Ahh, the wonderful world of the zombie apocalypse!  We horror-type folks have seen this idea played out in a virtual smorgasbord of scenarioes, from George Romero’s first inkling back in ’68, through the Italian gore-fests in the late ’70s and early ’80s, all the way up to the current Walking Dead craze that grips the nation.  In between all those wide spots in the road, we’ve seen countless variations on the theme, ranging from simple survival tales through seeing the situation from the perspective of the zombies themselves.  We’ve seen it done in fatalistic, dark tones, and lighthearted comedic romps.  Unfortunately, in almost every situation we’ve seen, the end result is the same; at worst, we see the main cast meet untimely (and typically unappetizing) ends, or at best, some ambiguous, question-mark conclusion.  I’ve said before, those times when I sit around pondering what would really happen if the dead started rising to eat the living (as pretty much all of us Fellow Fans have done; c’mon, admit it!), I’ve always figured that such a thing would be the end of the ballgame for humanity.  Let’s face it: when you have a self-replenishing enemy you can’t intimidate, starve out, or wait out, sooner or later you’re gonna lose.  Simple math.

Writer/director Harrison Smith, with his new film Zombie Killers: The Elephant’s Graveyard, brings a lot of what we’ve all seen before in his take on the zombie flick, but with enough original flavor to distinguish itself from the pack; more importantly, he did a couple o’ things that I flat out didn’t expect…but I’ll get to that.

In an undetermined future time, a community of people live in a hastily fenced-in village; some strange catastrophe has befallen the world, leaving re-animated corpses wandering the earth, apparently hell-bent on eating those still living.

This seeming sanctuary, called Ellwood,  is governed by “Doc”; a physician whose ministrations keep both the tenuous health and the stability of the people of Ellwood in a delicate balance.  He constantly has the town’s water supply and residents tested for infection, and ensures that the virus does not remain if it ever is detected.  Sometimes, this results in horrific “evictions”, where reportedly infected people (and even families) are forced from the relative safety of the fences, given the choice to either take their chances in the infested lands beyond, or die.  Security for the town is provided by the orphaned children of Ellwood, who dub themselves the “Zombie Killers”; trained and led by Seiler, a man who seems to have had some former military training.  He uses the sport of paintball both to teach combat techniques to the young men and women, and to give them a release for the stresses that they live under, both from the harsh governance of Ellwood and the horrors they face beyond it’s fences.  The ravenous, seldom-seen hordes of the land are not the only threat Ellwood faces, however, with the all-too-human vices of greed, jealousy, lust, and pride running rampant through the survivors, dividing the town on many fronts.

It all comes to a head when a pair of outsiders reveal a coming catastrophe that will spell the end of the community; dark town secrets are revealed and true natures are discovered.  It’s left to some of the young Zombie Killers to decide for themselves what the real threat is, and exactly what they’re willing to do to survive it.

My gut reaction when the credits rolled on this one was how much Smith had gone back to the subgenre roots Romero laid down back with the original Night of the Living Dead; the zombies weren’t what the film was about.  They were there as the catalyst for the real struggle of human nature itself; man’s inhumanity to man will always be the core of any real horror.  We don’t even see a walking corpse until a good way into the film, yet the feeling of dread and oppression is present from the opening minutes; indeed, the general feel of Ellwood isn’t one of hope or safety, but instead one of a kind of martial law,  the Doc’s will being enforced by near-psychotics, with the only other place to turn being the fanatical church run by the even scarier Lia.  There’s a lot of powerful emotions being played out, but the zombies aren’t really even a part of the struggle, at least in the first two reels.  Comparisons to The Walking Dead juggernaut will of course be made, and there are similarities (how could there not be?).

However, where The Walking Dead is more of a journey to find a “home” in the devastation of the good ol’ zombie apocalypse, Zombie Killers is more of an in-depth look at what such a home would be like were it found…and begs the question of whether or not it would be such a good thing.  Beyond just the script, Smith took a small budget and some smart decisions and made a film that belied it’s low-budget nature; there’s a lot of sweeping, panoramic shots, as well as well-used aerial footage, giving the film an epic scope and just a big feeling.  With makeup effects by the same team from the aforementioned TWD, you won’t be disappointed with the zombies when they make their presence known.  Admittedly, there is some CGI involved; with a small budget and big vision, this is virtually unavoidable.  Personally, I didn’t find that it was cheap-looking, nor did it rob me of any enjoyment of the film; I’ve seen a lot higher-dollar flicks with a lot worse effects.  There’s a lot of talent in front of the camera as well, with newer faces like Michael Kean, Joe Raffa, Ashley Sumner, and Gabrielle Stone bringing some nice performances to the table.  Add these to the firm foundation settled by proven and skilled veterans Billy Zane, Mischa Barton, and Brian Anthony Wilson, and you have a firm cast with a lot of experience; add to this then, the genre-cred of greats like Dee Wallace in a small but moving role, and Felissa Rose with her spookiest character since Sleepaway Camp, and you have both a love letter to we Fellow Fans and a hell of a lot of talent to boot.

So…final summation:  The zombie movie is one of the more overworked of the horror genre; as such, I personally go into most of them expecting the same ol’ same ol'; Zombie Killers does indeed have some of that.  Still, with a good, human story being the focus, it’s well worth watching for fans of the subgenre.  Going further than that, I stated early in this review that there were two things I did not expect in this film; they are as follows:  1) a convincing reason for the apocalypse itself (based both in real science and a nod back to Romero himself), and 2) a believeable hope for a possible cure; unlike the typical zombie flick, this one carries a note of hope rather than the nihilistic resignation we’re accustomed to.

These two things, coupled with the well-written and acted theme of humanity against itself, distinguishes the film in my eyes.

That’s my two cents, folks.

–Mouse