Rise Of The Zombie Movie Review: This Rise? Is Not So Nice!

Rise Of The Zombie Movie Review-In Short:

A wild-life photographer gets bitten by a mysterious insect in the forests of Uttarakhand and turns into a freakish ‘zombie’…

Rise Of The Zombie Movie Review-Verdict:

A sluggish pace, a pointless story and an illogical premise (a ‘zombie’ is someone who has risen from the dead, right?) makes Rise Of The Zombie an avoidable fare.

Rise Of The Zombie Movie Review-Story Plot:

Neil Parker (Luke Kenny) is a wildlife photographer, with a penchant for disappearing for days without informing anyone, including his live-in girlfriend Vinny (Kirti Kulhari). When an exasperated Vinny breaks up with him, our hero decides to pack his bags and leave off on another adventure to nurse his broken heart…instead of staying back to pacify his girl (see what we mean about illogical premises?)

In the wilderness of Uttarakhand, Neil stays all alone in a tent and spends his days clicking photographs of insects and birds and making eyes at the local women at shady diners.

When a mysterious insects bites Neil during one of his photography sessions, he ignores the wound, only to realize that it is having a strange effect on him (almost reminded me of Peter Parker and the radio-active spider). Within no time, Neil is transformed into a freakish zombie, who snarls like a beast for no reason and eats up whatever he can get his hands on (insects, birds, a stray dog and also a local woman).

Meanwhile, his girlfriend Vinny is getting worried and starts trying to track him down, using skills a private eye would have been proud of. What happens next? Watch and find out, if you dare!

Rise Of The Zombie Movie Review-Performance: 

Luke Kenny as the photographer turned zombie is decent enough and so is Kirti Kulhari, though she hardly has a substantial role. Benjamin Gilani as Neil’s worried father plays the ‘dignified doctor’ part quite well whereas Ashwin Mushran as Neil’s friend is passable.

Rise Of The Zombie Movie Review-Direction: 

This reviewer had the impression that a zombie is a dead person brought back to life (a view shared by the experts on the Internet). However, in the film, no such thing happens and the director really seems to have confused a freak mutant with a zombie. Moreover, the movie is so slow-paced and sluggish that half an hour after the movie starts, you are still waiting for the ‘zombie’ to make an appearance. The film seems more like a documentary on wildlife, with the director focusing more on the flora and fauna of the place that the plot. If that was not enough, the movie seems point-less, with the so called zombie spending his entire time eating up animals, insects and people and you end up waiting for the story to move forward (the makers allow a glimpse of the sequel at the end of the movie…maybe that’s when the real story starts)

Rise Of The Zombie Movie Review-Final Word: 

If you are a fan of the zombie genre, stick to the Hollywood fare…or wait for Go Goa Gone!