By Ben Bussey
As high concept one sentence pitches go, ‘Jurassic Park with zombies’ isn’t a bad one. Playing on much the same vacation from hell theme, The Rezort presents us with a literally post-apocalyptic vision of a world which has survived a rampant zombie plague. A few years on, with the world’s (living) population reduced by two billion, the survivors do their best to carry on as if everything’s still the same as it used to be; but those with enough money can enjoy a whole new form of holiday by going on a zombie safari at the Rezort, an island hit hard by the plague where the infected masses were kept alive (or, y’know, undead) for paying customers to gun down at their leisure. We follow one boatload of guests as they head out for a few days of fun in the sun blasting zombies to bits. What could possibly go wrong?
It’s a simple premise for a fun, roller-coaster ride blockbuster, and that’s pretty much exactly what The Rezort is; although, as a largely UK-based production (shot primarily in Wales and Spain, the end credits tell us), it’s not on quite on the same scale as those we see from Hollywood. Not that this is to the detriment of director Steve Barker’s film, particularly; the Outpost director has made a handsome-looking piece of B-movie entertainment which makes for an unremarkable but enjoyable 90-odd minutes. Think Paul WS Anderson rather than Steven Spielberg. If that thought turns your stomach, move along; but if you’re quite content with genre fare at its most generic, you should get along with this film no problem.
Dougray Scott takes top billing as enigmatic American loner Archer; not the best choice of moniker if you ever happen to have watched the cartoon of the same name, and honestly not the best role for Scott to be cast in (neither his American accent nor his attempt at rugged Eastwood-esque charisma are entirely convincing). However, the real lead is Jessica De Gouw (previously seen in superior apocalyptic movie These Final Hours) as Melanie, a fragile soul who visits the Rezort under a therapist’s advice in the hopes that it will give her some closure over losing her father in the zombie war. She’s joined by Martin McCann as her ex-army boyfriend there for emotional support, and Elen Rhys as another enigmatic loner. Of course, not everyone comes to the Rezort to address deep-seated issues; many just want to shoot zombies for cheap thrills. To this end, the core ensemble is completed by two young London chavs, Jassa Ahluwalia and Lawrence Walker, who are there primarily to call each other ‘bruv’ and crack wise. So, we’ve got our tough guy alpha male, wounded emotional lead, annoying comic relief, and a spot of ambiguity as to who will remain true to the group and who will turn against them; all present and correct for a long walk to survival when, in a manner so borderline-identical to Jurassic Park it barely needs to be pointed out, a cyber-attack breaks down the Rezort’s safety parameters and the zombies are free to attack the guests. And just to add to that race against time aspect, they only have X amount of time before fighter jet are dispatched to nuke the place.
I’m starting to feel like a broken record here, but once again, all the elements are in place for a simple 90 minute action-adventure, which is precisely what we wind up with – and I struggle to find much more to say about The Rezort than that. It’s nothing special, and it’s unlikely to be remembered beyond first viewing, but for what it is, it’s absolutely fine. It doesn’t have any real surprises, nor does it have any real scares, nor do any of the action scenes present anything we haven’t seen before – but innovation is not essential to entertainment value. This is a passable way to spend an hour and a half when you’re in the mood for something unchallenging; nothing more, nothing less.
The Rezort is available on all major digital platforms now in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, via Content Media.