They Walk

Director - Charles House II
Starring - Chris Baker, Chris E. Chresmales (Swooped), and David Young (Abrupt Decision)
Release Date - 2010
Genre - Horror
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Several months back I was at my former muggle job discussing films that were shot inside this great state.  I mentioned the well known Porkchop series from my friends over at Razor Sharp, as well as, their other films Steve: Death Collector, Pig Girl, Zombie Babies, The Crawling Dead, and a few more.  I also mentioned the films of Brad Twigg.  Someone else mentioned that they knew someone that knew someone that was in a zombie film a few years back.  I was intrigued by this and did some digging where I came up empty handed.  I was a bit bummed by not finding the movie but another friend in the conversation was able to find the name of that film on wikipedia.  I learned that the name of that film was They Walk so I turned to Facebook.  I was unable to find a page for the film but I did find the director who was kind enough to send over a review copy.  Thanks Charles for allowing me the opportunity to check out your movie!

     The film begins with a couple about to get down and dirty in the cemetery when several meteors strike the Earth.  One hits the boy in the back killing him.  In a matter of moments he comes back to life and kills his woman.  Nearby, there is a party and they are unaware of the horrors that just befell two of their own.  The next day, the boy's roommate becomes worried about his friend not returning home the night before.  Now the party goers part ways.  A small group goes out looking for somewhere to crash and survive while others stay in the apartment waiting for their friends to return.  None know of what terror awaits them now that the dead walk the Earth.  

     The year 2010 was a big year for the zombie sub-genre.  The Walking Dead hit AMC and turned the shambling, brain eating hordes into a pop phenomenon.  Now zombies are everywhere.  You can see them on children's shows and book, comics, movies are released by the hundreds monthly, and you can even buy zombie dildos.  Don't believe me?  Just Google it.  Zombies are now trendy and filmmakers are chomping at the bit to cash in on the craze.  However, in early 2010, zombies were not a trend and the horror scene was rarely getting good zombie films.  They Walk is a low budget zombie film with a lot of heart and passion.  The acting in this one is not the best I have seen but far, and I mean far, from the worst.  The cast shows no experience but try their best to make their roles convincing.  More experience would have went a long way in regards to this cast but they did a great job considering.  The story for this one is one we have seen before with some minor changes.  Everyone is familiar with Night of the Living Dead and how a satellite returning to Earth brought about the return of the dead.  This film uses that same story but replaces it with meteors.  Nothing ground breaking there.  With that being said, the story mixes it up a bit and follows several people on their own adventures through the zombie apocalypse.  This stops the story from feeling stale of giving us something that we have seen time and time again.  Finally, the film does have a few on screen kills ranging from zombie's disemboweling to gun shots.  The kills are not that impressive and the practical effects are very basic resulting in several missed opportunities.  Horror fans love zombie films for their amazing kill scenes which we have Romero to thank for that and this is a bit of a disappointment in that regard.  Overall, They Walk is a great indie zombie flick that is better than 90 percent of this shit they try pass as horror now.  The cast has dedication and the story has a lot going on even though it is very linear.  Check it out just don't expect a gore soaked flick.