It feels like quite a while since I last reviewed an anthology film, and with Zombie Rage you have not only that, but one featuring the undead as well. It is immediately apparent the short films here were very low budget, one of the things I really adore about the zombie genre is that budget really doesn't matter. The more terrible the make-up, the less direction the actors playing the zombies appeared to have received, and the more wooden the acting is, usually results in something with the potential to be far more entertaining to watch.
Every anthology needs a good connecting thread, and I am perfectly fine with the undead being that connective tissue here. The general synopsis is that zombie apocalypse has broken out around the world. Over four short films (one split into two separate parts), and a wraparound story, we get to witness various people's battle for survival. 'CKX News' is the comedic wraparound story, with the anthology opening with a news reporter (Nelson Mayer) interviewing people about the downtown crime rate in a Canadian city. The joke being that the crime rate is so bad that even a zombie outbreak hasn't affected things much. This was written, directed, and produced by Johnny Lektrik and Mark Kiazyk and was a fun introduction for me. Often trying to avoid any type of spoilers I will skip over a film's synopsis, so it was a delight to discover the film I was watching was an anthology. I didn't find this too funny, but it had its moments. One complaint, which was a recurring one over a few of these short films was that a limited amount of undead led to the same zombies turning up again and again in various places, rather than a lot of unique ones. That, and the final kill in this wraparound segment was slightly ruined by the victim not really looking that damaged by the undead mob.
'Two Stoners & A Zombie' was the first short proper, with a title that sums up the majority of this one. Jerry (Keith Johnson) and his house mate, Tom (Tyler Ulrich) discover their town is becoming full of zombies. After letting a random guy into their apartment after discovering he has been injured,things soon escalate. Written and directed by Ken Brewer, this got better as it went along. I thought the location used in particular was cool, though its apparently strong defences made the later decision for the stoners to attempt to leave with their friends seem a little odd. This was rough around the edges, and personally I didn't really like the abrupt end to this.
Next up was 'Flesh Attack', the short that was split into two separate parts and was one of the stronger entries. Written, directed, and produced by John Ward, this follows a thief (Andriana Garbiso), who has broken into the home of a rich family to steal a large amount of money hidden there. This was the only short in which the zombie apocalypse appeared to already in the process of happening. The thief was aware of the undead, and so was in a much better position to battle them. The skeletal remains of the house owners looked laughably bad, but on the flip-side, some of the zombie make-up, and the zombies themselves looked amazing. They would not have looked out of place in a Romero film, with a dead eye look to the actors, and moving in a familiar way. Bizarrely though, the undead were a little too inconsistent, with two male zombies kind of wind-milling their arms, and also having a few awkward moments when they have gotten too close to the thief character before they should have, so appeared a little lost as to what they should do. With a great soundtrack, half-decent looking ghouls, and an interesting story, this left me wanting more. A good thing, as part two appeared later on in Zombie Rage.
On paper, 'Veronica's Bachelorette Party' sounded like a neat idea. Again directed by Brewer (and written by Meri Gyetvay, with both co-producing this), this had a stripper turning up at the titular Veronica's apartment (the woman played by Traci Burr) to put on a show for her and her friends. Unfortunately, a scratch he received from a messed up woman earlier in the day, soon begins to affect his performance. There was an extended sequence in the middle of this short in which the stripper dances and strips to his underwear. This scene went on far too long, even skipping through it, this seemed to go on forever and served no real purpose. The dialogue was awful, with Veronica and her friend's acting and dialogue feeling like something out of a porn movie, and not in a good way. This was another one that missed the landing, with a finish that again seemed quite abrupt. I believe this one featured the only nudity of the anthology, if that is your thing.
'Flesh Attack' returned for its second part, which was slightly more entertaining than the first. I liked the random cutaways to the thief character's mobile, with a rant from a unfriendly priest with some humorous reasons for why he thinks zombies have appeared. Kudos to this one for finally ending a film in a different way to the others.
The final film (aside from the wraparound), was 'A Walk in the Park' which was the worst film to be found here. Another one directed by Brewer, this fell down straight away by a lengthy (titular) walk from three female friends. The dialogue was inane and dull, but more distracting were the three friends who to all intents and purposes seemed to have no idea how to actually walk and talk. It led to this weird stop and start, with the actors putting their limbs in various strange and unnatural poses which really was something to see. Despite being the worst one, this was still entertaining to watch, featuring a large body count, and plenty of moments of the undead somehow managing to sneak up on a large group of survivors. This resembled live action roleplay more than an actual film, and the limited number of ghouls who kept repeatedly showing up again and again in different places, as well as terrible acting from the human survivors made this one entertaining but lacking.
I wouldn't say any of the short films included within Zombie Rage were particularly good but that isn't a bad thing. It did make for an entertaining anthology, and at least the shorts all felt consistent in their low quality. This may be literal brain dead entertainment, but sometimes that is all you really need to scratch that trashy zombie film itch.
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