Quarantine 2 (2011) : Why I may never fly again.

I bet this week you expected a review on the "Outpost" movies, as that's what I teased you with at the end of my last blog. Well, surprise! That's not what you're getting, and here's why: I just watched "Quarantine 2", and since I recently reviewed the first "Quarantine", I had to post about it instead. Never fear, I'll get to the "Outpost" movies next week, promise!

OK, I've gotta be totally honest here: I had SUPER-LOW expectations for this flick. It has a lot going against it as far as I'm concerned:

1. It doesn't star Jennifer Carpenter (her character dies in the first "Quarantine").
2. It's a sequel (we all know how bad sequels can be!).
3. It takes place on an airplane ("Zombies on a Plane"????? As if snakes on a plane aren't bad enough.....).
4. It doesn't star Jennifer Carpenter (really).

The movie opens with the crew and passengers in the airport doing all of the things you do before boarding. When they get on the airplane, red flags go up in my mind since its a small regional jet. If this movie is going to eat up 86 minutes of my time there's no way its going to spend all of its time on such a small plane!

Since I knew that things are going to go really wrong on the plane, I figured I could ID who the Typhoid Mary was that would cause the problem. Wrong! Almost everyone who boards the plane, crew and passengers, all look sick and have some sort of issue. The source of the outbreak doesn't become apparent until the plane is well under way; I'm not going to spoil it for you here so you'll have to watch.

Thankfully once all hell breaks loose, the movie keeps some semblance of reality; the plane makes a forced landing at a to-be-named-later airport. This is where started liking this movie, because somehow the writers and director found a way to make a totally crazy scenario seem plausible. Once the plane lands and the healthy (and sick) passengers and crew make it into the terminal, they are locked away from the rest of the airport and the CDC shows up on the scene to further screw everything up (hence the "Quarantine" name in the title again.....). Things become a little formulaic from this point on but the action and special effects are great, and I found myself completely hooked.

Another thing I like about this movie is the fact that it happens during the same time-frame as the first movie, and actually ties into the first movie quite nicely. A problem I sometimes have with sequels is when they have no tie-in to their predecessors. It works great if someone is watching that sequel and has never seen the first one, but for devoted fans it seems lacking in some way.


If you remember from my previous review of the first "Quarantine", I questioned whether the infected people really were Zombies. Well, with this flick I'm making the call now: Yep, definitely Zombies. Look dead. Eat you. Do freaky shit like bend over backwards in a manner that a spine shouldn't be able to do. Oh, and they're fast-movers. The worst kind of Zombie IMHO. Once again I'd be screwed if I was somehow dropped into this as a real-life scenario.

I won't give away the ending, but it definitely leaves things open for a sequel, especially given the airport that they land in that becomes apparent in the background of the ending sequence. I hope they do make another because I definitely am hooked and can't wait to see another one!

My verdict? On a "Zombie Movie Scale of 1-10" I'd give this one an 8.

Yep, an 8! This is a rare case where I think that the sequel is even better than the first movie.

WATCH IT IF: You liked the first Quarantine, like your Zombies to be fast-movers, or are looking for a reason to never fly again.

DON'T WATCH IT IF: You're expecting a movie filled with Samuel L Jackson killing some MFing Zombies on a MFing plane, you didn't like the first Quarantine, or prefer to think that the CDC is a wonderful organization that only looks out for your best interests.

"Quarantine 2" is available for streaming on Amazon Instant Video and can be purchased at several retailers. At this time it is not available for free streaming on Netflix or Crackle.

More info can be found on IMDB here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1699231/


I promise, next we will really talk about "Outpost" and "Outpost: Black Sun".

The Horde (2009) : Vive le zombie!

OK, after the last movie review I owe you, my readers, a review of a GOOD zombie movie. After all, who wants to read a blog about bad movies that you SHOULDN'T WATCH?!?

Enter 2009's "The Horde".

If you've been jones'n for a fast-paced, "Die Hard" -type Zombie flick, look no further. "The Horde" is probably one of the most violent, fast-paced French Zombie movies that I have ever seen. Well to be truthful, it's the only French Zombie movie I've ever seen, but let's not complicate things.......

Here's the description from IMDB:

A posse of crooked cops, malevolent gangsters and a horde of walking dead are the centre point of this gruesome, tight, action packed, claustrophobic tale of retribution and escape. Penned like animals, on the top floor of a deserted high-rise block, these two opposing gangs find that they are not alone in the lair of bloodthirsty corridors of death. Joining forces to survive, they must reach ground level together or perish. Loaded with a bad ass attitude, guns, axes and extremely creative hand-to-hand combat sequences that project the fears and paranoia that are the fighting forces behind the need to survive, when caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

Our group is caught in a run-down apartment complex, much like the folks in "Quarantine", except they are stuck in the middle of a full-blown Zombie apocalypse complete with a seemingly endless supply of fast-moving Zombies. Sacre Bleu!

Fast-movers scare the holy hell out of me! I think it's because deep down I know that when if the Zombie Apocalypse comes, and its complete with fast movers..............I am toast. I hate running.

The imagery and cinematography in this movie are awesome. It truly lives up to it's name in terms of sheer number of Zombies. Its also got gore in spades, so if you are squeamish, you might want to skip this one..

There are a few things that I wish they had done better. First was character development. They could have done a better job at giving a little more insight into the cops and baddies. And, it never was revealed what started the Zombie outbreak to begin with. Infected monkeys? Government experiment gone wrong? Evil corporation? The outbreak just suddenly appeared at their doorstep. For those of us who are hoping to avoid a real Zombie Apocalypse this sort of info is helpful....

All of that aside, I did like this film. A lot of attitude with action in spades. A great way to spend 90 minutes with no regrets!

My verdict? On a "Zombie Movie Scale of 1-10" I'd give this one a 7.

Non-stop action and fast-movers make for a super entertaining movie! This is a great movie to watch during the current Walking Dead hiatus (one more week!!!!).

WATCH IT IF: You've been jones'n for a good French Zombie flick, aren't interested in character development and just want to see a lot of shootin' and bitin', or want to be able to tell your friends you just watched a foreign film with subtitles to sound smarter.

DON'T WATCH IT IF: You hate all things French, don't want to be bothered to read subtitles, or have no interest in being entertained.

"The Horde" is available for streaming on Netflix and Amazon Instand Video.

More info can be found on IMDB here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1183276/


Up next, get ready for a two-for-one Nazi Zombie review: "Outpost" and "Outpost: Black Sun".