New zombie series Reality Z has just hit Netflix and well, people are either loving it or hating it. I just wish those negative reviews got past the halfway mark of the series. They obviously didn’t.
The thing is, every negative review I have read says stuff like “shot-for-shot remake of Dead Set, don’t waste your time”. It is clearly evident that the people who gave this show the negative reviews never got through the whole series. Yes, it does start off “almost” like a shot-for-shot remake of Dead Set but even that would make me want to go to rush to see it. Dead Set was fucking amazing…and guess what? