‘3 Hours till Dead’ is an indie zombie film about an AWOL soldier who, along with his friends on their way home from a camping trip, comes across a farm and are forced to hide out there when they’re attacked by the living dead. It’s filmed in the style of ’28 Days Later’ with a shaky handheld camera look, which works well for the tone. Although it contains some clichés from the zombie genre (they’re hard to avoid at this point), it does bring something new to the genre as the zombies can only live for a certain amount of time – for 3 hours, I’m guessing, but the rules of the film aren’t exactly made clear. It would have been better to establish it earlier on in the film but it’s still an interesting concept, it just could have been handled better and explored more as it seems like it wasn’t fully thought out.
Although some of the acting wasn’t so great – especially from Hans Potter as Stu – Vladimir Zaric as Joe stood out as someone to look out for in the future. After looking the film up on iMDb, it turns out this is only his second film which makes his performance even more impressive. It’s also important to bear in mind that the film was partially funded by an Indiegogo campaign, and it appears that the actors and crew volunteered to work on the film. Furthermore, to be fair to Hans and some of the other actors, the writing wasn’t always that great which probably affected some of the performances. For example, there’s one scene in the car early in the film that completely lacks subtlety and just offers up the backstory for Stu and Joe. It feels incredibly awkward and forced, and this part especially could have been presented in a less obvious way.
I enjoyed this film far more than I thought I would, and there are some great moments, particularly in terms of cinematography. The effort that went into making such a low budget film is apparent despite there being some problems with it (mostly with the writing and some of the acting), and the limitations of location and other independent filmmaking problems are handled well. It’s also worth mentioning that the zombie make-up is done brilliantly and looks very realistic – and very gross. If you’re a fan of the zombie genre and want to see something that tries to be a little different without being too gimmicky, it’s worth watching even if just out of curiosity.
Although some of the acting wasn’t so great – especially from Hans Potter as Stu – Vladimir Zaric as Joe stood out as someone to look out for in the future. After looking the film up on iMDb, it turns out this is only his second film which makes his performance even more impressive. It’s also important to bear in mind that the film was partially funded by an Indiegogo campaign, and it appears that the actors and crew volunteered to work on the film. Furthermore, to be fair to Hans and some of the other actors, the writing wasn’t always that great which probably affected some of the performances. For example, there’s one scene in the car early in the film that completely lacks subtlety and just offers up the backstory for Stu and Joe. It feels incredibly awkward and forced, and this part especially could have been presented in a less obvious way.
I enjoyed this film far more than I thought I would, and there are some great moments, particularly in terms of cinematography. The effort that went into making such a low budget film is apparent despite there being some problems with it (mostly with the writing and some of the acting), and the limitations of location and other independent filmmaking problems are handled well. It’s also worth mentioning that the zombie make-up is done brilliantly and looks very realistic – and very gross. If you’re a fan of the zombie genre and want to see something that tries to be a little different without being too gimmicky, it’s worth watching even if just out of curiosity.
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