User reviews

Although he would rather be playing poker and drinking beer with some of his friends, "Tom" (Liam McIntyre) is convinced to spend the weekend with his adolescent daughter "Mira" (Aundrea Smith) camping in the woods instead. While driving there he hears strange reports of violent mobs suddenly breaking out all over but pays no real mind to it. Having then arrived at the camping site the two of them get situated and later on have some dinner with a group of other campers who have also recently arrived. The next morning, however, things change dramatically as those same campers become enraged zombies who swarm the two of them leaving Tom to fight them off while Mira runs into the woods. Eventually, Tom manages to barricade himself inside the camper and tries to come up with a plan to rescue Mira who has managed to allude the zombies but is left on her own without any food or shelter. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film had some outstanding action scenes. Unfortunately, the director (David Matalon) had nothing else to contribute as he kept repeating one nearly identical scene after another to the point that the film not only became somewhat monotonous but also quite exhausting to watch as well. At least, it was for me. That being the case, I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

A zombie movie that I had somehow missed? Needless to say that when the opportunity to watch the 2020 movie titled "The Clearing" here in 2021 then I jumped at the chance to sit down to watch it.

And while this movie definitely is watchable, it is ultimately just another zombie movie. Sadly so, but that is the truth. "The Clearing" from writer and director David Matalon just didn't revolutionize the zombie genre, nor did it bring anything that hadn't already been seen before.

Sure, I enjoyed the setting and environment of the movie. I mean, the concept of someone being away from civilization and just casually brushing off news bulletins of outbreaks of random violence and such, that was definitely interesting. But it was hardly something new to the zombie genre.

But of course, as is the way to go about it in 99% of all zombie movies, there was no explanation to the outbreak, what caused it and how did it manage to get to that remote area so quickly?

It should be said that if you enjoyed movies like "28 Days Later", then chances are high that you will most certainly also like "The Clearing". And don't get me wrong here, "The Clearing" is not a bad movie, it just caved in on all the tropes and archetypical presentations and angles of the zombie genre.

Personally I don't enjoy fast and agile zombies, and when they can run and jump, then it starts to get to the point where I am ready to get off the bus. Sure, I can understand why newly turned victims would be agile as rigor mortis haven't yet set in, but for me it just doesn't work as well with having zombies running and especially not jumping or being able to use choreographed fighting.

Visually then "The Clearing" was actually good enough. It wasn't the usual horrible low budget zombie make-up with faces painted gray and the rest of the body left to its normal skin tone. Nay, "The Clearing" actually had some good special effects and adequate amounts of gore. At least it was enough to keep a seasoned gorehound as myself content.

The acting in the movie was actually good for this type of movie. Sure, it wasn't award-winning performances, but the lead actor - Liam McIntyre - actually carried the movie quite well with his convincing performance. The movie has a very small cast, so there was more of a pressure to deliver on the leads. And they did manage that well enough.

Now, I must address the storyline, because it was a very simplistic storyline that was present in "The Clearing". Nay, I will say that it was actually also a weak and nearly non-existing storyline. I mean, everything took place at a campsite, with the protagonist being either trapped on the roof or locked inside their camping unit. So if you are looking for a zombie movie with a deeper and more profound plot and script, perhaps with some jabs at society like Romero did, then "The Clearing" will leave you wanting for more, that's for sure.

Ultimately "The Clearing" fell into being a stereotypical zombie movie. It was watchable, for sure, but it just failed to stand out in the vast ocean of zombie movies exactly like it. As such, my rating of "The Clearing" lands on a very mediocre five out of ten stars.

What did I just waste a Saturday evening watching?

Full of cliches and massive plot holes. Why did the little girl leave the camper in the first place? For a person who rather play on her phone, why did she leave it? Zombies now can climb ladders and like to fist fight.

Lacks originality, logic, it's repetitive, and the acting is absolutely terrible all around.

If you've ever seen 10 minute of a zombie movie, imagine playing that in a loop, and you get this movie.

Without giving anything away (there's nothing to give away!), here are a few inane points: zombies appear out of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere, where a father is camping with his daughter for a couple of days only. What are the odds?!

Also, the zombies scream in pain when hit; aren't zombies supposed to be dead, and unfeeling?

Year 2020 saw cheap, silly movies like this one popping up like mushrooms after the rain. I don't know if it's the fault of COVID-19, or the free streaming lowered the entertanment standards, but movies like this are worthless, and a total waste of time, and other resources such as bandwidth.

