Zombie Army begins
with a classroom scene where a young scientist gives a lecture on the
psychology of a serial killer, showing an adeptness at his subject. In a nifty twist, at the conclusion of his
lecture, a gentleman in a white coat reveals that he is not the lecturer’s
colleague but his doctor; and this lecture has been a form of therapy for his
patient. The patient at the end of his
lecture becomes violent and refuses to leave and is forcibly removed to the
patients’ ward. At the ward, the young
scientist attempts to start a fire with one of his textbooks and audaciously
tries to fuck one of the female patients in his room. The orderlies escort both he and his consort
to seclusion. The instant the door
closes upon the patient couple, the director of the asylum informs his workers
that the government is shutting down the facility and moving the staff and patients
to a new one.
After the asylum is abandoned, soon after the United States
Army arrives to prepare to occupy the facility.
Soldiers are divided into pairs and ordered to reconnaissance the
facility. An inventive pair of soldiers,
with a fondness for bending the rules and smoking a little bit of weed, lumber
through the asylum, playing with the patients’ abandoned toys and opening the
seclusion room. The smell emitting from
the room is fetid, and the duo scatter while leaving the door ajar. The patients locked in seclusion are still alive
and are now free to roam to the facility with impunity. The two soldiers, undaunted in their task,
stop at the local tavern and pound a few beers.
They return to the facility to fuck around a bit more and are killed by
the newly-loose patients. The patient
with the aptitude towards science rigs a makeshift reanimating unit and creates
the first in an army of zombies.
Zombie Army is an
artifact of its cinematic era; has a distinct charm in its DIY enthusiasm; and
benefits from being truly focused and displaying its strengths well. One has to bear in mind, at the time of the
video release of Zombie Army, zombie
cinema was scarce (unlike today’s saturated horror market). Despite a huge desire from horror fans for
more zombie films, Hollywood and its elk was silent. Unsurprisingly, as the nineties progressed
comics like DeadWorld, novels like
Brian Keene’s The Rising (1999), and
the emergence of new zombie films, like the famous trio of Japanese films, Wild Zero, Junk, and Versus (the
former 1999, the latter two 2000) were heartily enjoyed by horror fans, opening
the current tidal wave in today’s horror market. Zombie
Army, like a lot of DIY,
shot-on-video films, was created by horror fans for horror fans. In fact, almost the entire ethos of the direct-to-video horror
genre was driven by horror fans who made films that they wanted to see. Zombie
Army does not shirk from the staples of the zombie genre: the practical makeup effects are quite
good. The zombies have a blue tint to
their faces, ala Tom Savini’s special effects work in Dawn of the Dead (1978).
However, one can see in Zombie
Army the prosthetic detail in and around the eyes, making the zombie army
look more like monsters. There is plenty
of intestinal chomping and exploding body parts, all of which look quite
professional. Once the army gets hip
that soldiers go missing every time a unit patrols the hospital, they emerge
with weapons and vehicles in tow, ready to do battle. There is a standout scene where the army mows
down a group of zombies in an underground tunnel with really excellent red
lighting. All of the weapons, vehicles,
and fatigues look genuine and totally add an authentic feel to the film. Zombie
Army even includes a quite a sexy seduction scene where a hitchhiking
soldier gets picked up by a sexy lady.
After becoming aroused, instead of fucking on a pile of trash, the two
decide upon a classier place, the abandoned asylum. The pair meet their end in the style
evocative of the ending of George Romero’s Night
of the Living Dead (1968).
Zombie Army is
recommended for fans of the original shot-on-video era of horror and old school
zombie flicks.
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