It took twelve years before this franchise lurched from the grave. Interestingly, it ties itself loosely to the first three films, introducing us to a company Hybra-Tech. They are the go to guys for stopping zombie outbreaks. According to the opening commercial, the last zombie outbreak was twelve years ago, suggesting this is the same universe as the previous films.
A group of teens are racing on their bikes when one of the kids gets into a severe accident. The kids run to the hospital after their friend only to find out he never arrived at the hospital. Katie (one of the friends and a potential love interest for Julian), who works at Hybra-Tech to raise money for college, calls to say she saw their friend brought into Hybra-Tech’s fortress of a building. Julian has an Uncle working at Hybra-Tech. Uncle Charles has cared for Julian and his little brother since their parents died a year prior. They sneak in with Katie’s help. Of course, things go very wrong, zombie get loose and most devastating for Julian, Uncle Charles had Julian’s dead parents exhumed and used in experiments to weaponize zombies.
The movie is still a pretty serious affair, centered around gore and people running away from zombies. The zombies are mostly verbally inarticulate except for the friend who was hurt, he has a lot of personality as a zombie, gleefully eating brains and conversing with his friends.
The zombie effects are decent enough, though not quite to the level of, say the Walking Dead. The story, on the other hand is cobbled together from previous films, substituting Hybra-Tech for the military. This is not a problem if the film is interesting, but that is not the effect here. This is a pretty sub par sequel and a pretty dull affair.
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