Woodyanders Review of Humans vs Zombies

Humans vs Zombies (2011)

A really snappy and enjoyable zombie horror outing

[8/10 · 2 July 2012]

Okay, we all know the drill by now: A motley assortment of desperate characters are forced to set aside their differences and work together in order to remain alive after a mysterious virus causes an outbreak of ferocious flesh-eating zombies. So far, so familiar. But fortunately director Brian T. Jaynes, who also co-wrote the clever and inspired script with Devan Sagliani, neatly pokes fun at the standard genre conventions by making the central protagonists a bunch smartaleck college students with above average survival instincts thanks to all the video games they've played concerning zombie infestations. Moreover, Jayne relates the lively and entertaining story at a constant brisk pace, stages the zombie attack scenes and action set pieces with tremendous rip-roaring brio, delivers a handy helping of graphic gore, develops a considerable amount of tension and a strong feeling of mounting dread, and tops it all off with a wickedly amusing sense of pitch-black humor. Better still, Jayne not only keeps everything at a poignant human level (several characters express dismay when their friends get killed), but also comes through with an admirably hard-edged take-no-prisoners attitude that stays savagely true to itself to the devastating bitter end. In addition, the enthusiastic cast have a ball with the wild material, with especially stand-out work from Madison Burge as sassy and sarcastic gamer babe Tommi, Melissa Campbell as the sweet and adorable Amanda, Frederic Doss as gung-ho paranoid conspiracy freak security guard Frank, Chip Joslin as rowdy and obnoxious hipster Brad, Jonah Priour as shy and awkward virginal geek Danny, and Jesse Ferraro as amiable hunky jock James. Francois Frazat's crisp cinematography boasts plenty of cool bird's eye view camera shots and gives the picture an impressive sharp look. Maigin Blank's dynamic throbbing score does the pulse-pounding trick. A total blast.