Zombie Island

I am Gabriel Leung, the director of this film. I want to thank every audience member who has rated and reviewed my film. I am extremely grateful to see people watching my work. This is a Chinese mainland internet film shot in 2017. However, due to censorship issues, it couldn't be released in mainland China, so we decided to release it overseas. It is a film that I wrote and directed myself, and I raised the production funds on my own, so the budget was very limited. Therefore, I chose to make a zombie film set in a single location, which was a very challenging task for me. Perhaps if I have another opportunity to shoot a film of this genre, it would have a completely different presentation. However, I have no regrets, and I am very grateful to every colleague who believed in me at that time. I did my best within my abilities. Looking back today, there are many shortcomings, even laughable ones. It is now 2023, and I am still constantly learning and striving for progress. But getting opportunities to make films is difficult. I hope that the next time I have a chance, I can apply the film knowledge I have learned over these years. Lastly, I want to thank every viewer. Since my English is not very good, I used ChatGPT to translate this comment. I truly hope to have a chance to communicate with you and hear more of your feedback. Wishing you all the best, and grateful for life.

I don't watch a lot of zombie films, because most of them are awful, but I do appreciate the few good ones out there. I give movies about 5 minutes to see if I will proceed to watch it or not. For some reason, I decided to try this one that was playing on Tubi, and it started well enough that I watched the whole movie. It doesn't have the highest production values, but instead has the well written script and acting that I value even more. It also doesn't have a lot of gore, which is a huge plus for me (and a reason I avoid the Romero films).

The movie continues to get better as you watch it, and the characters get more fleshed out. There isn't too much action until about the last half/third of the movie, and then there is an interesting twist that I didn't see coming. There are some effective emotional scenes and characters that I was rooting for. The opening scenario is somewhat confusing without any information about the characters' backgrounds, but it does eventually become clear what's going on with the different people.

Overall, I really liked this movie. I would compare it to something like "The Battery," which is another good B-film in the zombie genre. I would only suggest this for viewers who don't require the highest production values with lots of action and gore. When I watched it, only English subtitles were available (no dubbing).

I was in the mood for a silly horror comedy and this one was described as such but it isn't. But it an above average zombie flick. Characters were developed nicely and you care about their demises

A number of characters act in a noble fashion, it had none of the stupid characters which seem to abound in these movies. Several tense moments punctuate the brisk action pace of the movie. At roughly 75 minutes it passes quickly and enjoyably.

To be fair, the ending was so-so, coming off a nice but predictable twist. So that kept it from being an 8 which is the highest rating that I would give to a zombie movie.

Arriving at a tropical resort, the crew of the resort tries to help placate the confused guests against reports of a zombie outbreak in the area, and when they discover the area was a test bed for a Japanese experiment in WWII testing a mysterious chemical finds the dead revived and threatening everyone.

This is a challenging film to get a handle on. The biggest detriment here is a jarring, confusing narrative that gives this no setup. Rather than properly get to know each of the characters, their relationship with each other, or what's going on, we're thrust into the middle of the events as if they've already been given. It feels as though an opening setup that would've explained everything is cut out of the film and the viewer is suddenly twenty minutes into a traditional story with no build-up. That lack of information about who the gangsters or the tour guides are, how the virus spread to their friends, or how the plague arrived on the island are basic questions about the storyline. These are ignored in favor of just throwing the random characters into the zombie chaos which leaves this somewhat confusing in several aspects. As well, this lack of build-up hurts this one in the middle section. Fulfilling the expected barricade inside the motel while the early stages of the zombie hordes gather outside that's part of every zombie film, the expected breakdown of the survivors has a bare minimum of impact. It's nearly impossible to care about anyone or really catch wind of who any of the characters are named since the underperforming writing doesn't tell us anything interesting. On top of that, the infighting and battling for control hold off the zombie encounters as they're basically nonexistent until the last half of the film which disrupts the flow and tempo. Overall, these elements are what strike down the film as a whole. There are some positive elements though. Among this one's better features are the numerous scenes of zombie carnage that are quite effective. They're given enough in the first half through the henchmen turning and the swarms outside that the threat is believable and feasible. The sight of them breaking down the doors and rushing to the lobby of the hotel creating panic and chaos is endearing and fun much like the later encounters in the second half when they finally overrun the hotel. Featuring some heartbreaking moments where characters we do want to see survive get swarmed or bitten, the action comes across rather well with some high-energy confrontations to generate a fun finale. As this section offers some good special effects and gore, there's a lot to like that holds it up over the flaws.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

This film essentially begins at a hotel on an isolated island with a tourist agent by the name of "Liu Chong" (Bai Yun-Feng) having an argument with his wife "Mo Nan" (Gill Zho Jiao) about his gambling habits which have, for the most part, left them broke. For that reason, she has filed for a divorce which she hopes will be finalized once they leave the island. For the moment, however, they still have to accommodate the tourists they have sponsored--which is made more difficult by the poor conditions of the hotel which has infuriated the guests. For their part, the owner of the hotel "Cai Shu" (Tang Xin-Hua) and his daughter "Xiao Hong" (Amy Chung) are doing everything they can to try to calm the situation. Unfortunately, things take a severe turn for the worse when a zombie epidemic breaks out and everybody is forced to rely upon one another if they are to survive. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, despite my reservations about this movie beforehand, this film turned out to be an okay zombie movie. Admittedly, some of the acting was somewhat over-the-top, but it was mitigated, to a certain extent, by the surprise twist at the end. Likewise, having several attractive actresses like "Zhong Man" (as "Isabella") and both Gill Zho Jiao and Amy Chung certainly didn't hurt either. Be that as it may, while not a great horror film by any means, I suppose it filled the time spent fairly well and I have rated it accordingly. Average.