They Walk

They Walk is the first feature-length film directed by Charles House II. The film follows five groups of survivors, each modeled after an era of zombie cinema, after a meteor shower brings the reanimation of the recently deceased. The film was independently produced and shot primarily in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Plot synopsis

The film starts by following a young couple, John and Nicole, through a graveyard, shortly after leaving a party. While the couple hears distant sounds, small meteorites hitting the ground nearby, and are well aware of the meteor shower passing that night, they distract themselves, and John is hit in the back with a meteorite. He is killed while lying on top of Nicole, who passes out from his dead weight. She wakes to find him gone, and in searching for him, finds he has turned into some sort of creature, a zombie.

Back at the party, a large group of friends drinks and ignores the meteor shower, and where their friends may have gone. In the morning, some of the party-goers have disbursed, and John's roommate Dennis, and his girlfriend Lisa, become worried about them. They join the party-goers from the night before and discuss what to do to remain safe, having seem the aftermath of the zombie outbreak on the news and when driving through town. The group forms four separate plans and takes up arms, just before finding the reanimated John and Nicole in the front yard and dealing with them. One of the home owners, Mike, is killed in the fray just before the others leave.

Stephen, the owner of the party home, having put an end to his roommate Mike after being fatally wounded and torn apart by the reanimated couple, begins to get drunk and regale himself with stories from his past. He arms himself with a revolver and spends time thinking about his roommate, the current situation, and his life prior to the epidemic. He remembers a high school love, Suzie, and how they stopped talking just before graduation. To his surprise, Suzie finds herself knocking at his door, her family having been killed. She has been bit, and Stephen must decide how to handle her, knowing that the bites are fatal and what will become of her.

Two couples, Scott and Lauren and friends Eric and Sarah, decide to pack up supplies and head to somewhere that they might be able to fortify, a more expendable place, rather than board up Stephen's apartment in the event that the epidemic would be short-lived. They come upon a stranded man, Brian, who tells them of an abandoned house he was aware of. The group fortifies the rather run-down abandoned house, boarding windows and learning to use their weapons. Lauren has been scratched in the fray with John and Nicole, and Sarah tends to the wound. When the undead make their way into the first floor of the house, the group head upstairs and burn the staircase, leaving them safe, but without a way down. Brian later admits he did not search the upstairs fully, and this coupled with Lauren's slow but potential death add to the group's dire situation.

Dennis and Lisa decide to flee in their car rather than returning home, assuming that the epidemic was localized. They find the back roads to be the safest, but eerily empty, as if those fleeing by car had left hours before. When signal is available, the radio tells of the outbreak being a highly debated topic, some suggesting the undead to simply be sick people, mentally or physically, while others suggest it to be the end of times. After hours of driving, the couple hit a roadblock, abandoned cars and bodies lying along the road randomly, but only occasionally. They arm themselves with firearms found in the trunk of an abandoned vehicle, but the roadblock appears to be the end of the road for the couple entirely.

The front man for a local rock band leaves Stephen's apartment at leisure and takes his time getting back to his band and playing their scheduled show as if nothing were unusual. This proves to be somewhat of a mistake, and the band members pay for the mistake.

A group of punk rockers, a "band" themselves, though having no real songs or talent, had left the party early, complaining about the "losers who can't hold their booze." In the morning, the leader of group, Hogger, and his girlfriend Engine, find their roommates gone. They return with boxes of stolen goods, babbling about the crazed city and the "sickos" shambling about, one of which has taken a bite out of the roommate's arm. Dismemberment, B-movie antics, and an arm-mounted weapon made from a flower pot, shotguns, and zip ties follow.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack and score consists of entirely original music created by CJM Venter. Venter had originally met the director on a musician's forum, and promptly began creating a number of themes for the five groups, as well as the main theme, which is shadowed throughout the film in different ways. The soundtrack also features music from The Demon Beat (guitarist Adam Meisterhans playing the unnamed "Guitarist" character in the film), The Goddamn Hills, and Jessie Jenkins.

Release and festivals

The film premiered at the first annual Zombcon in Seattle, Washington in 2010. Though this cut was a Festival Cut, primarily released to meet this event's date over Halloween weekend, the film was available for sale on DVD on a limited basis at the event and online. The final cut will be premiered in Shepherdstown, WV on March 29, 2011. It is expected to play at a number of horror and independent film festivals and events.

Reviews

• Dread Central pre-release write-up
• Renerd write-up
• Horror News.Net write-up
• Zombies Drule article

References

External links

• Official movie site
• Official movie Facebook page
• They Walk at the Internet Movie Database
• They Walk IMFDB page
• Interview with the director at Zombcon 2010 on YouTube
• Zombie Film
• Zombie Film List