This really felt student-y. It had no budget and that is fine because you can work with that. However they did not.

It is really predictable and kinda just runs around all over the place plot wise. The first half of the movie isn't a zombie movie, it is a movie about a single father, then it becomes a zombie movie and then it looses all the zombies and because some sort of scene study about 2 men struggling in an apocalypse situation.

The action scenes are shot really fast and cartoon-y. I struggles to find my bearings when i was watching it.

I would give it a miss as it kinda just dodders around doing nothing for an hour and 20 minutes and then gives you the most predictable ending it could have.

The worst thing I ever watched in my life! No plot, no story, no logic. 2 hours of my life wasted for nothing! How would someone produce something like this in 2020?! this is so 1920

A good looking cover to a long, very boring movie with a lot of stupid plots.

I found the direction and the pacing enjoyable because the characters and their story were meaningful. I like it when a story can pull off a movie with limited setting and characters and The Clearing did that. The writing and directing were intelligent and reminded me of the hopes I had for The Walking Dead Television show. Ian McIntyre and his daughter had relatable chemistry in their conflict and I found him believable in the action scenes which is so often lacking. If you're a fan of the genre or just a fan of a contained movie well told, I really think you'll enjoy The Clearing.

Often there isn't a great deal to zombie films, but most have at least a ghost of a plot. This one is basically a guy stuck out in the wilds. His caravan is robust, and he has a firearm. Then the zombies invade. And that is it, or almost it. There are a couple of side plots but for most of the time it's just him fighting them off or literally fighting them. He is quite strong physically but nothing special, yet somehow he manages to batter, slash and stab the whole lot. Yet still they keep coming. He has a radio, and it seems this could be an end of the world scenario, the end of entertainment having already arrived.

So he can fight off 20+ zombies unarmed at a time without getting infected. The zombies can break car windows open with ease. But can't open the door or unlocked windows on his camper van. The whole film is of him killing zombies single handed. No plot, no story and no point.

This is worth a watch, but only once. Good fathers day movie for teens to watch, they may appreciate dad a little more.

It is a shoe string budget production with limited number of sets and locations. Special effects are extremely minimal with very quick camera shots to hide it.

The acting by the main character, the dad , is very good. With a better script and more money he could have carried the movie a lot farther. Oh well.

This movie is more like a snapshot of a couple days , not explaining how the sickness starts or even if it is world wide. For all the audience knows it could be just the immediate few miles. No way to tell.

I would not call it a zombie movie. The infected would be a better way to see it. They are not dead. And they die just fine. More of a 28 days effect than anything else.

The sick are pretty convincing, I have to admit. The daughter is your typical spoiled teen brat so no issues there.

There is no closure to the bigger infection story, the audience is asked to be content with the predictable ending involving father and daughter.

Probably a better watch if you drink a few beers first. I have given up alcohol, so I had to watch it dry.

I seen worse.

I'm not a massive fan of zombie films. But this movie wasn't too bad. I've seen alot worse.

For a Boy Scout he should is stupid. Nobody can drive, cell phone can call his daughter but not help, blows up everything but him I can go on but you get the idea.

Proper zombie flick, if it ever were to happen, a zombie takeover this is what it would be like, realistic. Slow paced, well acted. Yes films like dawn of the dead ect are more entertaining, but if you want realism and emotion, not just hack and slash then give this a shot

Intense zombie horror flick. Great usage of the enclosed space, which hits home even more during the time of Covid. Tension is constant throughout the movie, with well shot and fast-paced action sequences. But it is the relationship between the dad and the daughter that keeps it grounded and relatable. Fans of the genre will love it.

It's constant action fighting zombies - that's what I expect from a zombie flick. Checks the boxes for a zombie movie.

The acting is decent, especially from Liam McIntyre, and that is good as he is the entire film. It felt as if they extended the "zombie" storyline by adding cliched ideas from every other zombie film. Ho hum. I would have appreciated more set-up whether more before the plot starts, like the opening scene, or with flashbacks, as they did a couple times. Otherwise, backstory was established in a few lines between father and daughter to explain their conflict. That could have extended the movie and given us more to connect with the father and daughter. Decent watch even though it gets a bit slow due to unoriginal plot points.

It was Just ok there was nothing new or interesting and nothing to recommend