Autumn (2009)

A zombiemovie without gore? What the hell were they thinking? Well, it isnt half as bad as it sounds because the filmmakers actually has a story to tell, one of the more interesting ones in the genre so far. The only problem is, willy ou have the patience for it?

Autumn is an adaption of David Moodys horror novel with the same name where a plague of some sorts very quickly kills off 99.9 percent of the earths population. The few survivors try to decide what to do and we follow five people as they head into the lesser populated areas where the corpses arent as many, to set up a living of sorts. They soon realize that the dead arent actually dead, as they soon rise up as decaying walking corpses. But they work only on some sort of instinct, walking about as drones, bumping into anything in their paths. As time goes by they start to be susceptible to light and sounds, turning more and more agressive.

And that is what this movie is about, the survivors trying to set up an existence while coping with the loss of their loved ones as the walking corpses slowly starts to rise. This is not a gore movie, barely even a horror movie and the pace is really slow. Instead we are treated to lots and lots of dialogue about life after death and whatever. The first instance of violence doesnt appear until about 50 minutes into the movie and then its a little dog that makes too much noise and is torn to bits by the corpses. Actually, that is about the only violence this movie has. But then again, this is a movie with a story to tell and the major issue is: does it tell its story well? Yes and no. The script isnt half bad, telling its story at a deliberately slow pace and I really like the whole thing about the walking corpses slowly awakening to some sort of new existence based entirely upon showing some sort of recognition towards light and sound. But, the movie is let down by its meager production values. The zombiemakeup is fairly good on a low budget as the zombies turn more and more rotten and disgusting throughout the movie. Everything is shot on digital video with a decent look, but the audio seems to have been recorded on location and is somewhat tinny at times and hard to follow when the proceedings are drenched with a rather mediocre ambient soundtrack. They actually manage to pull off a few decent scenes of an abandoned world but for the most time the movie is set in a room where the characters just talk. The dialogue is decent but the acting is very uneven. The movie gains a hell of a lot from the presence of Dexter Fletcher who is an excellent actor but the rest of the cast ranges from dull to just ok.

I havent read the book the movie is based on so I cant really tell if its a good adaption but the story is interesting enough for me to be wanting to go out and get me some reading. The movie isnt really I would recommend that easily, it has a good story but is excruciatingly slow at times and there isnt really any gore. A good effort but not for everyone.