Every time I give myself a chance to watch another zombie movie, I pray to all the deities not to let it be of my complete hatred because I consider that there are already too many films that include this element to justify the horror genre in their plots. However, sometimes there are movies that shut my mouth for their good use without abuse of the elements. This is not the case with Zombie Lover–although I admit that it has something interesting in its content, but it’s remains indifferent to my prayers.

Dillon (Kemal Yildirim) and Stacey (Lianne Robertson) are two childhood friends hiding their love from the rest of the world because they are actually going through an affair. This situation gets them in trouble when they realize they are being stalked by a private investigator/hitman and stalked by Stacy’s zombie ex-lover. Which one is worse in this case? It depends on the survival instincts of the intrepid couple who decide to make bad decisions while running through the uneven terrain of a forest.

Honestly, Zombie Lover is a poorly executed movie with an interesting idea, but anything that can classify it as an incessantly boring movie can actually lead it to be considered an entertaining movie for the curious cinephile. From the beginning question marks arise as we don’t know anything at all until everything gets explained through black-and-white flashbacks giving a detailed sequence of what was happening in their lives that led them to take a step into their forbidden romance. Likewise, it raises the question of why they have been looking for Dillon prior to their several encounters with the P.I.— during the opening sequence of the film we see the P.I./hitman pointing a shotgun from a distance targeting Dillon.

The only good thing I can highlight about this whole weird mix is the director/writer cared enough to develop the whole story properly. From start to finish there are no loose ends to the story. It might work better as a crime/mystery if the supernatural element is removed. In addition to this, there is a fight near the end of the film that is very well choreographed, which is impressive for the budget of an independent project.

Now, for the bad side of this review. The soundtrack is terrible. There are no words to describe the screeching sounds of the untuned piano playing during the flashbacks, which may come as annoying after a while, and the synthetized keyboard used for whenever the zombies attack. Also, I’m still wondering why the zombies made noises that resounded as a low-pitched “wow” instead of the usual growls and snarls.

Zombie Lover won’t develop a cult following but it’s worth a try if you want to get inspired for your next AV school project or you’re interested in watching how to properly develop a plot without holes in it.

5 OUT OF 10 SYRINGES