Zombie apocalypse has arrived in the United States and the dwindling remnants of the US Army are doing their best to stem the flow of the infected. General Vasquez (Robert LaSardo - Death Count, The Human Centipede III ) has ordered a group of soldiers to defend a remote, yet essential bridge, until reinforcements can arrive. The group, which comes to be led by Sgt. Hernandez (Kate Watson - Killer Advice), soon discovers the undead aren't all they have to worry about, as there is a nearby camp of angry civilian survivors, as well as some type of deadly animal that keeps picking off the soldiers.
As much as this film tries to make out the importance of the main storyline it just never came across as something that felt realistic. Time and time again it is stated how important the defence of the bridge is, purportedly as it is the only way across a roaring river, but then whenever the bridge is shown, it really doesn't look like it is as essential as we are led to believe. It is quite a small bridge in the middle of absolute nowhere, and aside from one scene that does show a raging river below it, it appears to be in actuality over a small crevice that at best has a trickling stream passing through it. Due to being an indie film, it all takes place out in the wilderness, much of the action occurs at the bridge, but there are some scenes set at the civilian campsite, and some scenes set in woodland. Sooner or later undead attacks occur in all these places. The remote location didn't make for a story that felt that captivating, something that became an issue with all the talk of high stakes, something that didn't translate visually to what was happening.
The zombies are a mixed bunch (in the best way), some are wearing contact lenses, some have makeup on their faces, some have prosthetics, some move around with their arms in front of them, others run around snarling. In zombie films however quantity is always better than quality and so I loved the eclectic styles of the undead. Typically they show up and get blasted, CG gunfire and CG blood spurts for the main part, but there are also practical effects on occasion. This is quite a gory film, and I actually lost count of the amount of times characters got dragged to the floor and had their intestines pulled out! The protagonists are constantly seeing their numbers dwindle so there wasn't much opportunity to really have them develop as people but were some notable ones. You have Sharrock (Rich R. Rendon - Attack of the Unknown) who is the token scumbag joker of the group, Sanders (King Jeff - Attack of the Unknown) as the voice of reason, a green rookie that everyone refers to as 'the kid' among others. On the civilian side the acting became occasionally wooden, though were at least a couple of interesting characters to be found there.
This indie zombie film may struggle to make its stakes seem high, but it does have plenty of human vs zombie action, and even some unique zombie types to make for more involved scenes. One scene even features zombie children, something that typically seems to be avoided for the most part in these types of horrors, so that was fun to see. Not a horror that was designed to be adored by all, but it was enjoyable and achieved exactly what it set out to do. I find it comforting that films of this type are still being made today, I will always have time for them. Bridge of the Doomed releases November 4th from Gravitas Ventures.
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