PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist. PopHorror fully supports the WGA and SAG-AFTRA and their efforts.
There’s a disturbing (at least to a gore aficionado like yours truly) recent trend in the “zombie apocalypse” sub-genre of making the gut-chomping undead secondary to the actual trials and tribulations of the living. It’s enough to make you upchuck on your Chucks. I, personally, blame The Walking Dead, what with their love triangles, complicated villains, giant cans of pudding, and Andrew Lincoln eye-fucking the camera every 3 scenes. However, with the right approach, it can be done effectively. Exhibit A is End Times, the new film from writer/director Jim Towns, finally getting a release from The Asylum after a long gestation.
Synopsis:
“In a post-apocalyptic wasteland where zombies roam, a grizzled mercenary and a young woman must fight their way to a safe haven before they become prey.”
In a dystopian near-future, Los Angeles is in a government quarantine zone due to the spread of a virus that turns ordinary people into undead killing machines. After being set upon and assaulted by a group of roving scavengers led by Ciro (Dan Buran: True Blood), spoiled young 20-something Claire (Jamie Bernadette; Ash and Bone – our review) is in desperate need of some survival skills. Enter aging mercenary/former agent Freddie (Craig Stark: Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood – our review), who reluctantly takes Claire under his wing, teaches her how to manage on her own, and eventually looks to her as his surrogate daughter.
The pair set out across the ash-choked wasteland of L.A. (look out for TVs Batcave!) to somehow reach a rumored safe zone, and ultimately, personal redemption. The confident, capable Freddie (think a less cocky Snake Plissken) teaches Claire everything she needs to know about life and death along the way as they mete out some frontier justice to Ciro and his gang, and get taken in by a Manson Family-esque hippy commune run by Hayden (Kaiwi Lyman: American Horror Story), and his lieutenant, Deirdre (Sadie Katz: Blood Feast), before finally reaching the end of their journey, both physically and emotionally. Is redemption even possible in this world?
Towns and his crew do an amazing job with making an epic-looking feature on a meager budget. One can assume that every dollar made it to the screen as the production values alone make End Times look like a much bigger film than it has any business being. A great atmosphere of dread is established by effective zombie/infected make-up and some excellent sound design (lots of cryptic, Biblical sermons on radio broadcasts).
Great cinematography, some Fincher-like use of color, and subtle use of CG backgrounds serve to set a stage for some killer performances by the cast. Bernadette, in particular (I’ll admit, I was not impressed with her in I Spit On Your Grave: Déjà vu), gives a career defining turn as Claire, proving that a talented actress, given a well written character and capable direction, can outshine even the biggest names in the most expensive films. Stark is perfectly cast in his role as well, making it look easy, bringing a Harrison Ford “devil may care” attitude, and turning in a convincing and emotionally charged portrayal of Freddie. Lyman, and the very versatile Katz, both convey the requisite balance of friendliness and menace to breathe sinister life into their characters as well.
Ultimately, End Times succeeds on so many levels because of the talents of the group involved, the sum of its parts, so to speak. Owing a small debt to features as unrelated as Evil Dead, The Walking Dead, Escape From New York, and even The Stand, End Times is a cut above the vast majority of zombie films of this sub-genre because it commits. It doesn’t attempt to please everyone by trying to toe the line between gore and emotion. And one gets the impression that everyone involved made the film that they intended to make.
With a superbly paced script, avoiding the plodding pace of films in this particular thematic area code, and a stellar emotionally wrenching finale, End Times is a (dare I say?) great film, that should be a front and center to the cast and crew’s resumes. See? Despite the lack of close-up evisceration shots, and intestine munching, I loved it! Redemption IS possible…
End Times (formerly known as State of Desolation) is available everywhere on VOD.
