Director: Jeff Barnaby
Cast: Michael Greyeyes, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Forrest Goodluck, Kiowa Gordon
Have I Seen it Before: Never. For some reason I have as yet relented to subscribing to Shudder. As we approached the episode of Beyond the Cabin in the Woods for this movie, I thought about relenting to one more streaming service, and if there were more movies on this year’s Cabin schedule that could be found there, I might have.
Did I Like It: I really, really have lost most of my patience with the very idea of zombies. I can only imagine if you’re reading this that at some point you’ve given up on The Walking Dead. Whenever that moment was for you, I guarantee I jumped ship earlier than that. The commentary of George Romero is long since gone for me, and the craft of making up the creatures was probably passé for me even when Romero was at his height.
And with all of that being said, there’s quite a lot new, and a lot to like here.
I cannot honestly think of a better introduction to a zombie apocalypse than a fisherman suddenly realizing something is terribly, terribly wrong with the already cleaned and gutted catch of the day.
That alone would have inched me closer to making the unlikely conclusion that the genre might still have some life (or, I suppose un-life, if you’re going to force me to relent to the pun orbiting around me) in it yet, but making the supposed realities of a zombie apocalypse a reflection of the indigenous experience made the entire experience refreshing. What’s more, the central plot line involving the fate of the baby to be born to Joseph (Goodluck) and Charlie (Olivia Scriven) keeps the tension up, not just because it is unclear how the character’s fates will be resolved, but it’s never completely made clear what the movie would prefer to happen to them.
I’m even prepared to forgive the film for occasionally becoming a very typical zombie film in the execution, but please, let’s keep that between you and I.