Colin(2008)

I'm a huge fan of low budget movies if you couldn't already tell. I would say that the majority of the films I've reviewed don't even come close to having a budget of 1 mil. Most of them are probably made for less than 100 grand. I do have standards and try to steer clear of no budget cinema though. There are some Troma flicks that I won't touch or have had to shut off within minutes of hitting the play button. I do have some taste, despite what you may have read. I recently discovered a movie with a budget so low it scared the shit out of me. Less than 100 bucks! How can anything worthy of a public viewing be made for under 100 bucks? It made me curious to see what kind of movie could be made for less than the price of my bar tab on a bad night. Not only was it made on shoestring budget, it also showed at Cannes. After finding this out there was no doubt in my mind I had to track down Colin(2008), even though I have almost reached the point of saying goodbye to zombie movies for good, I had to watch it.

Colin is the story of one young man's struggle with the loss of his own humanity. The movie starts with our name character discovering, in shock, that he has has some type of wound inflicted upon him. This is quickly followed by an attack of the undead variety, in which Colin comes out victorious, even though said victory is worth very little. You see, we quickly learn that Colin has been infected, and slowly begins the process of kissing life as he knows, goodbye. not that it really mattrs much , considering that London is currently going through a zombie apocalypse. As Colin begins his slow-moving voyage through the dead-infested streets of London, we start to see the metamorphosis from life to (un)death. The whole time seeing, despite the flesh eating, robbing of his shoes, and a run-in with his sister, there are still aspects of Colin's humanity that he is trying to hold onto.

The fading humanity is theme that kept my interest the most. Sure, empathizing with the undead has been done before (I heart Bub), but never have I seen a movie that follows the poor little zombie boy down the path of the damned, like this one does. In movies like Land of the Dead and Day of the Dead the poor, wittle flesheaters are secondary characters, and nothing but. Colin provides us with a first-person perspective on how much it sucks to be a zombie. It's a life constant starvation, shambling, and fighting for your food while under the constant threat of angry, human hordes. Doesn't sound like any life I would pay to have.

I read a couple of reviews over at IMDB(my best friend) from viewers who didn't think as highly of Colin as I did. Complaints about the camerawork, the acting, and comparisons to a student film. No shit, Sherlock!! This movie was made for less than 100 bucks, what do you expect? Yes, shaky cam is an annoying technique, but it was used to incite anxiety and wasn't used too much. As far as the acting was concerned, you don't need to be a fuckin' thespian to groan and shamble. This is flesh-eating, not a Shakespeare production. The actors were all volunteers and most under the age of 21, so it of course wreaked of student film. It damn well could have been a student film, but I don't give a shit. It was a damn good time and I will watch it over and over, and probably tell others about it.

Enough ranting, I think this is a must see for any fan of the horror genre. Lack of quality camera equipment was compensated for with quality digital filters and decent editing. The special effects were realistic and never lacking, and the soundtrack was creepy and kept the film intense. I wish the director well and can't wait to view future endeavors. I'll gladly give him 90 minutes of my time in the future.