The Dead Outside

(2008) **

In this different take on a zombie like apocalypse people are infected with a virus that makes them violent toward the uninfected, they still talk but they don’t make much sense. Daniel has run out of gas and seeks refuge at a local farm. There he encounters April, the paranoid gun toting lone resident of the farm. Reluctantly, she allows him to stay on with her. All seems to be going swimmingly as they go through daily routine, feed the chickens – check, walk the dog – check, kill the crazies that got caught in the barbed wire – check. Things start going wrong when Kate, another uninfected female, shows up at the gate asking if she can rest up for awhile. April feels threatened by Kate’s presence and worries that she will lure Daniel away with her. The distraction causes her to get careless and the infected breech the gate landing them in an all out scuttle for survival.

 This one starts out with some promise but quickly falls flat on it confusing face. The cameraman should be beaten for all the dizzying nonsense he filmed. The insertion of quick flashbacks amid facial close ups as the couple struggle with the infected mounts up to be one giant mass of, “what the fuck is going on here!” Everyone has dark hair and the big fight scene takes place at night so you can’t figure out who is who. I was hoping someone would get set on fire just to add a little light to the scene, not that it would have helped much. The sound quality was also an issue, for some reason the voices were low and the background music was much louder making it even more difficult to decipher the dialog through their thick Scottish accents. On the upside, the scenery was beautiful, green rolling hills and picturesque skies. Makes me want to vacation there.