Review by CJ

Director:
Steve Barker

Starring:
Jessica De Gouw, Dougray Scott, Martin McCann, Elen Rhys

Other notable appearances:
Claire Goose, Lawrence Walker, Jassa Ahluwalia, Kevin Shen

Running time:
93 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Jurassic Park with zombies, The Walking Dead, Land of the Dead

In the wake of a zombie apocalypse, a group of tourists head to an island where zombies are hunted for sport. The Rezort is the pinnacle of post-apocalyptic extravagance until a virus crashes the security protocols. Now the hunters become the hunted.

When I started watching The Rezort, I thought I was in for a helping of cheesy, b-grade zombie fun. Instead, I found a “serious” but enjoyable take on the zombie genre.

The plot is similar to Jurassic Park in a lot of ways, but The Rezort manages to throw in a couple of twists at the end that I didn’t quite see coming. At a little over an hour and a half, The Rezort manages to tell a good zombie yarn without overstaying its welcome.

The characters were mostly likeable so it was easy to be on their side. The acting wasn’t great, but it wasn’t Sharknado levels of (deliciously) bad.

I don’t know if having one smart(ish) zombie was an intentional homage to Land of the Dead but I enjoyed that aspect of The Rezort. While I understand it’s not in strict adherence to most zombie lore, it makes them a little bit more terrifying.

The zombies in The Rezort were well made up and, while I don’t like fast zombies as a general rule, I liked the explanation given that the fresh ones were faster than the older ones.

I would recommend The Rezort to horror fans who enjoy their villains undead and hungry for brains (human flesh). While it’s not going to go down in history as the best horror — or even zombie — film ever made, The Rezort brings a decent, albeit somewhat derivative, plot to the genre.

Rating:

“At the Rezort, we firmly believe that every apocalypse deserves an afterparty.”