a review of 刑柱之地

HOOPTOBER XII NIGHT ELEVEN: Some real Joe Six-Pack post-apocalypse horror coming from the same grim 'n' gritty motivations as THE WALKING DEAD and THE LAST OF US. It's kind of funny to note how it sorta follows the same basic character dynamics as something like ZOMBIELAND (wormy teen loser gets trained up by a gung-ho survivalist/surrogate dad figure, with an occasional third-wheel character or love interest) but plays it so absolutely straight that it becomes vaguely camp. It's easy to get hung up on how absolutely of its time this movie is as kind of an wannabe edgy vamp/zombie western for the BOONDOCK SAINTS crowd. But at the same time this is way better written/acted/shot than something like that needs to be; I was often impressed by how its use of decayed industrial sites and authentic ruined Americana (existing in our own late-capitalist apocalypse) created a pretty believable mise-en-scene that sometimes feels lacking in movies on this tier.