Announced in 2014 under the title GENERATION Z, a Michael Crichton-inspired zombie film from director Steve Barker is now making its way out into the world with the title THE REZORT.
Dougray Scott, Jessica De Gouw, Martin McCann , Elen Rhys, Claire Goose, and Jassa Ahluwalia star in the film, which is being described as "JURASSIC WORLD meets The Walking Dead" because it's set
after an almost-apocalyptic zombie outbreak. Humans have won the war and are exploring how humanity can recover after such a huge percentage of the population has been wiped out. Humankind finally has the upper hand, but Melanie, who lost her entire family, is still deeply traumatised. In a bid to overcome the demons of her past, she goes on a zombie safari retreat. It is the ultimate in therapeutic revenge.
The ReZort is actually a highly controlled and monitored environment, with a maze of concealed security cameras, restraints and barriers. The eyes and ears of trained security personnel are on the guests 24/7, ensuring a safe shooting distance between the living and the undead. That is until the resort’s security system is hacked and a computer virus crashes it, potentially unleashing thousands of bloodthirsty zombies back into the wild.
Screenwriter Paul Gerstenberger is very open about the fact that Michael Crichton's JURASSIC PARK and WESTWORLD were direct influences on his script. "The parallels to both films are clear, in that THE REZORT is set in a Safari Park on an island, where an environment is created for entertainment for visitors to interact with unnatural entities, but eventually become overrun by the inhabitants under containment."
Sounds like fun to me, and the trailer below, which still has the GENERATION Z title on it, makes the film look like an action-packed good time.
THE REZORT will have several screenings at the Edinburgh International Film Festival over the next nine days (showings were scheduled for the 15th, 17th, 18th, and 24th). Content Media will be releasing the film in the UK later this year.