The zombie genre is one that is pretty crowded in the world of short horror films, and accordingly it is hard to do something new with it since the genre standards are effective and well trod. In the case of Rest we have an attempt to produce something of more emotional substance as there is no killing, no real gore and actually it is a story of a journey towards something we only discover at the end. All of this is commendable and it does deserve credit for trying to do something new with the zombie, however this is not the same as saying that the end result works – because it doesn't.
The opening shots are effective and at times throughout the film we get some great shots of our transient zombie – beautiful wide landscapes with great cinematography and choice of location. Problem is that, outside of these shots there is not a great deal to fill the overlong 10+ minute running time. The goal is admirable and the final scenes offer emotion but the problem is that the majority of the film will have pushed you away. Particularly the scenes from the zombies point of view – in other words blurry shots of NYC and moving though crowds. These shots add nothing and go on for far too long. It is a shame because the idea is fine and I like the concept of a zombie being driven by a compulsion for heart rather than brains, but the delivery gets lost in those beautiful wide shots and forgets everything else, assuming the viewer will just somehow go with it.
Points for trying and for some beautiful shots, but outside of these too much here falls far short of where it needed to be.
The opening shots are effective and at times throughout the film we get some great shots of our transient zombie – beautiful wide landscapes with great cinematography and choice of location. Problem is that, outside of these shots there is not a great deal to fill the overlong 10+ minute running time. The goal is admirable and the final scenes offer emotion but the problem is that the majority of the film will have pushed you away. Particularly the scenes from the zombies point of view – in other words blurry shots of NYC and moving though crowds. These shots add nothing and go on for far too long. It is a shame because the idea is fine and I like the concept of a zombie being driven by a compulsion for heart rather than brains, but the delivery gets lost in those beautiful wide shots and forgets everything else, assuming the viewer will just somehow go with it.
Points for trying and for some beautiful shots, but outside of these too much here falls far short of where it needed to be.
