This French film about surviving a zombie apocalypse is not to be confused with the American film released around the same time, with the same name.
Sometimes, it's nice just to sit back with a cup of tea and watch a group of people being attacked by the living dead in a world gone mad and unspeakable conditions with little hope of survival or anything other than a life of unbelievable suffering.
In the icy grip of winter, armed with the determined but vague notion of escaping this carnage, Marco (Francis Renaud) and pregnant Sonia (Hélène de Fougerolles) hide out in an abandoned building miles away from anyone. Marco, however, has been infected, and over the film's running time we see his girlfriend treating him, pathetically thinking he will recover. As his slow and graphic disintegration continues apace, the couples' desperation is palpable.
I always find it pleasing – and true to life – when the 'normal, decent' people are revealed to be villains. And that's what happens here when others arrive – some infected, some not. And so, perversely, the zombies – especially the completely mutated Marco – become a force for retribution, and the audience almost begins to side with them.
There is no let up from the misery, gore, graphic violence and horror, and the film is sometimes in danger of becoming very one note. There are only so many times you can be shocked and appalled when someone is unexpectedly killed by the living dead. The only moment of optimism comes at the end, when it seems the long suffering Sonia has been saved. Although the baby she is expecting has been conceived with someone infected Grim.
Sometimes, it's nice just to sit back with a cup of tea and watch a group of people being attacked by the living dead in a world gone mad and unspeakable conditions with little hope of survival or anything other than a life of unbelievable suffering.
In the icy grip of winter, armed with the determined but vague notion of escaping this carnage, Marco (Francis Renaud) and pregnant Sonia (Hélène de Fougerolles) hide out in an abandoned building miles away from anyone. Marco, however, has been infected, and over the film's running time we see his girlfriend treating him, pathetically thinking he will recover. As his slow and graphic disintegration continues apace, the couples' desperation is palpable.
I always find it pleasing – and true to life – when the 'normal, decent' people are revealed to be villains. And that's what happens here when others arrive – some infected, some not. And so, perversely, the zombies – especially the completely mutated Marco – become a force for retribution, and the audience almost begins to side with them.
There is no let up from the misery, gore, graphic violence and horror, and the film is sometimes in danger of becoming very one note. There are only so many times you can be shocked and appalled when someone is unexpectedly killed by the living dead. The only moment of optimism comes at the end, when it seems the long suffering Sonia has been saved. Although the baby she is expecting has been conceived with someone infected Grim.