Herd

The problem with ' The Walking Dead'( certainly the earlier and better ) seasons was that it inspired so many other 'Zombie' films some better than others that by the time COVID came around it felt the genre has become tired and cliched. Herd feels so much like the W. D and several films that I was ticking boxes off in my head when the inevitable events happen. Herd also contains some really bad acting from practically everyone on screen (although Ellen Adair is good - though she does remind me of the physiotherapist Amy Eade, I used to work with, it's not Ms Adair's' fault!) everyone appears to be saying their lines to an embarrassing effect. It's strangely jarring. It also contains several really amateurish shoot out scenes that look cheap and televisual especially the scene where the character ' Sterling' breaks into the compound. Not helped that 'Sterling' is made into a cartoonish villain with funny closeups and silly over the top music. Plus I couldn't warm to the character of ' Alex' who deliberately put her and 'Jamie' in danger in the first place , by tipping over the canoe and breaking her leg. Her recovery at the end felt too contrived and neatly tied up.

I watched this after reading a write up on Rue Morgue and I must say I completely agree that this film is great. If you go in with the expectation of blood and gore and jump scares, you're setting yourself up for failure. That's not what this movie is - and to be mad that a movie wasn't what you thought it should be seems silly. If you let the film be what it actually is, you'll come out appreciating the layers, the character development, the social commentary, the acting, the story. I don't need to see guts and brains to consider it a good genre flick - I really appreciated that this film made me think and kept me invested.

The problem with ' The Walking Dead'( certainly the earlier and better ) seasons was that it inspired so many other 'Zombie' films some better than others that by the time COVID came around it felt the genre has become tired and cliched. Herd feels so much like the W. D and several films that I was ticking boxes off in my head when the inevitable events happen. Herd also contains some really bad acting from practically everyone on screen (although Ellen Adair is good - though she does remind me of the physiotherapist Amy Eade, I used to work with, it's not Ms Adair's' fault!) everyone appears to be saying their lines to an embarrassing effect. It's strangely jarring. It also contains several really amateurish shoot out scenes that look cheap and televisual especially the scene where the character ' Sterling' breaks into the compound. Not helped that 'Sterling' is made into a cartoonish villain with funny closeups and silly over the top music. Plus I couldn't warm to the character of ' Alex' who deliberately put her and 'Jamie' in danger in the first place , by tipping over the canoe and breaking her leg. Her recovery at the end felt too contrived and neatly tied up.

I watched this after reading a write up on Rue Morgue and I must say I completely agree that this film is great. If you go in with the expectation of blood and gore and jump scares, you're setting yourself up for failure. That's not what this movie is - and to be mad that a movie wasn't what you thought it should be seems silly. If you let the film be what it actually is, you'll come out appreciating the layers, the character development, the social commentary, the acting, the story. I don't need to see guts and brains to consider it a good genre flick - I really appreciated that this film made me think and kept me invested.