take hold of you, instead we are treated to an ordinary run of the mill zombie-ish movie that will not differentiate it's self from over a 100 other such titles.

THE KILLING STRAIN is another garden-variety zombie movie, made at an independent level (and on the cheap) and shot out in the wilds of Texas. It's a pretty unconvincing and uninteresting little movie, content to plough well-furrowed fields instead of chronicling anything new, and is let down as a whole by the usual constraints of indie film-making.

The main problem the film has is the derivative script which fails to give the viewer either an interesting storyline or likable characters. The amateur cast do their best but their roles are very ordinary with nobody standing out from the crowd. The special effects are limited and the zombies in the film are just your bog standard looking types with little to distinguish them from another hundred movies.

In essence the film is a version of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, with various survivors holing up together in remote buildings to survive an onslaught of the living dead. If no other zombie movies existed then this one would feel quite exciting, but it's that over-familiarity that ruins it for me; to make a mark these days, a zombie film has to do something really special, instead of being merely ordinary.

I for one will say that I enjoyed this film and went to see it a few times. For the most part it is what you would expect from an INDEPENDENT FILM as some may not understand what that is. This movie is well thought out the cast is mostly outstanding and the crew did a wonderful job again for an INDEPENDENT FILM.

For the budget of any INDEPENDENT FILM this movie was the best I have seen. The effects were awesome the plot was great and everyone in it gave all 100%....If you want to see an awesome movie with likable and some not so likable but gotta love them anyway characters this is the one to see.

I must mention also that I am a horror film fanatic and with that being said I have seen many and this one did surprise me in the fact that even some of the top directors of some of the more well known horror films have let me down,so I was pleasantly surprised at what was brought to the big screen by this director and the entire cast, Although there seem to be a few crucial cast members not really mentioned here like where is Brian Potts AKA as Sam in the movie and Willie Bowen AKA Redneck Willie AKA Neil who by the way are very comical in this movie. I would and have recommended this movie to everyone I know in fact I have friends and family in many states that wanna see this film and have seen the trailers and can't wait to see this movie . In closing over all THIS MOVIE IS GREAT go see it if you get the chance.

Another of the many lame zombie movies to come down the pike. I'll start this out by saying this; if you're even thinking of watching this trash, skip it and go watch The Girl With All The Gifts or Train to Busan. Those are worth your time. This is a cliché ridden, poorly acted, lame mostly rip off of Night of the Living dead. It starts with a flat tire. Guys wife goes to take pictures - she gets attacked, killed and turns. Guy runs off, finds the worst boarded up farm house in the universe, filled with all stereotype characters, one's a redneck, one's a granny, two are hot girls (one's the rednecks girlfriend) and the final guy may or may not be gay. They don't know it but... Just do yourself a huge favor. Skip this silliness. You'll be grateful.