Why So Blu?

Kill Zombie! (Blu-ray Review)

A Russian Space station crashes in Amsterdam, releasing a deadly virus that turns everyday citizens into flesh-craving psychopaths. Aziz (Yahya Gaier), his brother Mo (Ouled Radi) and several strangers emerge from jail, oblivious to the mayhem until they team up with a local police officer (Gigi Ravelli). After receiving a desperate call for help, this unlikely band of heroes sets out on an insane rescue mission – and it’s going to take a seriously crazy plan if they want to get out alive…

Film 

Just when you thought we running low on zombie themed flicks the Dutch have brought us one so that we don’t forget that the flesh eating phenomenon of the undead feasting on the living is limited to just the USA. It’s worldwide, baby! A Russian space station crash lands into Amsterdam releasing a virus that turns people into zombies Aziz and Mo are your typical loser archetypes who by the end of the film will have found redemption and such. A local female police officer (Gigi Ravelli) will go from being a “by the book” police officer into a super ass-kicking heroine. The main problem is that there’s a whole movie to get through before reaching journey’s end.

The cover art attracted me first; I’m not going to lie. A zombie hand with heavy metal devil horns punching its way through the ground makes for some pretty cool marketing materials. I watched the trailer and it look decent. When I popped in the Blu-ray it was not what was expected. Kill Zombie! was made on the really cheap and it shows at times. To clarify, I don’t have a problem with low budget zombie films, because they can be good at times. Kill Zombie! has an identity crisis. It goes for the mash-up of sorts and literally tries to be Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and it doesn’t work, because the filmmakers here are out of their element.

Certain parts of the film that deal with the comedy are very try-hard and that just slows everything down, because it’s so obvious that they’re really trying too hard to be funny and it’s not working. Some of the fight scenes reminded me of Shaun of the Dead in their awkward clumsiness but these were even more painful as the previous film was making a statement. The fights scenes here made it seem like I was watching them in slow motion. That was not a good thing. Those scenes just looked bad.

When the action finally picks up the slack it does shine a bit more. Zombies come out of the woodwork and the only survivors, who include the female cop named Kim, Aziz, and Mo, have to make it to the safe zone on the other side of the city. Yeah, it’s not going to be that easy obviously, because there’s a girl from Aziz’s work who is trapped up in the building and desperately needs to be saved by Aziz. That one is a big eyebrow raiser due to how obvious it is and it’s also a play on the typical damsel in distress in a zombie film scenario. It made me chuckle. In fact, many things in Kill Zombie! made me chuckle. The problem is that it’s just not a very good movie outside of the zombie action.

I appreciated the randomness of some of it including the ending, which set up a sequel in the most unlikely of ways dealing with the most unlikely of new characters. Some of the comedic elements fall flat and tend to be too exaggerated bordering on slapstick. I’m also aware that Kill Zombie! has cameos galore by some of the Netherlands most famous of actors, television personalities, and musicians. I’m not familiar with any of them, so take that, as you will. Zombie film fans will gravitate towards this release regardless and that’s fine. For the rest of us there is better zombie material out there.

Video 

Encoding: AVC MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Clarity/Detail: The film had its problems early on before clearing up. Contrast levels are moderately tweaked here and there but it’s due to stylistic choices. Sharpness levels are also balanced.

Depth: The video levels are inconsistent during the first 20-25 minutes or so as softness levels creep in and stay there for a bit. Fortunately, it clears up and a crisper image is retained for the rest of the running time.

Black Levels: Crush is not intrusive in what little nighttime scenes there are.

Color Reproduction: The color palette on this one is very bold. The zombies emit very colorful fluids, which means that you’re in for some very colorful fluid exchanges (vomits in mouth) that is not just limited to blood. Banding issues were very minor, as well.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are natural for the living and unnatural for the undead. I like hoe you can see people who were bitten show symptoms of their impending doom through the discoloration of their skin. The Blu-ray handled it well.

Noise/Artifacts: I did not pick up on noise or artifacts throughout the film. I’ll go out on a limb and say that Kill Zombie! was shot digitally.

 

 

Audio 

Audio Format(s): Dutch DTS-HD MA 5.1, Dutch Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English

Dynamics: Kill Zombie! has a very dynamic track that sputters in a couple of areas before clearing up. It’s no big deal on that front. Zombies, bullets, vehicles, explosions zigzag all over the place and the lossless soundtrack keeps it all in check.

Low Frequency Extension: Bass levels are handled relatively well during the scenes of mass carnage, explosions, and building crumbles. No complaints here.

Surround Sound Presentation: A very realistic rear-stage set up, where bullets whiz by, along with other nasty bits of danger.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels were robust. Even if you’re not a native Dutch speaker you will notice that lots of words and phrases sound exactly like they do in English. That, and some characters actually speak in English. The center channel work it all out.

 

Extras

I really need to start handing down goose eggs for releases that contain just one extra (trailer) like I would if a Blu-ray had zero extras. I’m being ultra generous here.

• Theatrical Trailer  (HD, 1:07) – Here is the theatrical trailer to Kill Zombie! presented in high definition.

 

Summary 

My expectations were tapered, so when the film finished on an unsatisfactory note, I was not severely disappointed. There’s plenty of promise in Kill Zombie! but it’s squandered early on and it does not recover all that much. A chuckle here, a repulsion there, and that’s pretty much it in terms of film quality. The Blu-ray has above average video and audio specifications but next to zero extras, which drag the overall score down even lower. I’d rent this…or not. The world will still be spinning when you get back.

 

Order Kill Zombie! on Blu-ray!