World War Z (2013).

The first thing I want to say about World War Z is that I have never read the book. This is a review of the movie, and I will not be comparing it to it's literary partner. Secondly, blood and gore does not make a zombie film. Does anyone remember Wes Craven's The Serpent and the Rainbow? That was a bloodless film, and managed to still be scary without resorting to showing gallons of the red stuff. Thirdly, I admit I was incredibly skeptical about seeing this, and enjoying it seemed to be the last thing I would do. So you can understand just how surprised I was when the movie was over, and I found myself singing it's praises.

While horror fans everywhere are discounting World War Z's credibility as a horror film, I would like to stand up and say just how good it is. While the ending felt tacked on, and didn't really fit with the rest of the movies atmosphere, it was a disturbing look at what happens when society falls to the outbreak of a virus. It came across like a bloodless 28 Days Later, only with a better more involving story and much more emotion. Within minutes of being introduced to the main characters, the movie kicks into high gear and plunges the audience in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and I found it breathtaking and scary.

While the majority of zombie movies are claustrophobic, World War Z sticks to wide open spaces, showing groups of the infected swarming any area they can get to. The CGI is rather sparse, and only the scenes featured in the trailers are obvious, if there was any more CGI used, it was seamless and unnoticeable. It is only Brad Pitts character that is given a large amount of screen time, although we see the bond between him and his family is strong with a little character development at the start, and this helps the viewer to invest in his mission and the safety of himself and his family.

Everyone else in the film, the viewer knows, isn't safe, and I feel it was knowing this that helped keep the tension high. This is one of the movies strongest selling points. World War Z really doesn't need gore, as it relies on that ancient horror tradition of creating an uncomfortable amount of tension that puts the viewer on edge, and it really does do that in pretty much every scene. The violence still packs a punch, and it doesn't need to show you exploding heads to get it's point across.

As mentioned before, the ending fell rather flat, and I felt it was tacked on, but I hear there is a darker ending, so I am hoping that they will include this on the DVD/Blu-Ray of World War Z. The ending certainly didn't match the pessimistic feel of the rest of the movie, and did leave me feeling a little underwhelmed, but it is a small niggle in the grand scheme of things, when everything that went before was so breathtaking.

The film shocked and surprised me at every minute. If you go in expecting a zombie film complete with blood and guts, of course you are going to be disappointed. Don't let the naysayers put you off, because World War Z is a damn good film. Go check it out!!!

Darkest regards......Dani.