Infection Z   Starring: Michael Madsen and William Forsythe Distributor: Signature Entertainment RRP: £15.99 Certificate: 18 Release Date: 10 June 2013

Two long-term hunters take their teenage sons to a cabin in the woods as a bonding holiday. They are approached by a local girl who is concerned about her desperately sick grandmother. The old woman obviously has a virus of some kind, to the point of becoming delusional and wandering off into the trees. However, this is much more than a bout of flu, and has spread throughout the region. The military has no answer to the problem. Pretty soon the cabin is under assault from hoardes of flesh-eating creatures that used to be normal human beings. When the pregnant wife of one of the hunters turns up, it is necessary to relocate. But can they escape the nightmarish throng...?

Right, I’ll confess up front that I’m not a big fan of zombie films. Of course, The Night of the Living Dead was a horror classic, but I could probably only name a handful of movies which have actually done something progressive with this sub-genre. I’m afraid, aside from the weird but likeable hunter/surgeon who turns, this is just another stumbling, gurgling, gnashing portrayal of the undead. You just have to wonder, what’s the point?

What more is there to say? Oh, yes. It had the feel of a fable, a macabre folk tale. Also, the conclusion, which depicts a working military camp from which individuals venture out for survivors, reminds me of the set-up in J. Michael Straczynski’s excellent Jeremiah series. So, a certain amount of the poaching of ideas occurs here, which is inevitable. However, this merely highlights the sheer lack of originality.

3

Ty Power