“Day Zero” Theatrical Poster
Director: Joey De Guzman
Cast: Brandon Vera, Pepe Herrera, Mary Jean Lastimosa, Joey Marquez, Ricci Rivero, Freya Fury Montierro, Yohance Levi Buie, Jema Galanza, Jovit Moya
Running Time: 82 min.
By Paul Bramhall
In the late 2010’s it began to feel like the Philippines film industry was finally stepping out of the insipid stupor it had spent most of the 21st century in, and was making a legitimate effort to produce some solid action filmmaking to catch up with its Southeast Asian neighbours. In the twilight years of the decade alone we got Erik Matti’s Buy Bust, Pedring Lopez’s Maria, Richard Somes’ We Will Not Die Tonight, and Vincent Soberano delivered a double whammy with The Trigonal: Fight for Justice and Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids. While none of them proved to be the watershed moment the likes of Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and even Cambodia had experienced, what couldn’t be argued is that things were heading in the right direction. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and like most countries any filmmaking endeavours were placed on ice for an extended period.
Thankfully in 2022 the local film industry started to pick itself up and shake off the dust, with Day Zero arriving by combining those always welcome bedfellows – the action and horror genres. A radio voiceover kicks off proceedings by explaining that a mutated version of dengue fever has emerged, one which causes its victims to turn into rabid zombies with a propensity for violence. Like any zombie movie that knows its worth, no further explanation is required (and we definitely don’t get any), with the familiarity zombie flicks come with since 28 Days Later re-popularised the genre 20 years ago meaning their success depends more on the execution of the ‘how’ than the ‘what’.
Day Zero is director Joey De Guzman’s sophomore feature length production after the 2019 horror The Ghosting, and it could well be the fact that the previously mentioned Erik Matti is on executive producer duty that the latter’s Buy Bust co-lead Brandon Vera here steps up to starring role status. Half Filipino and half Italian, Vera was originally a mixed martial artist who worked in both the UFC and ONE Championship promotions, before looking to try his hand at acting with his role in Buy Bust. Notably he hasn’t done any movie work since working with Erik Matti, and while it’d be easy to draw parallels with another half Filipino actor who came from a martial arts background, namely Dave Bautista, judging by his performance in Day Zero it’s fair to say he still has some way to go.
Playing a U.S. Special Forces member imprisoned in Manila for getting into a scuffle that led to the victim being permanently disabled (echoes of Donnie Yen’s angry cop in SPL!), any screen presence that Vera had in Buy Bust has here gone MIA, instead coming across as a somewhat gormless hulk. We learn he wants nothing more than to reunite with his wife, played by half Filipino half Iranian Miss Universe Philippines 2014 Mary Jean Lastimosa, and their definitely not inspired by A Quiet Place deaf mute daughter, played by newcomer Freya Fury Montierro. Predictably, by the time things get to the denim wearing zombie apocalypse and the prison becomes a free for all, Vera makes it his mission to get across town and find his loved ones. Oh, and he’ll do so with his effeminate comedy relief inmate from the inside, played by Pepe Herrera (Always Be My Maybe), who was also his sign language teacher (don’t ask).
Lastimosa and Montierro are of course having a hard time in their 7th floor apartment since the whole block is succumbing to the new strain of dengue fever, and considering the zombies react to sound more than sight, the fact that Montierro uses a bell to get attention naturally doesn’t bode well. The apartment block setting also allows us to meet the usual set of expendable characters – we get a young loved up couple, played by basketball player Ricci Rivero (Rabid) and volleyball player Jema Galanza (here making her acting debut), and of course the overprotective father, along with various other characters who don’t get enough screentime to be worth mentioning. Surprisingly Vera makes it across town with minimum trouble, and soon the family are reunited to battle zombies, indulge in sappy reconnection moments (usually involving sign language), and promise to never leave each other.
Frankly, there’s not an ounce of originality to be found in Day Zero, and the fact that its shooting locations are limited to a handful of rooms and corridors definitely doesn’t help. By far its biggest issue though is the ropey acting. I imagine the first question on the audition application form read something like “Are you a. half Filipino, or b. a popular sports star? Only proceed to complete the rest if you answer yes to either.” Every character feels like a cardboard cut-out, with Vera in particular making for the most unconvincing member of U.S. Special Forces who’s ever graced the screen, admittedly not helped by a script that largely limits his dialogue to short bursts of a few words at a time. I swear he utters “hurry!” at least 5 times during the punchy 80-minute runtime. Initially I thought it must be because he isn’t fluent in Tagalog, however upon further research it seems this isn’t the case, and it really is because the script is just weak.
The zombies themselves at least look the part, even if they do fall into that category of only having their face made up to look undead, and the rest of any flesh on show look perfectly normal. While there’s some decent flourishes of CGI for certain kills, there’s a surprising lack of any real gore, with any scene involving zombies eating people consisting of the person being bitten showing a pained expression and little else. There’s also a bizarre habit of showing blood splatter in isolation, so a zombie gets shot in the head – cut to a shot of a wall having blood thrown at it. A zombie has its neck cut – cut to a shot of a wall with blood running down it. The lack of connectivity in the editing makes much of the pacing frequently feel disjointed, which when combined with some less than stellar line delivery, often gives a slightly off kilter feel to proceedings.
My favorite revelation though goes to the fact its revealed that, if there’s no one around for zombies to chase after, they take a nap. I’m not sure if this was an intentional choice that allowed for more zombies to be onscreen at once without them all needing to be given zombie makeup, since the preferred napping style of the zombie is to squat and hold their head in their hands so you can’t really see their face, but either way it made me laugh. This whole napping concept isn’t a theory on my part either, its actually explained on the radio broadcast. If 28 Days Later popularised the running zombie, could Day Zero be responsible for popularising the napping zombie!?
Action wise there’s little to write home about. My heart sank when Vera finds himself surrounded by 5 knife wielding inmates within the first 10 minutes, who then proceed to come at him one by one, while the others gently wave their blades around meaninglessly. That kind of background weapon waving may have worked in 70’s Shaw Brothers movies, but not a close quarter fight scene in 2022. There is some promise on display in the final reel when Vera goes on a one-man rampage armed with a machine gun, a dagger, and his fists and feet against a small army of zombies. The sequence has an energy to it that’s been lacking up until that point, but certainly not enough to make the rest forgivable, and I have the distinct feeling it’s one of those instances were an average scene impresses because the rest has been so mundane.
With shoddy acting, inconsistent pacing, and dubious continuity, Day Zero is a hard sell for even the most dedicated zombie fan, offering up little more than recycled scenes from any number of other zombie movies, most of which I’d be willing to bet are far superior. In the closing line before the end credits roll the radio announcer says, “May the lord have mercy on us.” If you decide to give Day Zero a shot, then I wish the same for you.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 3/10
