Germ Z is presented by Fangoria. So, this zombie flick has to be good, right?
Title: Germ Z
Director: J.T. Boone and John Craddock
Writer: J.T. Boone
Cast: Marguerite Sundberg, Michael Flores, Mark Chiappone, Beth Pratt, and Zoe Miller
Run Time: 1 hour, 24 minutes
Germ Z is a zombie-thriller about a satellite accident that unleashes an easily spread virus throughout a small, remote town. The side effect of the disease is obvious – the infected become violent, Hellbent cannibals. Now the sporatic survivors – a police officer, a jogger, a father, and a girl scout – must navigate through the ruined town while researchers and military men try to contain the epidemic.
There is absolutely nothing new brought to the zombie cinema world here. I can count at least five films off the top of my head about zombies brought on by a space-induced event. And the “zombies” are just infected humans that you would see in 28 Days Later.
The beginning of the film – the first ten minutes or so – is very, very rough. I vividly remember sitting in front of my television and thinking, “FANGORIA is presenting THIS?” Luckily, J.T. Boone and John Craddock were able to turn it around and the rest of Germ Z ended up being a somewhat enjoyable horror flick.
The gore factor is pretty high, and we all love lots and lots of violence. The suspense level is high as well, as is the performances from all the actors. The production value is a little low for a larger budgeted indie film. And believe it or not, Germ Z does have some funny points and one or two spine chilling moments.
My biggest problem with this flick is the lack of originality and my disconnection to the characters. I literally did not give a crap about any character in the entire film, and frankly can’t even remember one character’s name. It’s hard to watch a horror movie, especially a zombie film, when there isn’t a single character that you are routing for.
All things considered I’d give Germ Z a 5.2 out of 10.
