Leave it to me to blind buy a zombie flick because the illustrated rendering of the leading man on the DVD case looks hot in a tank top and has a great ass. In my defense, it was only 10 bux and I tried my best to research its worth on my phone before making the purchase. But my service sucked in the store and I couldn’t find a single fricking result for this movie…and…I was on a last resort supply run that had landed me at Walmart. That in itself is like standing in the middle of a horde of zombies, what with all the horrific flesh rot, teeth decay, and brain dead action shuffling down the aisles.
False advertising! The guy in the movie actually has long hair! Not that I have an issue with guys with long hair, but I totally have an issue with guys with long hair. It’s remarkable how a guy becomes immediately ten times hotter simply by cutting off his hair. Even so, this leading man is still pretty cute with the longer locks.
In fact, he’s way too cute to barely appear on camera in the movie. See, this proved to be a first-person POV zombie flick, so the entire film is viewed from his eyes. The only time we get a glimpse of our leading man is when he looks in a mirror or takes a video selfie. What a waste of a hottie (despite the hair).
Just a liiiiiittle lower so we can see the pits…
The reason I couldn’t find Kill Another Day on the Internet (hell, it’s not even on the Walmart site) is because it was originally titled Dead Rush, based on a short film from which it was expanded (and which was included in the anthology film Zombieworld). Kill Another Day/Dead Rush appears to have also been released under the title Hard Line.
I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle 80 minutes of the visual equivalent of a first-person zombie video game (think Dead Island). The trailer makes this look like nonstop action of the most head-spinning variety. But director Zachary Ramelan made a really smart decision here to keep the action to a minimum. As you watch the film, you may feel like you want more visual excitement, but when the action hits, you quickly realize that you could really only handle it in small doses; the novelty can sustain itself for only so long before the effectiveness wears thin or gives you motion sickness. Going into the film, I was bracing myself for nonstop insanity as in this wicked cool clip I saw on YouTube a while back:
Heart-pounding suspense and roller coaster ride for sure, but watching that for 80 minutes would have me hyperventilating and looking for an opportunity to sit down and catch my breath…even though I would already be sitting down watching the movie.
Kill Another Day has our leading man out celebrating his wife’s pregnancy with his buddy when the zombie outbreak begins. Unable to get home to his wife in all the chaos, he hides out in a gym with his buddy.
Just the two of them. Alone. For no telling how long.
And the down side to this zombie apocalypse?
Fuck. There goes that fantasy. Drawn out in a tight corner affected by a flickering light, the big “I ain’t feeling so good” scene had me on the edge of my seat.
Our main man ends up joining a community of survivors led by a religious fanatic, and while this film doesn’t have the advantage of multiple seasons to develop the group dynamics like The Walking Dead, we get the gist. The interpersonal drama unfolds as we’re treated to supply runs that deliver subtle chills and thrills.
It all leads up to the climactic zombie battle and chase scene.
Truth is, this movie is all about its final moments, which introduce a spiritual angle to the zombie genre that is…well…fucking depressing. But it makes for a killer conclusion.
Following the credits, the DVD gives us a bonus.
It’s an all-out first person action zombedy short in which the film’s director has to get across town to the theater during the zombie apocalypse in time for the premiere of Kill Another Day, aka: Dead Rush, aka: Hard Line.
It’s a blast to see the first-person POV used in a zombie film with a completely different tone (where’s my Sega House of the Dead light gun when I need it?), and it also demonstrates just why this style of frantic film-making is best reserved for brief sequences. And yet…there’s totally a part of me that wants a full-length movie just like this. Check out “The Premiere.”
——————–SPOILER ALERT!!———————–SPOILER ALERT!!———SPOILER ALERT!
I liked the movie but the description and cover picture were very misleading. It said “When an unknown illness ignites a full-blown epidemic, the world becomes overrun with bloodcurdling zombies. Hell-bent on returning home to his pregnant wife, David fights his way across the city, assembling a small group of survivors along the way, in a race against time to find the cure before it is too late”. Granted, the first sentence but what actually happened was that he was driven a few blocks by a drunk only to make it home in time to watch his wife die. Then he lived in a gym with his buddy until his buddy turned. For some reason caused the gym doors to open. so he had to try to fight his way out which he failed to do. After the attack which he sorta survived he is rescued by a cult of Jesus freaks lead by a Jim Jones wanna be, He did NOT assemble anything. For the whole movie he was along for ride.