‘Our future is dead.’
Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption is a 2011 American science-fiction action-horror film about the battle between survivors in a post-apocalypse world.
Directed by Ryan Thompson (Zombie Apocalypse) from a screenplay co-written with Ryan Lieske, Matthew O’Day and John Tillotson.
The Phantasmal Pictures production stars Johnny Gel, Fred Williamson, Joseph Scott Anthony and Tommy Beardmore.
Plot:
At the end of civilization, zombies greatly outnumber humans and every day is a fight to see tomorrow. Just when he is about to give up that fight, rugged wanderer John Knox (Johnny Gel) ends up being saved by a ragtag group of survivors led by a man named Moses (Fred Williamson).
After initial suspicion, Knox proves his worth and slips into his new family in the wasteland, but one day a war party of maniacal raiders assaults the camp, killing or kidnapping everybody in sight. It’s up to Knox and the few who escaped the attack to gather what resources they can (including zombies) and launch an all-or-nothing attack on the raiders’ home fortress…
Reviews:
“For most of the script, the zombies are tangential to the action and only show up when convenient; but when they do show up, the filmmakers thankfully do not eschew flesh and gut-ripping prosthetics and entrails in favor of CGI (although bad CGI does rear its ugly head in a handful of explosions…)” DVD Beaver
“A lazy screenplay that’s too focused on paying homage to better films from the past, pretty bad acting, and poor special effects bring this sequel down. However, the homages are amusing, the visual presentation is better than expected, and the synth soundtrack is sort of cool. Still, this low budget zombie-action film is below average and not worth anyone’s time unless you really love zombies.” Full Moon Reviews
“It appears as though the screenwriter was somewhat lazy and focused a little too much on paying tribute/homage to films from the past which was a little amusing. The bad acting, weak special effects, terrible makeup job for the zombies which looks totally fake and many other factors did not help this film.” Hell Horror
While Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption suffices as passable grade-B entertainment, it still must be appreciated mainly on a “so bad it’s good” level, and if you can’t do that then this is definitely a movie you should avoid. But if lively little low-budget flicks are your thing, and you can appreciate the efforts of indy filmmakers doing what they can with extremely limited resources, you should have a pretty fun time with this.” HK and Cult Film News
“Bless them, Gel and the filmmakers do try, cramming in as much action as the limited budget can muster, ranging from one-on-one fistfights through to bikini-clad catfights and brawls with a zombie horde in a big field. Alas, it can pull none this off, being let down by bad CGI, amateurish direction and even worse acting.” Horror DNA
” …undead flesh-eaters take an unfortunate back seat to the raider storyline and could have easily been replaced with a band of wolves or some other herd-like menace. The plot is more akin to one of the myriad of cheeseball ‘80s The Road Warrior rip-offs pitting two warring factions against each other for control of the remaining limited resources of a dead or dying world.” TGM, Horror DNA
“Packing a fun cast that includes fun characters like, Alicia Clark as Sarah, Didrik Davis as Billy, and Johnny Gel as Knox. It also mixes in some cool vets like Fred Williamson […] it’s got too much CGI blood and gore. It also has a plot that at times makes the whole zombie issue, which is a big issue, take a backseat.” Horrorphilia
Choice dialogue:
Moses: “Is that a new fighting position.”
Knox: “Holy Jesus Christmas sh*t!”
Cast and characters:
Johnny Gel … John Knox
Fred Williamson … Moses
Joseph Scott Anthony … Robert
Tommy Beardmore … Lucas
Jerry Lynch … Rome
Alicia Clark … Sarah
Tokkyo Faison … Lawrence
Didrik Davis … Billy
Vong Lee … Hawkins
Angelique Sky … Cienfuegos
Richard Raphael … Devine
Dan Lang … Doc Potter
Jimmy Doom … The Hooded Man
Ghelan Ismail … Belfour/Zombie
Jerry Jankiewicz … Cox
Victor Karvelis … Calling
Jeremy Rush … Maddox
Angelina Nikollaj … Deanna
Gideon Hawke Raphael … Josh
Michael Empson … Mark
Charly Bivona … Lee
Li Xing … Shadow
Jeremy Haney … Haggar
Marvin Horner … Adore
Victoria Mullen … Cook
Jeremy Matson … Darren
Filming locations:
Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan
Barstow, California
Las Vegas, Nevada
Technical details:
93 minutes
Aspect ratio: 16:9 HD
