Plan Z

While I Don't Think This Was A Very Good Zombie Movie (I Thought It Was More Of A Character Story Than Say A Zombie Movie), I Think It Had A Great Plot And A Good Allegory For Making It Through Life ... Not Just A Bad Time But Through Life In General ... Be Prepared, Have A Plan, Stick To Your Plan, Don't Be Afraid To Change/Amend The Plan, Always Do The Right Thing, Do Unto Others ... And So Forth ... The Acting Isn't The Worse I Have Seen In A Zombie Movie ... I Was Interested Enough To See How It Ended ... I Imagine For The General American Viewer A Zombie Movie That Is Slow Paced (Typical Of English Movies) Could Seem Boring But This Movie Is Anything But Boring ... I Found This Movie To Be More In Line With "Maggie" (An Excellent Character Study Around A Zombie Apocalypse Featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger) As Say A Typical Zombie Movie ... My IMDb Rating 6 Out Of 10

You can't cover up bad acting and terrible special effects by shaking the camera more and more. There are segments that I don't know why they bothered filming because they shake the camera so much you can't tell what you're looking at. Skip this movie if just ate. Better yet, skip this movie altogether

This movie was clearly made on zero budget, as akin to the previous similar zombie effort of Colin, as such you have to consider this and appreciate how much of a movie this actually turned out to be.

There is tension and compelling action, and the whole thing doesn't feel like filer, despite most of it taking place in a couple of small locations. The narration can get annoying but you can see that it is what stitches the filmed scenes together and is necessary. The effects mainly rely on editing and imagination, but again with no budget this makes sense. Generally the editing and directing are what make this any good. The only flaw is the writing, it is quite simplistic and the point of 'survival vs fighting back' is repeated over and over again despite the filmmakers message becoming clear about a third of the way into the movie.

Overall this isn't a bad effort considering the clear lack of budget, there have been a lot worse zombie movies made with a lot more to work with, so definitely worth a watch if you are looking to make something for nothing yourself.

I have to say that I watched this film with reserved expectations, for me independent films carry with them a certain stigmata. Unlike a blockbuster that can cover poor elements with budget or cast, independent films feel a lot more exposed to criticism.

The good news is, because I had managed my own expectations what I got was a very enjoyable story-led, zombie thriller. I was engaged with the characters and story because throughout the film I felt genuine tension. The score and cinematography were superb. I often caught myself admiring the quality of the shots, the consideration of the angle and the accompanying score. There was one particular shot of the Isle of Skye that was stunning.

One previous film likened this to a 'Poor man's 28 days later', well I actually consider this to be praise. I love the atmosphere and style of that film and for Plan Z to compared I think is a great feat considering the difference in cast and budget.

If I had to be overly critical, there was one plot point that left me confused to what actually had happened (I don't want to give away spoilers but it's a major point of the film) and there was one piece of music towards the end of the filmed that didn't like it mixed very well and was out of place.

When watching, please don't expect a Hollywood blockbuster or compare it to the big Zombie films as it won't compare. Have a bit of perspective to how it was achieved and I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.

Anything even remotely zombie and it has my attention. However, I can't say that I had any particular hopes to "Plan Z" prior to watching it. I just sat down to watching it and would let it either impress or fail to impress as it would.

So what was the verdict? Well, mildly impressed. "Plan Z" certainly did have potential, especially because this takes places during the first stages of a zombie outbreak. And it was done nicely enough in a way that put the audience in the shoes right alongside with Craig (played by Stuart Brennan).

However, it was the shoddy and questionable camera work that failed to impress me. And it actually turned into a thing of frustration. I really loathe it when a camera is swinging to and forth all over the place, which often was the case in "Plan Z".

But also the sense of a rather shallow storyline helped to steer the movie away from being impressive. The story pretty much just easily strafe over the events of an outbreak and takes you from point A to point B way too fast, letting everything in between just slip through the cracks.

And it was as if the characters all lacked background, and they could essentially all have been one and the same character, just equipped with a different face. Very little effort was put into the characters to flesh them out and give them character. Sure it was nice to see how Craig prepared for what was inevitable in the beginning of the movie, but after that, he just became another faceless character like the rest of the characters in the movie.

Director Stuart Brennan had some vision, but just seemed to eager to make a movie that showed progression. A lot of details and time to set up a believable story and setting just fell to the floor.

I was, however, fairly entertained by the movie as a whole, because it does have some good aspects to it as well. However, as an addition to the zombie genre "Plan Z" just didn't bring anything new or memorable. It just didn't have what it took to play the big league.

If you enjoy the zombie genre, as I do, then by all means do take the time to sit down and watch "Plan Z". Just don't expect to be blown away. "Plan Z" lands a five out of ten stars rating from me.