Zombie Movies To Watch During Your Quarantine
We also review a new Netflix movie and recommend a show on Hulu
I hope you all are quarantining well so far. We’re back with a few streaming recs to get you through it.
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As for DYLA quarantine content, we thought it would be fun to all watch a movie together, apart. So we are live-tweeting The Dark Knight (streaming on Netflix) tonight at 9PM ET! Join us and let’s put a smile on that face.
For this week’s theme, we are hitting you with a couple zombie movies to either exacerbate your apocalypse fears or give you an outlet for them. Enjoy.
Drew recommends…
Train to Busan (streaming on Netflix)
All I really need to do is type “South Korean zombie thriller set on a train” and if that piques your interest at all, then Train to Busan is a must-watch. I will admit that the zombie movie is not my favorite genre, but this stylish and action-packed ride won me over almost immediately.
We are used to seeing apocalypse stories take place in the United States or Europe, so it was a nice change of pace to see a Korean take on the subject. A group of passengers board a train to Busan (obviously), a city on the southeastern coast of South Korea. The movie shows us our main characters before they will be fighting for their lives: a rich fund manager and his daughter that he hardly makes time for, a blue-collar man and his pregnant wife, and a young baseball player and the cheerleader that has a crush on him. Soon after the train takes off, a countrywide zombie outbreak happens… and one makes it on the train. Now the passengers have to try to make it to Busan, where there is a zombie-free safe haven.
There are many different types of zombies, apparently. You have the Shaun of the Dead zombies, which kind of very slowly saunter around. You have the World War Z zombies, which launch themselves at people and can work together to scale walls. In Train to Busan, they are like extremely aggressive rabid animals, but there are ways to trick them. For instance, every time the train goes into a tunnel, they lose sight and pause their attack.
For such a modestly budgeted movie, there are some really impressive action set pieces throughout. There is hardly a moment to catch your breath, which keeps Train to Busan from dragging. Plus, you grow fond of each of the characters on the train as they work to protect each other and fend off the flesh-eaters.
Train to Busan has a really negative view of government and authority figures, so if our country’s response to coronavirus is frustrating you, this could be a cathartic watch. While some of the characterization and story choices may play it safe, it’s still a thrilling and memorable film for those of you that can stomach watching a viral outbreak on screen right now.
Billy recommends…
28 Days Later (streaming on Hulu)
This is not the first zombie movie to make the zombies run, but it is by far the most popular, while also being one of the most unique horror-zombie films to date. Director Danny Boyle masterfully sprinkles in some incredible anxiety-filled scenes while letting the character development drive the story forward.
The opening to 28 Days Later is an all time tone-setter for any movie. It shows the seriousness of the situation we are thrust into while giving context to the apocalyptic wasteland we are about to see. After this brilliant-tone setter this whole movie is seen through the eyes of a man (Cillian Murphy) who wakes up in the hospital 28 days after the disease has spread across the UK and has led to an evacuation. Leaving a select few people who are still alive in a world of mindless zombies who would win gold medals at the Olympics.
I wonder if there was influence from the Mad Max universe for the introduction to 4 of our 5 main protagonists. While they eventually become normal looking Brits, when we meet them there is intense rock-like music in the background and they are wearing armor that was created from anything they could find. Giving a vibe that is different from the rest of the movie, but a small example of the capabilities of Danny Boyle as a director.
Boyle is a director that is lost on most of us when we talk about the greatest living directors and that is because he weaves in and out of genre as well as anyone. Creating a Harry Potter-like invisibility cloak that allows him to continuously wow us without showing himself. 28 Days Later falls into that description well.
With all of this praise there is one downfall to rewatching 28 Days Later. It is too recognizable now because of how revolutionary it has been on the zombie genre. Still, it is a great watch that shouldn’t have the circumstances around it lessen our enjoyment. The scares here are not too scary so even for the most horror-averse people it will be tolerable because of how sweet and calm the smaller moments are. Give this one a watch as soon as you can.
Recent Release Mini-Reviews
Lost Girls (streaming on Netflix)
Drew: Overall, a pretty average true crime retelling. It’s just so dour and there’s not much room for life on screen. Amy Ryan gives a prickly but laudable performance and Lola Kirke grabs your attention. Much of the dialogue feels ripped from a Murder Mystery 101 course. Still, with no new movies in theaters right now due to the coronavirus, it makes for a worthwhile and brief — thankfully the makers had the good sense to cut the runtime to 95 minutes — Netflix viewing. - 3 / 5 Apples
Streaming TV Corner
What we’re watching this week
Drew: Devs (streaming on Hulu)
The most fascinating new show right now is Devs on Hulu. The premise is centered around a Silicon Valley company in the near-future called Amaya. Forest (Nick Offerman, in a role that couldn’t be further from Ron Swanson) is the enigmatic CEO that may be up to some shady secret activity. Devs’ creator is Alex Garland, the man responsible for some of the best sci-fi movies of the last decade, such as Ex Machina and Annihilation (he also wrote 28 Days Later!). Garland wrote and directed all eight episodes, so strap in and let this show take over.