These two flicks are more than just gut-munching fun. In fact, flesh-eating takes a backseat to character-driven stories. So how did that work out for my short attention span? Let’s find out.
DIE ALONE (2024)
Don’t expect a Frank Grillo zombie/action movie with this one. The director of 13 Eerie and the Wolfcop movies makes what I think is an elevated infected winner. The hubby and I were blown away by this simple yet emotional and incredibly smart take on the zombie genre.
I can’t even give many details of the story, because it would spoil the plot. Basically, a young man and his girlfriend have an accident. When he awakens, he doesn’t remember anything beyond that moment. He runs into a woman, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, who takes him in and informs him of a plant-based infection that has taken over the world.
Don’t expect hordes of zombies. There is one amazing, super infected humanoid scene and then just a few more infected moments. This perfectly paced, 90-minute movie draws you in because of the mystery it creates surrounding what happened to the main guy’s girlfriend as he begins to have flashbacks of what led him to where he is now.
Although action and horror hottie Frank Grillo is featured on the poster art, he has only a very small role that doesn’t come in until the 65-minutes into the film, but at least we get a nice crotch shot.
Even if you think you’re burned out on zombie/infected movies, this one truly brings something new to the table.
OUTSIDE (2024)
This Asian zombie film runs 2 hours and 22 minutes long. Eek! That’s the scariest part. However, while the film is slow with just a handful of really intense zombie scenes (just like Die Alone), its goal is to deep dive into the troubles of a fractured family trying to survive after the outbreak.
This is a long, emotional, moody journey that borders on soap opera level drama at times, despite the limited number of characters. A father, mother, and their two sons try to escape the insanity by heading to the secluded home of the husband’s parents. This is when we get the first awesome and gory zombie scene. The best part of these gnarly zombies is that they still speak, but only one single word or phrase over and over. It is fricking creepy.
Zombie attacks are sprinkled throughout the film to help with the low energy, and they really do, because it’s intense energy, especially a scene that unfolds on a bridge. Eek!
The reason for the tension between husband and wife unfolds as the movie progresses. The father’s brother told them about a safe zone to travel to, but the father doesn’t exactly want to reunite with the brother because of a serious betrayal that has shattered the family. The father is trying so hard to keep his family together while his ego is absorbing all the hits, but those efforts eventually backfire big time, and his nuclear family unit begins to splinter.
On top of that, the husband still has to contend with his brother, who keeps resurfacing and trying to lead them to the safe space. Pretty much everyone snaps, and the shit really hits the fan as this family’s drama comes to a head…with zombies.
