I was curious about this film, because some review or synopsis pointed at the ending. Some times, a film is almost absolutely boring, even annoying, but an unexpected and amazing ending turns it upside down, for the good. Taking an example, "Abre Los Ojos" ("Open Your Eyes", 1997), with no special or visual effects, aside from some make-up and props, manages to turn an hour of pure drama (good drama, if you are into it) into an astonishing science fiction thriller using nothing but words (three of the most important of them on a black screen, mind you!). Then, take "Vanilla Sky" (2001), an American remake of "Abre Los Ojos"... On the latter, the drama just keeps on going, endlessly, literally, because "Vanilla Sky" has no proper ending, with the main character lying on bed, contemplating the ceiling... Ouch...! That said, let's review "Farm".
"Farm" goes on endlessly until it simply finishes, without an actual ending. There is no surprise, no turning point whatsoever and, mostly, no purpose, because there is no story, really. The film is a snapshot of a broken family after/during a zombie apocalypse. There is no character development, there is no plot evolution (except for the most obvious zombie attack at the ending, but who couldn't tell the film would end with that?) One useless character dies (the mutilated brother of the leading character), but that was previously replaced by another useless character, so it ends as it starts, with two characters (they replaced a brother for a random girl, but luckily, or sadly, depending on perspective, they don't fall to the romantic clichés, at least, on screen).
About the actors... Do you know the expression "that looked rehearsed"? This film is way worse, it sounded as if no one had even cared to rehearse its lines. Some parts even sounded improvised (not always a bad thing, works wonders in some films, if the actors know how to act). I've seen better performances on amateur school projects (search YouTube and compare, if you dare!) Even some of the zombies, with their "aaahhh!" one-liners, sounded so amateurish that it crossed the line from boring to irking.
The music is fine, for the film. It's moody, depressing and uneventful. It has just a piano playing for the whole 72min...
The make-up is amateurish, some times embarrassing. The mutilated brother has a huge scar on his face, which doesn't match his skin colour, or that of scar tissue (for damned sake, they made it grayish, what?!) And why are the zombies so easy to kill? The leading character kills most of them using a short knife (one of them has its skull pierced through with a single straight forward strike, so, unless the "zombifying" disease also turns bones into jelly, that couldn't be possible). That also raises a question, how could the zombies take over the world, being so easy to kill? Almost forgot, there is one jump scare in the film. The mutilated brother dreams of being "normal", then a "zombified" mother pops up and oh, scary... Only it was not. Good make-up (arguably the best in the whole film), but the scene was just annoying.
Finally, what annoyed me the most, the pretentious artistic value... So, there is this close up shot, at the very end of the film, of a wooden sigh on the road, painted with what looks like blood (or a crimson paint with a wet finishing, who knows what it was meant to be), saying "FARM", with an arrow pointing at the direction the survivors came from. It stays on screen much longer than it should, like screaming for attention, as if it had an immensely profound meaning... Yes, we got it, the farm is that way, so what? Was it supposed to mean the zombies started regaining their intelligence and were indicating to other zombies where to find a fresh meal? As pointless as the rest of the film.
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