User Reviews

This movie aspires to be the Dutch answer to "Shaun of the Dead", but comes across more like 2019's "Shed of the Dead", although I do give it an extra rating point for the green blood. It must have been the case that The Netherlands wanted to get in on the zombie genre craze so gave it a shot here. You basically have scene after scene of gratuitous zombie smashing once the premise is established, that of a Russian space station crashing into an Amsterdam office high rise. Four principal characters are introduced from the outset, but as it turns out, only one makes it to the finale. That would be a guy named Aziz (Yahya Gaier), who loses brother Mo (Mimoun Ouled Radi) and a couple of acquaintances who come on the scene as adversaries, but find it wiser to team up in the face of a zombie apocalypse. Positioned more as a comedy rather than a horror flick, it sadly doesn't accomplish either objective, and the only redeeming feature for this thing is the casting of Dutch actress Gigi Ravelli in the role of a city policeman named Kim. Man, she's gorgeous. Take it on faith here folks, this does not make the zombie movie hall of fame. And as I think about it, you have a country called The Netherlands, which also goes by Holland, but who's language is Dutch. No wonder this is such a confusing mess.

The first 10 minutes of the film we get some character build-up, mostly for Aziz who just got fired. Then that darn Soviet space station crashes into the Camp and Bell building bringing with it a green slime zombie virus. Aziz teams up with a half dozen people to rescue a co-worker at ground zero, one who he is crushing on.

The film is more comedy than horror. It is a Dutch film with English subtitles. It has its funny moments and there are times when the humor wears off on some overdone scenes. The film is low budget and like an Asylum film, there are cars going down the highway in the background when there shouldn't be .

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

With my friend being a big fan of the TV series The Walking Dead and the film Shaun of the Dead, I decided after buying Apollo 18 (2011-also reviewed) that I would get a zombie Comedy which we could watch as part of a Horror double bill on her birthday. Checking old issues of Empire magazine, I found a review by Kim Newman praising a Dutch Horror Comedy flick, that led to me killing zombies.

View on the film:

Crashing the cause of the outbreak into a building with rubbery CGI, directors Martijn Smits & Erwin van den Eshof work with cinematographer Joost van Herwijnen in making the zombies unleash splatter gags with an animated atmosphere rising from green gunge and dollops of red being splatted across the screen, as one of the zombies joins in with the humans, in taking down his fellow zombies.

Along with the gory delights, the directors spread stylish button mashing on-screen graphics onto the zombie take-downs, with close-ups on the mixed CGI and practical effects, green-spewing zombies landing with a thump, to each brutal slow-motion finisher move.

Ending up in jail after getting sacked and waking up the next day to find a zombie apocalypse taking place, the screenplay by Tijs van Marle follows easy-going, hapless Aziz chew through the zombies as he meets various amusing fellow misfits who come up with hilariously over the top violent methods to take down the zombie horde, as Aziz searches for his dream girl, whilst being kept busy killing a zombie.

Story: We follow two brothers, two gangster friends, a beautiful female police officer and a shady business man as they try to escape Amsterdam after a zombie outbreak. We see how one wants to save a love interest from a seemingly impossible situation, while greed takes over others. We see how the group puts together of mostly idiots have to try and find weapons to survive and achieve their goals by escaping the danger. Simply put this is a crazy film, it makes fun of nearly every zombie film stereotype and is filled with plenty of over the top zombie kills. What makes these kills memorable is that they seem to come from the most random objects including bowling balls, tennis ball gun and giant mallet with many more. This is hugely enjoyable if not barmy storyline that you will remember and continue laughing after it has finished. (7/10)

Actor Review

Yahya Gaier: Aziz stuck in a dead end job before getting fired, he gets a call from the girl of his dreams and wants to save her during the zombie outbreak. Good performance playing the unlikely hero in the zombie outbreak. (7/10)

Mimoun Ouled Radi: Mo loud mouth party animal who always comes up with half-baked ideas to get rich quick, leaving his brother Aziz to clean up the mess. Good performance as the loud annoying character who tries to talk his way out of everything. (7/10)

Gigi Ravelli: Kim police officer who tries to lead the four bumbling fools across Amsterdam to the safe zone. She is all action and won't leave anyone behind. Good performance from Gigi, adding some much needed beauty to the film. (7/10)

Sergio Hasselbaink: Jeffrey the first of the two gangsters, this one likes to us big weapons to try and stop the zombies but he finds out his tennis ball shooter isn't the best choice. Good performance who gets a lot of the laughs. (7/10)

Uriah Arnhem: Nolan the big fella gangster who gets his hand stuck in a bowling ball which turns into a solid weapon for him. Good performance and easily the funniest character in the film. (7/10)

Director Review: Martijn Smits, Erwin van den Eshof – Good direction to create a funny horror comedy that you actually want to see who makes it too. (7/10)

Comedy: Very funny throughout with the characters and zombie kills. (8/10) Horror: It fills all the zombie horror boxes without being too much. (7/10) Settings: Amsterdam makes a great setting for the film as it works out to be original. (9/10) Special Effects: Great effects used to create the zombie kills and attacks. (10/10) Suggestion: If you are a zombie film fan this is one you should be watching it will tick all the boxes for a horror comedy. (Zombie Fans Watch)

Best Part: Super general appearance. Worst Part: The lead characters have been used before. Funniest Scene: The two super fighters turn up. Kill Of The Film: Rapper Believability: No (0/10) Chances of Tears: No (0/10) Chances of Sequel: Left open to one Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: No Budget: 500,000 Euros Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Overall: Enjoyable Horror Comedy

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