THE REZORT (2016)

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Steve Barker
Cast: Dougray Scott, Jessica De Gouw, Martin McCann, Jassa Ahluwalia, Elen Rhys, Claire Goose
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: M18 (Violence and Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 30 June 2016

Synopsis: Following a near apocalyptic zombie outbreak, humans now have the upper hand and life has returned to relative normality with only an occasional reminder or mention of recent horrific events. Most people wouldn’t even blink at seeing a zombie now. They know how to handle them. It’s no big deal because humans fought and won the battle and are in control again. The latest craze in this post zombie-outbreak world is the Zombie Safari: it is the newest and coolest thing in adventure holidays - a chance to go out and shoot the undead in the wild. The ultimate test in action and adventure, the ultimate blood sport and, to many, the ultimate in therapeutic revenge. But unbeknownst to most that go on Zafari, the park is a highly controlled and monitored environment; a maze of concealed security cameras, restraints and barriers. The eyes and ears of trained security personnel are on the guests - and the zombies 24/7, always ensuring a safe shooting distance between the living and the undead. Nothing is left to chance. Nothing is unplanned. So far…

Movie Review:

If you haven’t had enough of a zombie fix after AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Fear The Walking Dead’, then you may want to consider satiating your appetite with ‘The Rezort’s’ dish of reheated leftovers. Oh yes, the idea of a post-apocalyptic safari where the humans who survive go and hunt the undead for sport may seem novel, but if you recall how a certain movie named ‘Jurassic Park’ did pretty much the same with dinosaurs, you won’t find this ‘rezort’ (or ‘resort’ with a ‘z’, get it?) quite so ingenious. And sure enough, beyond its somewhat inspired riff of a concept, there is little that distinguishes it from a B-grade survival thriller made and shot on the cheap.

Among its list of thinly developed – and therefore largely forgettable characters – is Melanie (Jessica De Gouw of ‘Arrow’ fame), who books a visit to the island paradise with her boyfriend Lewis (Martin McCann) in the hope of overcoming her PTSD from losing her family to the plague. Melanie is as much as we know about any of the zombie fodder here, which includes the roguish Archer (Dougray Scott), a self-righteous zombie activist Sadie (Elen Rhys) and a pair of teenage gamers (Jassa Ahluwalia and Jamie Ward) with the hots for Sadie. It is also Sadie who inadvertently triggers a shutdown of the park’s security systems when attempting to steal some data from the mainframe, freeing the once-shackled and caged zombies and turning the adventure into a real hunt.

To add urgency to the proceedings, the emergency has led to the initiation of the Brimstone Protocol, which will leave the entire island decimated within hours. It therefore becomes a race against time for our motley crew of survivors to get off the island before it is blown into smithereens. Within that timeframe are a couple of decently thrilling setpieces that ‘Outpost’ director Steve Barker crafts to satisfy his audience for zombie mayhem and gore, such as one in and around an abandoned two-storey building below a cellular tower where the group find themselves outnumbered by separate hordes of swift-moving zombies – and yes, if you’re wondering, the zombies here are more akin to that from ‘World War Z’ than ‘The Walking Dead’ in terms of movement and speed.

Because Barker and his writer Paul Gerstenberger never quite bother to invest their audience in their characters, there is little that we actually care about their predicament, or for that matter, when any one meets a sudden and untimely death. That is certainly not lost on Barker, who opts to keep the action moving at a fast and sometimes frenetic clip once the zombies are unleashed at the half-hour mark. And on that account, the movie largely accomplishes its unassuming ambition – purely as a thrill ride premised on the survival of a few against masses of flesh-eaters, it has enough close shaves and jump scares to keep you on edge. Yet, like we said earlier, that alone hardly makes it anything more than a well-made B-action thriller.

As much as it tries to re-assert its relevance of being something more at the end by drawing reference to the current refugee crisis across Europe, ‘The Rezort’ ultimately is no more than an adrenaline shot with competent action and some vicarious sweet kills. No matter that it had aspirations of casting the undead as half-dead worthy of better respect than just sport, this by-the-numbers zombie flick is content to appeal to genre fans as no more than filler in between the next ‘Walking Dead’ episode. If you’re that much of a junkie, then go ahead and check in; otherwise, you’re better off with the Robert Kirkman series.  

Movie Rating:

(A three-star by-the-numbers 'ReZort' that offers enough thrills for hardcore genre fans but little else more)

Review by Gabriel Chong