Eaters (2011) Reviews

• One more to still the never ending hunger for zombie flicks…

  Coventry2011-04-23

  Uwe Boll's name proudly shining on the poster of a brand new and seemingly engrossing zombie movie… U-oh, that certainly brings back the (not so) fond memories of "House of the Dead". Don't worry just yet, because Mr. Boll apparently just produced the movie and counseled the two young but ambitious directors Luca Boni and Marco Ristori. When they came to the Belgian Fantastic Film Festival to introduce their movie, they told the audience that they literally sent out millions of emails and letters to acclaimed directors in the business, but Uwe Boll was the only one kind enough to reply. Say what you want about Uwe Boll but he's definitely not pretentious. "Eaters" certainly isn't a total waste of film, but the problem with zombie movies simply is that there have been far too many of them since the new millennium. Stories about world-devastating viruses and unstoppable plagues are all so damn derivative and uninspired, while the gore and make-up effects haven't been shocking anyone anymore since several years. "Eaters" unfortunately isn't an exception to this. The story simply revolves on a duo of embittered men, survivors of the great epidemic that wiped out all of humanity, who fill their days with nagging to each other and rounding up corpses – dead or alive ones - for research. Another survivor, a scientist named Gyno, hopes to diagnose the origin of the epidemic, which was supposedly spread intentionally by someone called the Plague Spreader. Apart from hunting for zombies, Igor and Alan also have to find food and evade a crazy bunch of next generation Nazis. There are undeniably a couple of nifty ideas and imaginative gimmicks in "Eaters", like the idea of a religious fanatic spreading the plague like a punishment from God or lunatic Nazi officers using the living dead for target practice, but these are underdeveloped whereas the main story lines revert to clichés. The dialogs between the two lead actors are mundane and stereotypical. Igor is a trigger-happy macho and Alan is introvert and depressed over the loss of his beloved fiancée. Uwe Boll's money was well spent on make- effects, however. The rotting corpses look suitably nasty and Gyno's medical experiments are quite engrossing. Good soundtrack, too.

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• A good low budget attempt

  TdSmth52012-10-02

  Two military/paramilitary guys who work with/for some scientist go out in the country to look for zombies for the scientist. In flashbacks we learn that the wife who is now a zombie used to be a scientist herself working on some project to improve humanity. While they are out there, they run into neo-Nazis for no good reason. These neo Nazis spend their time on some suicidal contest where a couple of them have to face a horde of zombies and the survivor wins. They also have a little Hitler stashed somewhere. While it looks like all youth has been extinguished our heroes rescue a teenage girl who will be the hope of humanity, if she survives her run-in with little Hitler. Our guys also discover truths about the science project and meet the main scientist who know is working for a scientist gone crazy. Eaters is gory and the effects are very good because they are different than the typical shiny latex used in US special effects. These are cruder which makes them more suited for a zombie movie. Despite the low budget, the movie has a decent look but it's your usual post-apocalyptic colorless look. Our two main characters aren't particularly likable though. There's not much of a main character. The story overall though is interesting and different.

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• High hopes, and a fail to deliver...

  paul_haakonsen2011-09-04

  Being a big fan of zombie movies, fiction, games, etc. I sat down to watch "Eaters" with a certain amount of expectation, because it was an Italian zombie movie, and it could be a glorious return to the genre for the Italian film industry. Now, having seen the movie, I sit here with a somewhat empty feeling inside. The movie had potential, but it just never took off. It was always on the brink of climaxing, but it just failed to take you that one step beyond, the one step that would have tipped the scale. And it should be said, that you shouldn't be avoiding this movie because of Uwe Boll's name on the credit list. He didn't have much to do with the movie actually. And lets face it, it is actually far better than the "House of the Dead" movie that he made. So don't get your parades up just because you see the name Uwe Boll. And on that note, he have actually some good movies to his name, but I am getting sidetracked here... The story in "Eaters" is pretty much as in most other zombie movies. The world as we know it has come to a gory end, an only a handful of survivors are left fending for their very lives. Yeah, sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it? Oh, and throw in a deranged scientist bent on exploiting this to his own gain. Again, sounding awfully familiar. There is nothing in this movie that is groundbreaking and innovating. Everything has been seen before. One thing that did puzzle me was why would neo-Nazis rise in the wake of a global disaster that turns people into zombies? That just didn't make any sense at all. However, I will say this though, the movie makers had a wicked sense of humor. When you see the new Führer, you will know what I mean. That was just hilarious. The acting in "Eaters" is fairly adequate. Nothing extravagant or out of the ordinary to be seen here. However, I had a hard time buying into the Igor character's personality. He was just too one-dimensional, and he quickly became a tad too much to behold. Not the actor, but the Igor character in the movie. There is a very gritty feel to the movie, with the surroundings and the colors used, and that worked well in favor of the movie. But it just wasn't enough to make it up for the slow pace the movie trotted in, nor was it able to make up for the lack of captivity or interest that the movie suffered from. The zombies in the movie, well most of them anyway, looked cool. And the effects were nice. Certain zombies had really nice and interesting make-up work done. I like that in movies, where you get to see gory details and see how much effort has been put into the undead. Hand on heart, then I actually dozed off once or twice during this movie, because nothing much interesting happened throughout the course of the movie. Nowhere near enough to keep my attention and my interest peaked. I am glad that I have seen it though, being the zombie aficionado that I am. However, this particular zombie movie just didn't rock my world in the least. And it is not really a movie I will be making a second trip back to watch. It is worth giving a go, if you are a big fan of zombie movies, just don't get your hopes up too high.

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• A little taste of Italian

  weemonk2011-09-21

  Not reviewed for a while but a zombie film is relatively easy to do and always worth it. So, we have here a nice little Italian entry into the over populated zombie movie genre. It seems there's a zombie film popping up every other week since 2005 and before that they were 'dead' hard to come by. So, I've stated before in reviews it is hard to breath new life into this genre (uninteded joke there) so if you can't do anything original, make sure that what you do ticks the required boxes for a good zombie flick.....and most of the boxes are ticked. The film isn't of the highest budget but with some good make-up, nice locations and good use of the visual effects they have - it's not noticeable. A strong part to this film is the 2 male leads. They work perfectly with each other and the bad ass bald guy just has a totally likable character about him. The story takes elements from Dawn/Day of the dead and mixes a little bit of Resident Evil in. The zombie make-up and good is of a good standard and the running time passes nicely by......except for the last 15 mins which feels rushed against the pace of the rest of film. Negatives - some characters are silly and the acting is not always the best. The story can be slightly confusing with unanswered plot points. If you're a zombie fan then this entry is worth checking out. As a casual viewer then this may not do. I enjoyed it for what it was.

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• Ahhhh, the Italians

  Heislegend2011-06-26

  One could certainly argue that the modern zombie films owe a great deal to the Italians. They created a time tested formula that worked. Plus they were never ones to skimp on the gore, and I deeply appreciate that. That being said, there are problems with this formula. Namely, that it's old. Eaters sticks quite well to the old Italian model, with it's clearly defined protagonists and antagonists, steady introduction of new characters, and healthy dose of violence. All of that works pretty well, but as this way of doing things is - perhaps a little too - time tested it feels a lot like you've seen it a million times. Maybe you have, but that doesn't really mean the movie's no good. It certainly has it's faults, but all in all I found it pretty enjoyable. The characters are well developed, the actors do a good job, and the practical special effects are surprisingly good for a film that feels like it was a little light on budget.

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