NAVY SEALS VS ZOMBIES (2015)

Navy SEALS vs Zombies (2015)
Directed by: Stanton Barrett
Written by: A.K. Waters, Matthew Carpenter
Starring: Damon Lipari, Ed Quinn, Michael Dudikoff, Mikal Vega, Rick Fox

NAVY SEALS VS ZOMBIES (2015)
Directed by Stanton Barrett

When the vice-president of the USA comes under attack by crazed humans during his visit to Baton Rouge, a group of highly skilled Navy SEALS operatives are sent to extract him from the building he’s holed up in. Once on the ground, they realise the situation is worse than they anticipated and are given orders to also extract a scientist who may hold the antidote to the biochemical virus that caused the outbreak.

We’ve had strippers, ninjas and God knows what else but now it’s the turn of NAVY SEALS VS ZOMBIES in this low budget but enjoyable survival horror thriller. With a news blogger and her camera man on the scene, there’s more than just the politician’s life in danger as news blogger Amanda wishes to report everything that happens to show what truly is going on. The rabid attack from civilians is unlike anything anyone has witnessed and even the highly trained Navy SEALS will have their job cut out to get themselves out alive, nevermind the civilians. With their only way out of the city threatened to be grounded at any minute, time is of the essence but getting to their extraction point unscathed will be a task that will test their mettle.

Whilst all the characters in the film seem likable enough, beside the politicians of course, they haven’t enough character to make you really care about them. The main character of the piece is AJ, a newbie on the Navy SEALS squad who’s pregnant wife is at home, praying that he returns home safely. With a mass zombie outbreak his first real assignment, he’s been thrown into the deep end. His wife just hopes that the other Navy SEALS officers are skilled enough in their job to have his back and bring him home in one piece.

Horror fans will probably be disappointed at the lack of gore in the film but the choreography, look and reactions of the zombies in the movie are pretty decent. CGI is used heavily for the head shots and other gun shots as well as the explosions and balls of fire burning in Baton Rouge. There is, however, a nice set piece involving a zombie driving a car straight at our survivors, an attempt on their lives that doesn’t end well for the infected one, which should please action fans. A bit more of the red stuff would have worked wonders though to bring a real sense of threat and menace to these characters as merely chasing, banging on doors and biting innocents isn’t quite enough to get the heart rate rising.

Ultimately, there’ s not a lot you can do with zombies that hasn’t already been done but there’s enough here to make the experience a pleasant one even if it’s not groundbreaking in any way. A sprinkle of comedic dialogue lightens the tone further as NAVY SEALS VS ZOMBIES finds itself sitting more in the action survival genre rather than the horror one.

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