Kill Zombie! (2012 aka Zombibi/Well Go USA Blu-ray)

Picture: B Audio: B Extras: D Film: D

The Dutch language film Kill Zombie is one of the most America horror cinema-imitating films I have ever seen. Not only does it borrow heavily from Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, The Matrix, and Shaun of the Dead, even the back of the cover eludes to these connections but all of the characters fill American stereotypes in the way they dress and act and reference. The zombie moments are the only saving grace to this production which include a few inventive kills (for some reason they chose the Zombie's blood to be green), and a few snickers (not quite laughs) from a few of the leads. The overall production isn't as bad as you might think (they had a little bit of a budget) but nothing original or inventive enough to be truly memorable or recommended.

The story is simple - a Russian space station crashes in Amsterdam, releasing a deadly virus that turns the general population into Zombies. After Aziz (Yahya Gaier) loses his desk job after flirting with his Office Girlfriend the Boss likes and getting excessive calls from his brother Mo (Quled Radi), he ends up going to Mo's pool party where hot babes are abound. After Mo throws a beach ball at a tough guy's girl, the two end up running away from the party and land themselves in jail (somehow) under the reign of a gorgeous blonde Police Officer (Gigi Ravelli). Once the power goes out and the jail cells open, the group walks out into the city and encounter zombie after zombie. In typical fashion, they are wiped out one by one until only the main characters are left. Of course, Aziz ends up facing his cheating Office Girlfriend and Ex-Boss towards the film's conclusion and a ten minute long fist fight between the Police Officer and a Zombie cut back and forth.

Highlights in the film occur when Gigi Ravelli gets a giant hammer and knocks out several zombies while being pushed in a cart by Aziz. Some vicious kills that are dumbed down by bad CGI that are slightly over SyFy channel quality. The worst moments in the film are when two guys show up dressed in leather and fight zombies in video game mode where we see their health and the zombie's health on opposite sides of the screen. Very cheesy. Near the end of the film, when Mo bites the dust we are giving a scene that is pretty much shot for shot Shaun of the Dead. Not too original.

The transfer is passable in 1080p HD with a 1.85 X 1 transfer, backed up with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround Sound & Stereo tracks. No English language versions are available in this release so you're stuck watching the film subtitled in Dutch language with English subtitles. Total runtime for the film is 86 minutes, which is about an episode and a half of the much superior Walking Dead. No extras are on this release except for a trailer.

- James Harland Lockhart V

www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart