Zombie Hunter (2013) Reviews

• Plenty of Camp Just Not Much Fun

  Simon_Says_Movies2013-10-14

  One of the biggest divides that seems to exist between concept and approach in filmmaking is that of the B-movie – a lark simply meant to amplify camp, kitsch and fun to delirious levels. But what seems to be more often the case is the arrival of flicks which approach the genre superficially, revelling in lazy dialogue, dull slaughter and gore and boring characters rather than applying a grindhouse feel to well though out material. While there are some attempts to spoof the well worn tropes of this type of endeavour, too often does Zombie Hunter cheat the audience, revel in its laziness and fail even to live up to the gimmicky promises plastered on the DVD case. Let me get the bluffs out of the way first, because these are not so much spoilers as they are an accurate description of events. In quick succession: Danny Trejo appears in little more than a cameo, the souped up muscle car exits the picture early on and the "clown with a chainsaw" represents little more than a blip. And in case you have no idea what this movie is about and why the heck I would bring this up, yes those were major selling points present in the advertising. What remain are inane and groan-worthy dialogue and timing and delivery that rival pre- school plays and repetition at all levels. I hate to be too harsh on Zombie Hunter because when it's all said and done it's a rather innocent endeavour, never vying for much, featuring thesps who in some cases are experiencing their debut roles and, despite its many pitfalls, is never insulting. It's all just rather wrongheaded and draining. The weird highlight for me was in lead Martin "Hunter" Copping who's growling, monotonous delivery seemed to craft a character that was just as nonchalant concerning the apocalypse then about the junk in which he was starring. Don't get me wrong, it's all very bad and very one note but his attitude made the viewing more tolerable. The rest of the cast is made of folks – truly no offense as I'm sure I would join their ranks if I attempted to act – who have little hope of securing steady jobs in Hollywood. The dialogue may be horrid but they make no effort to bring it to life. Even a hammy, hackneyed script can be given a weird sense of charm with the right performer delivering the lines. It's immensely clear across all fronts they are waiting on prompts and very likely gazing at cue cards. Their infuriating actions and their interactions displayed amongst one another do very little to right any wrongs. But as I iterated early on, there are clear – and surprisingly successful – attempts to spoof the style of film in which Zombie Hunter eventually revels. Hunter has some amusing early scenes with the undead as does the prologue (which explains the outbreak) have some charm in its own way. Coupled later on with zoom-in shots of a girl's butt, substituted for her, you know, face when running away from a threat, or a puke-off that spoofs the "grizzly discover" cliché, there are scenes that show promise. But collectively their relative occupation of the running time leaves much to be desired. In the end, Zombie Hunter is only something that could be recommend with the disclaimer it be played in the background while you and your friends shoot the *bleep* and sip some beers. The thorough distain for creativity and decision to wallow in camp rather than embrace or satirize it means this B-movie simply doesn't even get a similar grade to rival its intended stamp.

• Wow, just wow...

  paul_haakonsen2013-09-27

  This movie was like watching a bad movie spawned from the "Borderlands" games mixed with elements blatantly stolen from the "Resident Evil" universe. The storyline was fairly straight forward, and anyone who have seen just a single zombie movie should be familiar with the essentials of the storyline here as well. A lone stranger ends up with a small group of survivors in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. The dialog in the movie was just horrible. It was so corny and bad, that there were times when you sit there curling your toes in disbelief. Which leads us to the characters. Wow, are you kidding me? What a bunch of generic, stereotypical and totally irrelevant characters can you manage to put into one movie? Now, I am not saying that the people acting and portraying the characters were doing bad jobs, but the characters themselves were parodies on themselves and everything in the zombie genre. It was just an atrocity to witness. The zombies, well they were your standard low budget movie zombies; shredded clothing and usually mangled faces. Yet somehow the necks, ears and hands were also spotless and never showed a sign of decay or damage. It is the classic low budget mistake to make. And sure enough, here it was. And what was going on with the hybrid mix of Nemesis and the licker creatures from "Resident Evil". I was ready to get up and find something else to watch when I saw these. It was just laughable. For some reason, then the blood in this movie was purple, and it always had to spray directly on the camera. It was annoying and tiring to look at, and it got old really fast. Purple blood, sure, why not... Without the risk of sounding sarcastic, wait, that is exactly what I am trying to do here, then the not-so-subtle advertising for their other movies put on display in the movie was really just fantastic. Watch the movie, and you will know it immediately when you get to that scene. Way to go Arrowstorm Entertainment... If you are credited as 'Sexy Zombie' in a movie, then you know everything is not right here. Yet, there is something to this movie that makes you stick around to the end, even though it is campy, cheesy and have low budget written all over it. However, I can honestly say that this movie is the type of movie that you watch once and never again. As much as I love everything zombie, then "Zombie Hunter" just didn't have that much to offer.

• Worst Zombie movie I have ever seen.

  dennis-3022013-08-25

  This movie is incredibly bad. Danny Trejo - which is probably the reason for most people to watch this flick - is only seen in three scenes and is just doing his usual job. Being the cool, archaic guy who is looking into the camera with a grim face. And this is the best part of the movie. All the other actors are just crap. Their roles are clichés as you would expect from a movie like this, but their acting is so bad, that you cannot even take those clichés seriously. The dialogs have been written by some computer software which tries to bring the most common lines of all scripts into some order. The main character plays like he had been undergoing a lobotomy. And still he needs crappy monologues with a cheesy voice to bring his point across. Then there is the very bad CGI of those special monsters, which just look like they had been animated in the 1990s. Even the Pixar table lamp looks more realistic than they do. It seems like the director/writer/producer has seen Planet Terror and thought "I can do this too!". Unfortunately they can't. And they should have never tried. I want those 90 minutes of my life back!

• Zombie Hunter

  phubbs2013-11-20

  A curious blend of a few ideas and genres here, foremostly a clear cut grindhouse approach which appears to be all the rage these days. The film stars Danny Trejo which should give the game away as to what grindhouse type flicks this capitalises on. You only have to look on his filmography (and co stars) to see how many of these flicks are getting churned out!. The plot is simple and highly unoriginal. An addictive drug has turned some people into flesh eating zombies which has in turn spread. America appears to be an apocalyptic wasteland where 'The Hunter' roams, he kills zombies. He comes across a small settlement with other survivors and together they plan an escape by air to islands in the Pacific. Its your basic flee the zombie plague fare. What is interesting about this film is the combination of ideas. The main character of The Hunter is basically 'Max Rockatansky' with a classic Clint Eastwood 'man with no name' vibe just for good measure. I mean look at his name for a start...The Hunter/The Road Warrior, close huh. But mainly he drives an all black dirty modified Pontiac Trans Am (I think) which looks identical to the Interceptor in 'Mad Max'. But wait there's more, he even dresses like Max in all black with shades and handles a similar shotgun too, only thing missing is a pet dog. I might also mention the guy in the role (Martin Copping) is Australian too haha what are the odds?!. So yes the main heroes look is a bit of a rip off but it works, he's cool, grizzled and dispatches zombies with aplomb. You have the main theme of a 70's/80's Mexican grindhouse approach with a Mad Max main lead fighting zombies in a Resident Evil setting with an actual Resident Evil monster too (not sure where they came from though). Trejo is playing 'Machete' again but with an axe, oh and there's a clear cut 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' homage/rip off too...got all that?. Being a low budget affair the effects are average, the blood n guts look fine but the CGI monster things aren't. That said the low budget does work for the film giving it that gritty-ish look, as what tends to happen with limited resources. The cast are a mixed bag with Copping coming across pretty hokey with his over macho posturing but he's a fun character. Of course there are a couple hot chicks in the survivor band too, one clearly being some ex-stripper/model/porn star type who is bad at acting but good at being slutty (I liked that). Hated the fact that our hero doesn't take her up on her offer of guilt free sex, dude are you mad?!. The film is also amusing in places too, intentionally? I don't know, doubt it, but it is. The last three left alive find a locker chock full of machine guns/sub machine guns etc...the zombies are beating the door down, the last sexy chick remaining declares 'there's too many, they're too strong!'. You have just found Rambo's toy chest, are you serious right now? zombies aren't bullet proof. I actually found myself liking this film mainly because of Copping's hero character, I'm not really a fan of the grindhouse genre/approach but the use of other styles and ideas worked well. Its not fresh and new, we've seen this type of thing a billion times before but I personally liked this films style, the cut of its jib. Gotta love that dialog and the end credits soundtrack has a pretty sweet electronic 80's style rhythm. 'Don't worry about me babe' 5.5/10

• A movie that isn't good at all but since Danny Trejo is in it people will watch. Not really anything good about this. I say D+

  cosmo_tiger2013-09-27

  "Most of them are brainless globs of walking matter with one objective, eat, but every once in a while you'll get one thats a little tricky." After the apocalypse there are two kinds of beings left...Zombies and humans. One man known as the hunter (Copping) who has nothing to lose drives around killing any flesh eater he can find. When he finds a small group of survivors he decides to help them out. When a group attacks them the hunter must now put his skills to the test. There isn't much I can say about this movie that will make you want to watch it. Danny Trejo is in it but only for about 10 minutes. The way I think the movie got made is this; Hey everyone likes zombies, should we make a movie about them. We only have $50 though who will be in it for that? I know Danny Trejo, he does anything and has a huge cult following...we can't lose. Much like Bruce Campbell in the 90's people will watch a movie based on if he is in it or not, no matter what the movie is. That's what the makers are hoping for. To prove my point...there is a scene where the group talks about how many zombies the hunter has killed that is interrupted by a woman stripping...using a pole that is conveniently located in the warehouse they are in, but since Danny Trejo is on the box people will watch. Overall, exactly what you would expect. I give it a D+