I spent the formative years of my teenagehood falling in love with AMC’s The Walking Dead. I jumped on the bandwagon a bit late, having to catch up on the first two seasons on Netflix. Suffice to say, zombies and Norman Reedus have a special place in my heart. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw World Ends at Camp Z, directed by Ding Wang, was my film to review this week.

A Canadian campsite has just been sold to a wealthy investor and co-owner Clay as well as lifelong worker Julian are less than ecstatic. The investor’s assistant/girlfriend comes to check out the place and she seems nice enough, until the investor himself and his annoying ass rich friends descend on the campsite to wreak havoc. Right when it seems the campsite is doomed to its new owner, shit hits the fan. Zombie-style.

A few performances stood out to me during the film’s runtime. Osawa Muskwa as Clay, Anne-Carolyne Binette as Vanessa, and James Chapman as Nate. Muskwa has this kind of energy on-screen that immediately demands the viewer’s attention and holds it hostage until Clay has left the scene. Whenever Muskwa was on screen, I’d forget he’s an actor in a zombie film and get sucked into his dialogue, especially when Clay retells a personal experience he believes involved an evil creature of Algonquin folklore. An insightful parallel is drawn from this story to the zombie narrative, something I haven’t seen done yet. 

Anne-Carolyn Binette and James Chapman shine brightest in the third act when shit has officially hit the fan. Their panic-stricken performances stood out from the rest and did an excellent job communicating to the audience that this entire group is sincerely f*cked. Binette’s Vanessa lets loose a rage the audience hadn’t been privy to yet while Nate absolutely loses his goddamn mind in the best way possible, reminding me of Bill Paxton’s character in Aliens (1986) screaming, “Game over, man! Game over!” 

A couple small roles were scene-stealers for me: Duojie Suonan as the store clerk (and one of the producers) and Picardy Jean-Pierre as the obligatory soldier who informs the protagonists that Shit Has Hit the Fan. Suonan oozes charm in his small scene and Jean-Pierre radiates this gravitas that clashes with the rest of the characters in such an excellent fashion – serving as a turning point in the narrative in both plot and tone. It’s difficult to make a small role so noteworthy, so a special big kudos to those two actors. 

The set location is absolutely gorgeous and adds a level of authenticity to World Ends at Camp Z right from the get-go. There’s this absolutely, mind-bogglingly beautiful shot at the very beginning of the sun rising above the clouds, painting the sky a golden yellow, that made me audibly gasp. Cinematographer René Arseneau clearly outdid himself. My only complaint is there were maybe two moments I wasn’t fond of, involving a camera zoom-in to emphasize a dramatic moment that took me out of the film for that moment. If that was intentional, á la Spike Lee, then kudos! If not, I’d recommend less mobile cinematography for those specific kinds of shots. 

One aspect I didn’t jive with in the slightest was the use of slow-motion during scenes of high excitement as it was lagging, making it near impossible to tell what was going on. This was a big disappointment to me because the zombie practical effects were awesome (very Evil Dead-esque, loved it) and the zombie actors were giving 110%. I would’ve preferred if the practical effects and fight choreography spoke for themselves instead of relying on post-production effects. 

The narrative felt unsteady at best and a little clichéd throughout. Frankly I think a chunk of the second act could’ve been cut to speed things up a bit. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to a fellow horror fan, but I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from watching it, either. Despite its flaws, World Ends at Camp Z is still one of the better films I’ve reviewed in the past few weeks. If you need a reason to watch, do it for the zombie practical effects and Muskwa’s performance.

5 out of 10 Fast Zombies