Infected

aka The Dead Inside

Director - Andrew Gilbert (Estate)

Starring - Luke Hobson (Wayland's Song), Nicky Paul Barton, and Roger Fowler 

Release Date - 2013

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Get out before they get in" and "Diagnosis: Extinction"

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Fucking zombie movies.  It seems like every day I get an email, Facebook message, or a tweet sent to me about a new zombie film that is about to be released, or is in pre or post-production.  The world just can not get enough of zombies.  Hell, that is how I was before this sudden boom in the undead.  I loved a great deal of zombie flicks that was released before 2010 when The Walking Dead catapulted them into pop culture.  Now, I sit here reviewing a film that gives more of the same story we have seen countless times before since 2010.  A few weeks ago I received a press release for the upcoming zombie flick titled Infected that was released in 2013 in the U.K. under the name The Dead Inside.  The film received a name change here in the U.S. which now adds confusion to horror fans.  Some of you may remember the 2012 indie zombie film titled Infected starring Michael Madsen and William Forsythe.  2013 also saw another horror flick titled Infected hit store shelves dealing with a zombie plague in L.A.  I still have a soft spot for the undead so I reached out to them for a review copy and they were kind enough to send one my way.  Thanks guys!

     The film follows a group of guys who head out for a weekend of partying but things turn bleak.  While they are at a pub a group of people that are sick start attacking the patrons and eating their flesh.  The remaining members of their group run to a nearby apartment before they decide to hit up the local school for shelter.  Once they arrive they learn that the school has been turned into a shelter by the military but the military unit stationed there suffered heavy casualties.  Inside the school they immediately start clearing out the undead and discover a few faculty members still alive inside.  They clear out all the undead and try to make a sanctuary out of the school and it does work well for a small period of time before the undead find their way back inside the compound forcing them to flee in different directions.
     Zombie films are now reaching the same level of hate among the horror fans as the vampire flicks tht caught shit when Twilight was first released in theaters.  Fans that hate on them often catch hell because others believe that they hate them because they are popular now sometimes calling them horror hipsters.  However, that is far from the truth.  These people don't hate all the zombie films coming out but they do hate the ones that lack originality and substance.  Hell, I'm the same way.  Infected looked promising but ended up being just another zombie apocalypse clone with little to nothing to offer the viewer other than 2 hours of wasted time.  The acting in this one is indie gold.  The cast show a lot of heart and promise but most lacked the on screen experience needed to make their characters believable.  This showed in several scenes when the characters were sporadic and all over the place making it difficult to follow.  The story for this one is one we have seen so many times before.  A group of rag tag survivors trying to battle the undead and themselves.  This is is the basis for almost every zombie film on the shelves at Wal-Mart and we have The Walking Dead to thank for that.  Finally, the film is full of zombie carnage but it is nothing we have seen before.  The film is full, and I mean full, of zombie bites and the like but they are nothing entertaining nor memorable.  The practical effects are great and some of the zombies look just as good, however, the art behind the kills go unnoticed because the viewer didn't make it that far into the film.  The kills are extremely bloody and just enough practical effects is applied to the gag to make it work flawlessly.  Also, the film has several zombies that looks great while others just look so poorly done.  Overall, Infected is another generic zombie film with nothing new or memorable for the viewer.  I can not recommend this one at all!