From Parts Unknown

Director - Daniel Armstrong (MurderDrome)
Starring - Elke Berry (Offspring), Mick Preston (City Homicide), and Jenna Dwyer (Snake Eyes)
Release Date - 2015
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Fight like a girl, it's the end of the world"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Not long ago I reviewed the horror short Turn Heel.  This bloody little short focused on a wrestling obsessed fan who goes on a bloody rampage in the woods.  It was fun and got me thinking about how many horror fans are also fans of wrestling.  Personally, I stopped watching wrestling just before my teenage years but many among the horror community are still avid fans.  One would think that there would be more wrestling oriented horror flicks considering how many are fans.  Not long ago I was sent the Australian horror flick From Parts Unknown which was originally titled Fight Like A Girl.  The film was centered around wrestling and looked interesting.  The film was sent to me from Alternative Cinema who I want to thank for sending it my way. 

     The film follows a young girl with a day job and boyfriend but has a passion for wrestling.  She has been secretly training and competing in the local federation.  When her boyfriend finds out he leaves her but a co-worker moves in and supports her in her physical hobby.  The company she works for has been running secret experiments resulting in a green goo that turns those infected into flesh hungry zombies.  She's fired and turns to the square circle for solace when the green goo accidentally is released turning all her co-workers into brain dead zombies.  Now she must team up with her new flame and some old wrestling friends to stop the undead from taking over her town.

     From Parts Unknown came from the same mind behind MurderDrome which was one indie horror flick that I really enjoyed.  It was fun, bloody, and over the top.  These kind of films are my favorite.  It shows so much creativity even though they are on a budget.  I knew From Parts Unknown would be a fun film but I knew it would be no where near as fun as MurderDrome.  The acting in this one is just as fun as the film.  We get a very strong female lead that is very beautiful and very powerful.  She was perfectly cast and really brings her character to life.  Her role is very demanding and she delivers.  The remainder of the cast is just as good.  We get some serious characters that are bad ass, some that quote the Evil Dead trilogy before kicking ass, and some really fun and quirky characters.  This was a great mix that kept the film grounded while adding a little humor.  The story for this one is fun.  It uses wrestling as a great platform to bring in the undead and really separates itself from the current Walking Dead clones.  Unlike most of the other wrestling horror films, it actually keeps with the wrestling theme which was pretty cool.  The story may not be that original but the addition of wrestling definitely makes it unique.  With all of that being said, there was several scenes that just felt out of place that left me wondering if I had missed something.  After rewinding and checking them out again I realized they just did not fit in.  Tighter editing was needed.  Finally, the film has several on screen kills that were nowhere near as entertaining as MurderDrome.  The kills were bloody and brutal but they are not that original nor as fun.  Overall, From Parts Unknown is one of the better indie zombie films to come out of the zombie boom.  It has a great story and an amazing cast.  Fans of the zombie sub-genre will not want to pass on this one.