ZONE OF THE DEAD

Pancevo, Serbia. A tank containing a mysterious military toxin is accidentally perforated, causing the release of a gas that has the effect of revitalizing dead human cells. The dead of the city rise and begin to hunt the living. Meanwhile, Interpol agent Mina Millius must escort a dangerous criminal to Belgrade, accompanied by expert agents Reyes and Dragan, but to reach their destination they must pass through Panecevo, encountering the epidemic of returnees that afflicts the city. It's fine that Serbia doesn't have an absolutely cinematic horror past to draw from and thus every direction is a starting point and it's fine also the amused desire to fish freely from the cult horror cinema of the relatively recent past, but it has to be said that products like "Zone of the Dead" leave a bit perplexed for that trail of unnecessary operation they leave behind. We are not in the presence of a bad film, "Zone of the Dead" —also known as "Apocalypse of the Dead"— is a quite entertaining operetta and discreetly made, despite the relative poverty of the budget that is visible in every shot. Yet, the film by the duo Milan Konjevic and Milan Todorovic does not convince because it is extremely old in ideas, things that were regularly produced in the 1980s and here presented as novelty. We are in the presence of a work that, on the one hand, wants to quote the films of the living dead that made the genre great, starting with "Zombi" and "The Return of the Living Dead", but also "District 13", which is not a zombie film but is abundantly paid homage; on the other hand, it goes beyond mere quotation and builds its entire structure on situations copied and pasted from the prototypes. "Zone of the Dead" is a conceptually old film, sprung directly from the 1980s (and this time it is not a compliment), thought and made as an imitation work today decidedly out of time. The sensation of oldness is probably intentional, in view of the fact, among other things, that the same epidemic that strikes the country clearly echoes the Chernobyl disaster that in 1986 extended over Eastern Europe, but intentionality is not sufficient motivation to make digestible a mess that has already been seen in every frame. The military-owned gas from which the contagion starts is clearly taken from the trioxine of "The Return of the Living Dead", the galeotto who turns into a hero and helps fight the siege is Napoleon Wilson of "District 13 — The Brigades of Death", there is even Ken Foree who shoots at the zombies saying "die zombie bastard" and when a shopping mall is proposed as a refuge he strongly discourages it... I don't know if I explain myself. There is even a somewhat gratuitous quote to Hitchcock and "The Birds", just to throw everything in. The characters that populate Konjevic and Todorovic's film take a bit from the classic improvised heroes and a bit from the action people who usually fill video game films of recent years, with known faces like the already mentioned Ken Foree and the beautiful Kristina Klebe ("Halloween — The Beginning"). Then there are those more "original" characters who, in the end, turn out to be the worst, like the religious rambo armed to the teeth who makes a massacre of the living dead and whose participation in the film appears rather obscure so disconnected from the main plot. The film turns out to be quite entertaining and its frantic pace makes it a sure entertainment product, aided, among other things, by discreet special effects and quite convincing zombie makeup. Splatter within the norm for a zombie movie that respects itself, with some disembowelments and blood feasts as tradition. If you are really eager to see yet another film of the living dead that quotes the old Romero trilogy and stages the contagion with little imagination, go ahead, "Zone of the Dead" is what you are looking for, the "first Serbian zombie film" beats well-trodden paths. If you are looking for something different from the usual, it is better to look elsewhere, "Zombie Honeymoon", "Fido" and "Survival of the Dead" are definitely fresher meat.