hiking horror | Bryan's Magic Lantern Filmhouse

a cerebral human drama … unlike any other zombie flick you’ve ever seen

Stranded in the Australian Outback after a zombie apocalypse, Andy (Martin Freeman) tries to navigate the dangerous terrain to safeguard the life of his baby daughter. But he must battle not only zombies and other desperate humans who will do whatever it takes to survive, but also the enemies within which threaten to derail his bid to save his daughter’s life.

Cargo is a refreshing take on the zombie apocalypse delivered coolly by debutantes writer-director Yolanda Ramke and co-director and producer Ben Howling based on their own 2013 seven minute short film of the same name.

I don’t even want to call it a zombie film. Why? Because that will turn off the prospective audience for what is a cerebral human drama. It really is different to any zombie flick.

The beautiful but stark Australian landscape, believable performances from Martin Freeman and his on-screen wife Kay, Susie Porter, as well as Andy’s guide through the wilderness Thoomi, Simone Landers in her debut role, and the realistic-feeling portrayal of an aboriginal culture, make this film unlike any other zombie flick you’ve seen.

Ramke and Howling deserve extra credit for never going in for cheap scares or thrills, resisting the urge to Wolf Creek it up, and having the confidence to tell their epic story in their own way and at their own pace. It even made for a fresh change to see a return to the shambling, disco-ordinated zombies of yore rather than the Usain Bolts we’ve come used to after 28 Days Later.

A gem that’s well worth it’s 88% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. An artistic (but not artsy or pretentious), visually compelling, refreshing take on the zombie genre.

4/5

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Pointless, hangover fodder

Five friends decide to celebrate a stag do in an alternative style: with a manly cross-country hike in the deepest darkest woods. Uh-oh. They inevitably end up getting stalked by a lone marksman who terrorises them.

The whole point of Prey is to see how pressure exposes unseen cracks in the fellowship causing our team to battle against each other and themselves as their friendship threatens to self-destruct. Can they keep it together, will they destroy themselves? Sadly. this descent doesn’t work at all, as it was impossible to understand why these friends were friends to begin with; they hated each other from the get-go. So it’s all rather undramatic and boring.

As for the marksman, the film’s pathetic attempts to explain their actions makes no real sense whatsoever. Indeed, there’s no real motivation for anyone’s actions, including the decision to go on a hike instead of a booze-up. It wants to be a German Ritual (2017), but it’s really not.

Pointless, hangover fodder.

2/5

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Bryan's Magic Lantern Filmhouse

Mostly pithy film/series reviews of Netflix and Amazon Prime

Tag Archives: hiking horror

Film Review “Prey” (2021) #NetflixReview #PreyMovie