With a blog titled 'The Rotting Zombie' it's no surprise that I'm always happy when a zombie film shuffles along for review. HERD is an action horror directed and co-written by Steven Pierce, and is a film that created a sour feeling due to the initially silly actions of the central protagonist, but whose actions eventually came to be validated in a way that not many zombie films try and do.
Jamie (Ellen Adair - Trick, Homeland TV series) and her girlfriend, Alex (Mitzi Akaha) have gone away to the country for a five day boating holiday as a last attempt to try and fix their failing relationship. During a heated argument, Alex falls overboard and ends up breaking her leg, so Jamie brings her to land and sets out to try and get help. It turns out the news reports about a statewide viral outbreak was true, for the couple soon find themselves caught up in an unfolding zombie apocalypse that started a week prior. Rescued by a group of redneck militia (but not before Alex is scratched by an infected person), the two find sanctuary at the militia's base of operations, but with the groups response to any sign of infection being terminally extreme, and with a rival militia seeking to take much needed supplies by force, Jamie soon realises she must try and get her and an Alex showing increasing signs of infection, away from both groups.
A zombie film with a difference, but that difference only makes itself apparent in the epilogue that serves as a kind of debrief to what has come before. With not many undead to be found here, it soon becomes clear that the title HERD refers more to the humans than the monsters. This is very much a case of the old adage of survivors being more deadly than the creatures. It is by unlucky coincidence that the militia base is at the former workshop of Jamie's estranged father, several swiftly edited flashbacks reveal how nasty this man was upon finding out his daughter was gay, with the growing anger and resentment towards this man given at least some bearing on the relationship trouble Jamie finds herself in. After an action heavy first act, the film moves to a more sedate pace, with most of the second act being set at the base, it is here people play music and eat, while the trigger happy men are in their element getting to play out their fantasies of ruling over the community (not in a sinister way it must be said, the group appear mostly very happy with their situation). Big John Gruber (Jeremy Holm - House of Cards TV show, The Ranger) is the leader of this group, and someone who struggles with his authority at times, which makes him make some unfortunate concessions. On the other side is Sterling (Timothy V. Murphy - Snowpiercer TV series, The Frankenstein Theory), a cold blooded man who leads a militia made up of masked men, both in their own ways are as bad as each other.
With Alex infected early on, I soon came to despair at Jamie's actions. Her hiding the fact her girlfriend was infected, her later actions that put a lot of people in danger, she became really irritating to me. It became farcical at times, especially when she is literally in-between the two warring factions, or surrounded by infected, yet still shouting for help for the increasingly sick Alex. Does HERD then also refer to the viewers of the movie themselves? Looking past the commentary on LGBT issues, and the suspicion of government, as a viewer of a zombie film you have certain expectations with the rules of everything. This film tries to knock you off balance somewhat with the slightly too neat deus ex machina ending that gives a new interpretation of all that has occured before, and I had to grudgingly admit that in this version of the world, characters who irritated may have had a point.
For much of the movie the infected take a backseat, they appear sparsely in the beginning, are absent throughout the middle act, only coming back towards the end of the final act. They look good, with effective makeup and prosthetics to give them the look of being covered in giant boils on their face and arms. They are different however in that it is established early on that they only attack if they feel threatened, even to the point where they recognise if a gun is being pointed at them or not. There was some inconsistencies with this, such as them at times being angrily startled by loud noises, and at other times literally only reacting if they feel under threat.
I expected a typical zombie film with HERD, and this seemed familiar enough until that late reveal. While interesting, it didn't help at endearing me to Jamie, as a protagonist she wasn't that likeable a person, and I did feel the way this all ended was a little too neat. It may be a little light on zombies, but with good practical effects, a fair bit of blood, and a decent enough story, this was still entertaining. HERD is due for release on 3rd July from High Fliers Films.
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