Since George Romero convinced a bunch of friends and random people to eat raw meat on camera back in the 1960s, the zombie genre has proven un-killable. The mostly shambling dead have featured in countless movies and video games. The genre reached mainstream critical mass a few years ago. But since ‘The Walking Dead’ started its run, the living dead have receded to their usual niche of b-movie madness that goes straight to video. However, based on the number of zombie movies released every year, the genre is nowhere near resting in peace.
Fans of the zombie genre need look no further than the horror genre offerings on Netflix to find all manner of flesh-eating fun.
Zombeavers
I ask you to believe in the power of Zombeavers. The premise is typical horror fare with a ridiculous twist. A group of teenagers goes into the woods for some fun when they’re attacked by undead beavers and more. If you enjoy b-movie horror and things like Tucker and Dale or Lake Placid, then Zombeavers is must-watch. As ridiculous as it is, the humor, tone, and scares are all well-balanced by director Jordan Rubin. There’s also a handful of fun surprises along the way that goes well beyond just beavers.
Zoombies
The animals at a zoo are infected with a zombie virus and wackiness ensues. Everything Zombeavers does right Zoombies does the same old way. Zombeavers has fun with its premise, has characters that are worth a little investment, and some clever scares.Zoombies offers nothing new other than the concept itself and makes the mistake of taking itself too seriously.
JeruZalem
There are three gates on Earth that lead to hell. One is in the ocean. One is in the desert. And one is in … Jerusalem! Dun-Dun-Dun! We learn that in the first minutes of JeruZalem, a zombie movie directed by the Israeli “Paz Brothers.” which sometimes feels more like a tourist promotion video or a fantasy film where Google Glass never runs out of battery and shoots flawless digital video. JeruZalem is a first-person horror movie much like Hardcore Henry with demonic, winged zombies and just about every zombie trope imaginable.
The Lazarus Effect
An outstanding cast that includes Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover and Evan Peters feature in a film with a decent premise that is a mostly entertaining sci-fi/horror flick. A team of scientists can bring back the dead. But when their research is bought out by Big Pharma, a tragedy leads one of the scientists to use what he’s learned to get everything he’s lost back. Great intentions at making a more psychological zombie flick fall flat like the dead after a headshot.
Burying the Ex
Joe Dante, the director behind such great flicks like Gremlins and one of my favorites ever Explorers, drives this cinema train right into a thick wall of mediocrity. I’m not one to give much credit to Rotten Tomatoes scores, but at 28% that’s just about right. Burying the Ex stars the late Anton Yelchin along with Ashley Greene and Alexandra Daddario. The film has moments of funny, but they are few and far between. The whole thing reminds me of a late 80s horror-comedy called My Boyfriend’s Back.
Navy SEALs: The Battle For New Orleans
Also known as Navy SEALs vs. Zombies, this one here features, you guessed it, Navy SEALs taking on undead hordes to save New Orleans. The trailer for this movie is a high-octane ride that is more than enough. The movie itself is by-the-books zombie action with a little more firepower added in and a few actors that’ll make you say “Hey, it’s that guy from … oh, what was it?!”
All movies are currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Special thanks to Eddie Beis (Twitter: @Beis003) for the artwork in the main image above.
