The Plague (2006)

The Plague, otherwise known as Clive Barker's The Plague, is a movie that capitalizes on the zombie resurgence. Barker served as a producer of the movie, and that was about it. Sticking his name on it is bit of marketing spin, but it did little to help this movie make it to the theatres. The movie itself wasn't all that bad. The acting was OK for this sort of thing, and the cinematography was good. The premise was a battle of the generations, with a zombie twist to spice things up.

Ten years ago, the story goes, children around the world were infected by a plague. Doctors know nothing about it, and have never found out what it was that infected the children. The infected children, all nine years old or younger, went into a coma. Since then, they've been cared for -- some at hospitals, in large wards -- some at home, by parents who still love them and are waiting for them to wake up.

Fast forward to today, and all hell breaks loose when the children wake from their ten year slumber, in a pissed off mood. Around the world, they're out hunting everybody who were not struck by the plague. They share some collective intelligence. Each learning from what the others are experiencing. That means in no time, they've disabled all vehicles and have learned to use guns. They also seem incredibly strong and can withstand a few good blows, and sometimes bullets. Yup, zombies.

The first half of the movie moves with a slow, steady and almost uneventful pace, with characters being developed. For some reason, there's repeated references to Grapes of Wrath, but I can't figure out why. When the kids wake up however, the pace of the movie jumps in high gear. The running, the screaming, the hysterics and purposeful zombie gait of the murderous children. It's a battle of the generations, as one seeks to obliterate the other.

This would have been alright for a zombie movie, but then suddenly, out of nowhere, religion is introduced. And I don't mean the, "Oh God! Oh God! We're all going to die!" sort of religion. I mean suddenly, this isn't about a plague, this is about retribution of some sorts, with the almighty pulling the strings to push the restart button on humanity. Or so I'm guessing. The movie is not quite clear on the whole idea. The end just comes abruptly. The kids suddenly stop their killing because one guy gives himself as a sacrifice to the kids. There was something about "having no fear when the children come." Something like that anyway.

The end threw, what was shaping up to be a good zombie movie, into sheer confusion. It took the entire movie away from the zombie-crazy audience, and left them with, WTF? Some people over at IMDB [registration required] think they can explain the movie, but I don't buy the explanations. Too many holes.