So there's that.
Utah doubles for Afghanistan as the flick follows an American Special Forces unit picking off "Class D hostiles" — that's code for undead Middle Easterns — as it searches for the enemy camp. They pick up a extra help when they run across a Colorado woman (Eva Mauro, Miss March) searching for her lost freedom-fighter brother (Jasen Wade, Amber Alert) in the desert.
Despite the over-the-top prologue, despite the ripped solider who prefers to fight with his shirt off (Corey Sevier, Immortals' Apollo), despite the lollipop-sucking tomboy with a sword (Danielle Chuchran, The Cat in the Hat), Osombie takes itself very seriously. This approach sucks the fun out of the concept, not to mention leaves a tinge of bad taste that's flavored with anti-Muslim sentiment, intended or not.
For a movie aiming for a little armed-forces authenticity with gruntspeak and gun porn, the movie doesn't grant its good guys with excellent vision; virtually everyone is "surprised" by a member of the undead while out in wide-open spaces. Gushing blood is plentiful, although computer-generated, which makes me wonder why the filmmakers bothered having it splatter on the camera lens in one scene.
If we can make a fun movie that puts Nazis on the moon (see: Iron Sky, because you should), then we can make a fun movie that turns one of history’s most hated humans into a zombie. And if we can’t do that, my friends ... well, then, the terrorists have won. —Rod Lott
Hey! Read This:
• Immortals Blu-ray review
• Iron Sky Blu-ray review
• Miss March DVD review
