An infected towns person from State of Emergency
I grew up with Zombie films. Dawn, Day, Night, Shaun, etc etc. I loved them. But it seems like since Walking Dead dropped on AMC anyone and everyone is trying to do a Zombie flick. If you search NetFlix, Itunes, and especially Redbox, there is a ton of direct to DVD and VOD Zombie fare that is not worth a shit. It’s just that the Zombie genre is so fun and loved that everyone thinks they can produce a good Zombie flick. Which a truly good one is far and few between.
State of Emergency is no different. A chemical plant explodes and turns the people of the town into flesh eating um, well Zombie’s. The term Zombie is never actually referenced in the flick, like a lot of Zombie flicks out there the film makers leave the term out to try and be different, but they are in fact, Zombies. If something like this happened today, in real life, everyone would be using the term.
Written and Directed by Turner Clay and staring Jay Hayden, State of Emergency is not your typical Zombie flick, it’s way more boring. The Cinematography by Tony Oberstar is really the only redeeming quality here. The story is very slow and drawn out, this could actually have worked better as a short film because there is really no build up, or threat. There are like three Zombie attacks in the whole film, by single Zombies, and with two guns in the mix it’s not all that threatening or scary.
Two guns 3 zombies not to frightening
It was refreshing to see the Zombies with bright red eyes, instead of the milky white staple, but other than that the zombies didn’t seem that frightening or threatening. Characterization is, like always, thin and in a movie with four people held up in a warehouse with only three zombie attacks you’d think Clay could at least flesh out the characters, but refused.
I really wanted to like this film, I was rooting for a fresh spin on the Zombie genre, but walked away wishing I hadn’t even watched it. If you really like Zombie flicks or horror movies in general, State Of Emergency will surely disappoint.
-Chad Armstrong
Leglesscorpse Horror Reviews 