What do you do when the zombie apocalypse
is over, two billion people are dead, and everyone goes back to their boring
lives? Round up what’s left of the zombies, stick them all on a North African
island, and open up a zombie-shooting resort of course!
And that is basically the premise of The
Rezort. Although it sounds a bit silly, it’s actually quite a serious film, and
works well. Think Jurassic Park meets The Walking Dead/Dawn of the Dead/*insert
zombie reference here*, as director Steve Barker mused with Alan Jones before
the film was shown at FrightFest.
In a post-apocalyptic Britain, couple
Melanie (De Gouw) and Lewis (McCann) decide to go on holiday to The Rezort in
order to help lay the past to rest. Lewis served in the army, whereas Melanie
has never quite been the same since watching her dad turn into one of the
undead. The Rezort, run by businesswoman Valerie (Claire Goose), is something
of an island paradise, turning a blind eye to the impoverished refugees who
also live there, being helped by charity Hope4U. Melanie and Lewis are joined
by a couple of video game competition winners (Jassa Ahluwalia, Lawrence Walker),
a mysterious woman with her own agenda (Elen Rhys) and rich trigger-happy
American and Asian businessmen around the resort.
As Richard Attenborough could’ve told them,
a grand park with dangerous creatures doesn’t always work out, but at least the
group has grizzled veteran Archer (Dougray Scott) with them, who just happens
to be an expert zombie-killer.
While not an instant classic in the already
saturated zombie market, Barker’s third entry does deserve its place, as it’s
an enjoyable film with a premise that you think would’ve been done years ago.
Every zombie movie adds its own unique twist or convention to the canon and
this is no exception, with one particular zombie’s behaviour to look out for.
A welcome addition for zombie lovers, who
won’t be disappointed.
THE REZORT / DIRECTOR: STEVE BARKER / SCREENPLAY: PAUL GERSTENBERGER / STARRING: DOUGRAY SCOTT, JESSICA DE GOUW, MARTIN MCCANN, CLAIRE GOOSE 
