The ReZort is probably best described as Jurassic Park meets The Walking Dead. Obviously, this means it’s pretty damn entertaining!

The Rezort poster and review - Generation ZBased on the premise alone, The ReZort is one of those movies I just had to watch. For once, I hadn’t even watched the trailer first, so I had no idea what to expect.

My first thought was that the production value seemed much higher than I expected. The ReZort really does look like an amazing park that one could easily imagine would be very popular.

And yes, the comparison to Jurassic Park is almost impossible. Surprisingly enough, it can live up to that.

The main protagonist is a young woman, who lost her entire family during the zombie outbreak. She suffers from PTSD and someone from a support group recommends The ReZort since it had helped them.




The ReZort is a wet dream for zombie fans

On paper, The ReZort is definitely a dream come true for many zombie fans. You get to encounter and “fight” the zombies. I say “fight” because the guests are never in any real danger since the zombies are very managed.

Of course, the guests don’t seem to mind much. They’re just happy to take out their anger on the zombies. And in some cases, they have no actual grudge towards them, and just want to have fun.

 

I found the story to be very engaging and loved the twists and turns underway. Of course, some events are easier to spot a mile away than others, but overall, it did the trick. Also, I really loved a few of the plot twists.

And – perhaps most importantly – it all seemed dangerously realistic. People would surely want a park like this, and so, someone would definitely build it.

Characters for everyone to identify with

I loved the fact that The ReZort had many different characters, but I must admit, it was also a bit of a downfall. A few of the characters were simply too stereotypical for my taste.

And yes, I do realize it’s important to show characters development, but it was just too heavy-handed for me to truly buy it.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the performance of the actors. In fact, I think they all did very good jobs. The characters themselves were just written a bit too “neat” for me to buy it.

The ReZort on Netflix

Personally, I only recognized a few faces. First, there’s Jessica De Gouw (Dracula, Arrow) and  Martin McCann (The Fall), who portray the protagonist and her boyfriend. And also, I have to mention Dougray Scott, who we saw earlier this year on Fear The Walking Dead. All three lifted the story and movie through their performances.




Steve Barker directed The ReZort, which marks his third time as a feature film director. He previously directed Outpost (2008) and Outpost: Black Sun (2012). The script for this movie was written by Paul Gerstenberger, who primarily has experience with TV series.

Interestingly enough, my first thought when the movie ended, was that I would’ve loved to see it play out as a series. Preferably with lots of flashbacks to the original outbreak. Oh well, maybe we’ll get a The ReZort 2 and I’ll get more background that way.

The ReZort – which was known as Generation Z early on – is available on VOD (including Netflix) from January 17, 2017.

Details

Director: Steve Barker
Writer: Paul Gerstenberger
Cast: Dougray Scott, Jessica De Gouw, Claire Goose, Jassa Ahluwalia, Martin McCann

Plot

The ReZort, a safari park, offers paying guests the opportunity to kill as many zombies as they please following an outbreak.

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
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