Partially thanks to the massive success of films like World War Z and TV shows like AMC's The Walking Dead, recent years have seen a veritable flood of zombie-related media flooding both the big and small screens. Unlike other enduring horror monsters like vampires and werewolves though, the zombie is actually a pretty recent invention. Prior to George A. Romero's seminal 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead, "zombies" were just unfortunate people under the control of voodoo spells. It was Romero who created zombies as the world knows them today: the risen dead who return to feast on the flesh of the living.

Understandably, most zombie movies and shows present a world where the undead menace has caused - or will soon cause - a full-on apocalypse scenario, in which humans are now the endangered species. This is, after all, what Romero did . Much less common is the zombie story in which the problem was first contained then outright overcome by humanity, leading to a world where the existence of the undead is just another accepted fact of life. This is the type of setting employed by British zombie film The Rezort.

Seemingly taking a cue from things like Westworld and Jurassic Park, The Rezort presents a world where a zombie outbreak happened, but a total apocalypse was averted. Now, the rich can pay to fly to the titular location, a private island complex where guests can get a thrill by grabbing the weapon of their choice and blasting away at captive zombies. It's akin to shooting fish in a barrel, but attendees still seem to enjoy it. Unfortunately, their good times soon end, as a security malfunction releases the zombies, and chaos ensues. As the above trailer says, the hunters just became the hunted.

Primarily composed of European actors who've yet to do much in the states, the cast of The Rezort is unlikely to be recognizable to U.S. audiences, outside of two people. The first is Dougray Scott, recently of Fear the Walking Dead and Taken 3. He also starred in the Netflix series Hemlock Grove. The second is Jessica De Gouw, who played The Huntress on The CW's Arrow and Mina on NBC's short-lived Dracula series.

With so many zombie offerings currently out there, it's refreshing to see something like The Rezort come along and put an original spin on things. Hopefully for horror fans, this attempt at freshening up the zombie genre works even close to as well as did last year's Train to Busan, a critically acclaimed South Korean film that put the flesh-eating monsters on a moving train.

The Rezort arrives on all major North American VOD platforms next Tuesday, January 17.

Source: Content Movies