16 Jul 2012

Isolated ★★☆☆☆



Review of 'Isolated' which can be found here on YouTube.

Length: 07:23
Written by Jack De La Mare and Andrew Gaudion. Directed by Jack De La Mare
Genre: Horror
Date: 2011
Rating: ★★☆☆

Logline: A young couple seek safety amid a zombie infestation.

So, what's the safest thing you can do in a zombie apocalypse? Leave the safety of your vehicle, wander around a forest in the pitch dark and enter a building with the door wide open of course. So many horror films are filled with such folly, that's why we watch them. Stupid people making stupid mistakes. This film at least attempts to adhere to that formula. It starts off with a good introduction but the great soundtrack makes a promise it can't keep. This was nearly a case of "it's so bad, it's good' but I then realised it was just plain terrible.

Starring "Please God, no!" Rosie Le Friec and "Just back away slowly" Elliot Crossan, both of which couldn't act their way out of a paper bag and therefore you won't really care if they get killed. The plot is fairly straight forward and thanks to audience expectations, there wasn't a need for a lengthy set up and introduction so the film does well on that front. Does the short format suit the zombie genre? That's a difficult question. This could have been a clip out of a larger movie but still works as a stand alone piece. Unfortunately, it's overflowing cheapness hampers any efforts to be taken remotely seriously.

Make-up effects are decent and the horror music continues to stand out throughout the naff zombie attack and laughable fleeing sequence. Bad lighting means it's hard to make out a lot of stuff and causes obvious reflections on various shiny surfaces. The camera work does an okay job as well as using genre techniques to help give a sense of tension and drama. Back to the drawing board boys.

Best Bit: The audio over the title sequence. And the De La Mare Productions logo thing.

Worst Bit: Bad acting.

Final thought: In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit...

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

1 comment:

  1. I pity the fool that don't lock his van lest it get stolen by an undead joyrider.

    ReplyDelete