Review: Block Z

Release date: March 13, 2020
Running time: 101 minutes
Starring: Joshua Garcia, Julia Barretto, Ian Veneracion 

Block Z is a well done Filipino zombie movie where a medical school / hospital gets overrun by the undead.  A few of the student survivors must band together to make their way to the only path for escape.  However, they are severely outnumbered and running out of time.  They must work together to make their way through this new zombie nightmare before succumbing themselves to this infection.    

Block Z is a refreshing zombie film because its effects are no frills, old school with a commitment to solid blood and zombie action.  There is almost no CGI; all the zombie effects are good acting, make up, and gore.  The zombies in this film are more of the Romero-style, strong, relentless, fast zombies that will pursue at any cost.  And the actors who portray them do an amazing job of making their movements and mannerisms seem otherworldly.  Movement is jerky and they come off as feral and voracious, a testament to the entire crew of this film.  The movie also does a great job of getting a varied cast of characters together and having them interact throughout the story.  The cast is different enough, with different strengths and motivations, to keep you entertained.  Sometimes they will go off in separate groups, and seeing how these different groups accomplish tasks in parallel and intersect is fun to see.  

However, Block Z is old school, no frills, but it also does not have anything really different than what we have seen before.  It didn't seem like the movie did much on top of being a solid zombie film: the zombies were what you would expect, the story was not overly complicated, and the journey was enjoyable but didn't stray too far from the tried and true.  And the writing overall was fairly good but there were some ridiculous, overly dramatic lines, and some odd character's included.  However, don't let those minor complaints hold you off from seeing this great zombie film. Block Z knows what its strengths are and caters to that.  

Block Z is an enjoyable, old school zombie film that foregoes CGI in favor of great acting, make-up, and an enjoyable cast of characters. 

Rent it