We Bury the Dead: A Curiously Insubstantial Character Drama That Features Zombies (Blu-ray)

The Film:

When it comes to sub-genres of horror, aside from your typical slashers, curses, and hauntings, there is perhaps no other area that has been more overdone than zombies. In terms of finding anything original to do with the undead, it's practically impossible, leading to a multitude of films that merely have the same old cliched band of survivors trying to survive an outbreak during its outset or after the fact. However, despite it being a heavily-trafficked area of cinema, there are filmmakers out there still willing to take up the challenge of trying to give us something that we haven't seen before, which brings us to Zak Hilditch's "We Bury the Dead," a zombie film that isn't exactly your typical zombie film. Will he be able to give fans of the genre something unique & compelling, or will trying to do something a little outside the box end up doing more harm than good?

In the wake of the United States accidentally detonating an experimental weapon off the coast of Tasmania, volunteers are brought to the island to collect the bodies of the deceased, some of which were instantly killed, while others have been rendered brain dead. One of these volunteers is Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley), whose is searching for her husband who had been on a business trip there. As she soon finds out, some of the brain-dead victims are beginning to regain control of their motor functions and becoming aggressive, making their humanitarian effort more dangerous than originally thought. However, this doesn't deter her from her mission, which will have her traversing the island and facing unknown dangers, all in the hope of finding her husband alive & well.

"We Bury the Dead" starts off with a rather unusual premise, one for which we don't really get much in the way of detail as to why or how it happened, but which is really only meant to act as a catalyst for its set-up. The scenario that Hilditch presents does have quite a lot of potential in terms of what could possibly happen on this desperate & dangerous journey to find one person, potential that's increased by the intriguing emotional thread running through it. As Ava goes about her mission, just like her, we're wondering if her husband is still alive, if he's been affected, or if she'll even be able to discover what happened at all, all of which are questions that help set a fair amount of tension & curiosity as it builds to the answers.

However, this is unfortunately where the film stumbles quite a bit, for as it tries to build up that tension, it struggles greatly in simply giving Ava anything compelling to do along her journey. As she heads into the restricted part of the island, she naturally runs into a soldier who tries to stop her, leading to some strange & awkward scenes that don't really lead anywhere, and, of course, she runs into a zombie or two that are somewhat violent. The latter of these ends up being one of the film's biggest and most curious problems. Hilditch set out to make a zombie film, but sadly there are hardly any zombies to be found, let alone any that present a serious danger.

It could simply be that he actually wanted to make a character drama that was always meant to only tangentially involve zombies, but if that was indeed the goal, then a lot more effort needed to be put into developing the story so that the audience could stay engaged with Ava every step of the way. After all, we're supposed to remain gripped by what she's going to find at the end of the road, so to have the audience be frustrated & mildly bored along the way is certainly not going to do it any favors.

When all is said and done, we end up with a strangely anti-climactic ending that sadly didn't make the journey really worth taking in the first place, which is rather unfortunate because the set-up is a pretty interesting one. It's one that could've gone in several different, intriguing directions as Ava dives into the unknown, but the writing just isn't there to support it, ultimately leaving us with an odd little character drama (featuring a handful of zombies) that really needed more substance to make it come to life.

Video/Audio:

"We Bury the Dead" comes to Blu-ray in a 2.39:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of outstanding quality, presenting a perfectly sharp & clear picture throughout its entire 95-minute duration, even in the darkest of scenes. Likewise, the 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital audio tracks are fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Vertical Entertainment has done a great job in both areas for the film's physical debut.

Special Features:

None.

Conclusion:

Zak Hilditch's "We Bury the Dead" is a curious horror outing that wants to be part character drama and part zombie thriller, but which sadly doesn't feature enough compelling substance to truly bring its intriguing premise to life, ultimately making for a rather bland and forgettable experience that's let down by its ineffective writing.

Score: 2.5/5

Now available on Blu-ray.

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