The Rezort

Right, well anything that even remotely reeks of anything zombie, and my interest is caught. And I hadn't even heard of "The Rezort" prior to finding it by sheer luck. I was intrigued by the fancy movie cover, and surprised to realize that it was a zombie movie after having read the synopsis.

I had no expectations to the movie, especially since zombie movies often tend to turn out to be stinkers - no pun intended. However, "The Rezort" was an entertaining movie, albeit it did have its flaws.

The story is set in a post apocalyptic world where zombies have been confined to a remote island where a people pay money to go on a morbid safari, if you will. They are equipped with guns and can shoot zombies on the island. However, due to a security breach, something goes awry with the system and the zombies break free of their containment, chasing after those who where there to put them down.

Right, well the story was original, and it was actually quite entertaining. So a big thumbs up on that part. It was nice to watch something new and refreshing for a change, as zombie movies tend to stick to the traditional Romero-blueprint.

However, the movie wasn't of the biggest of budgets, and that was reflected in the special effects and zombie make-up department. I am not saying that they were B-movie bad, not at all. I am just saying that they could have profited from having better effects and make-up, because some of it was questionable.

Personally I have a hard time with zombies, or infected people, who are agile and running around. It just doesn't sit well with me. So it was a notch downward when they introduced fast, agile and running zombies in "The Rezort".

Honestly, then I don't recall any of the acting performances to stand out. With that being said, I am not saying that people were doing poor jobs. No, what I am saying is that people did good enough jobs, although there just wasn't anyone who was particularly outstanding or memorable.

All in all an entertaining movie, with a nice fresh take on the zombie genre. "The Rezort" is well worth watching, if you haven't already seen it, just as it is a welcomed addition to the movie collection of any zombie aficionado.

Zombie films are pretty common place these days with the sub-genre being saturated with entries. So expectations are generally pretty low when a new one comes around the block. This rule of thumb applies to The Rezort. But I have to say that this one keeps things a little more interesting than usual. The set-up about a high-tech resort where adrenaline mad tourists can visit to shoot zombies is a pretty good new angle for the genre; even if it essentially borrows heavily from Michael Crichton penned sci-fi classics Westword (1973) and Jurassic Park (1993), especially when we have the zombies breaking free and causing all manner of horrors on the humans in a very similar way to what the androids and dinosaurs did in those two earlier films. Still, I didn't really mind this derivative aspect very much as at least it seemed – to me at least – to be a new angle for the zombie film.

For those who are interested in the distinction, this is one of the ones which has fast zombies. They bomb about in hot pursuit of the protagonists and you can probably imagine that it ends in tears for almost everyone. There is a little bit of political subtext added to the mix as well with a revelation later in the film involving refugees, which of course taps into a current issue in a zombie tradition that goes all the way back to George A. Romero. But mainly, this is a nicely distinctive new entry into an over-populated sub-genre. All things considered, I thought it was pretty good.

Lets be honest, there have been some truly awful B grade Zombie flicks. Thankfully, Rezort is not one of them.

Yes this film has a modest budget and location and yes, its hardly original. That said what Rezort does, it does with a simple, honest, gnashing enthusiasm. Its pacing is good and whilst this is not going to engage the synapses all that much it does engage on a sensory level, with lots of action and a few mild scares.

Just as importantly, its a competent production that employs some capable Brit actors and utilizes reasonable if not exceptional sets and locations.

All in all there a lot more to like here than not, if you are a fan of the Zombie/survival horror genre and you want an afternoon or evenings chill out action flick fun. Seven out of ten from me.

Survivors of a zombie holocaust travel to an expensive island resort, where the last remaining creatures are kept in captivity, but things don't go to plan.

Jurassic Park of the undead. This was a pleasant surprise, since most zombie productions are basement crud while this production is well paced and put together. We're introduced by an after the fact news report, then we get to know the characters before the action kicks in. The zombies are called pacers, but they sure can move, and there are several effective jump scares as they lunge out of nowhere.

The plot makes political points, but more of the earnest type than Romero-style satire, and while the refugee angle turns out interesting you have to wonder why we would have that problem after a big chunk of the population has been wiped out. Turns out movie makers aren't Marxists after all. Duh.

Some of the dialogue is on the nose, and there's a poorly judged sequence as the characters saunter along expositioning to each other just after their deadline for escape has been set. Also, typical of British horror to subject the audience to irritating joke characters. And some "why don't they just close the door?" moments.

Performances are good. Photography good, although the zombies are a bit tame with not enough bizarro images. Editing on the news reports is irritating to begin with, but otherwise fine. Music was lively.

Overall: not perfectly conceived or executed, but good entertainment.

in a market overflowing with zombie movies, it can't be easy for movie studios to come up with new and interesting takes on the genre, but with The Rezort they came up trumps

the movie zips along at a decent pace with enough zombie action to satisfy most fans of the genre, and the characters are the kind you actually care about for once, with Dougray Scott being the most recognisable out of all the actors present.

just in case you were wondering how an island could continue to function with only a finite number of zombies to shoot, this issue is actually dealt with as part of the plot, and is a shocking revelation when it comes.

all in all, it's a decent way to spend an hour and a half, and is certainly a lot better than some of the dross out there