Director: John Geddes
Writer: John Geddes (Screenplay)
Starring: Brian Cox, Mark Gibson, Dee Wallace, Bill Moseley, Stephen McHattie, Jordan Hayes
Plot: A young man’s struggle to survive in the aftermath of a deadly undead outbreak during the American Civil War.
Tagline – History has a violent way of repeating itself.
Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Slow, But Enjoyable Zombie Movie
Story: Exit Humanity starts during the civil war, where Edward Young (Gibson) battled but the war bought the rise of the undead which Edward has battled successfully until they get his family, looking to get across country to spread his son’s ashes he sets out alone.
Along the way he meets a fellow survivor who has been battling General Williams (Moseley) and his men including Medic Johnson (McHattie) who believe they can control the undead, so know teaming with Isaac (Seybold) he sets out on helping him defeat these evil men, all while being narrated but Malcolm Young (Voiced by Cox).
Thoughts on Exit Humanity
Characters – Malcolm Young is our narrator, he tells the story like he is writing it in a book, Edward Young is the man who fought in the Civil War but now lives in an undead infested land where he loses his family but now he fights the undead in a quest to put his son’s ashes to rest. Eve is a lone woman living in the woods, she is believed to be a witch which built her reputation for the locals, she opens her doors to Edward and his party. General Williams is the man that believes there is a cure, but his evil ways lead to them experimenting on the living to find it. Medic Johnson is Williams’ doctor who performs these experiments.
Performances – The performances from the cast are good, we have the horror icons in Dee Wallace, Bill Moseley and Stephen McHattie that give us good performances throughout. Brian Cox narrating is engaging throughout while Mark Gibson as our lead is good with all the bigger named actors.
Story – The story here is a zombie one, which we have seen plenty off, but it does take place in a Civil War era, which is an original spin on it. We have the journey our hero goes on, a villain that would end it and as always someone looking for a cure. The story is also told in chapter as if it was read from a book and strangely the narration side of the story being told in more interesting than the acting side of everything unfolding.
Horror – The horror is a zombie world where the humans seem to be the bigger enemy, which works but isn’t on the scary factor.
Settings – The film is set in the Civil War era, so we don’t have big strong structures for safety we are in the woods with our characters needing to find a way to survive without the ammunition the modern zombie films would have.
Special Effects – The effects are used well which is mostly practical as we see how the zombies are created to fit the time.
Scene of the Movie – I liked how the opening was narrated to us.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does feel like a long movie, with the muted action sequences.
Final Thoughts – This is an interesting take on the zombie genre, it places us into a different era with the same threat but does feel at times like it is being told as something one of the great poets would have written in the era.
Overall: This is an interesting if take on the genre even if slightly too slow.
Rating
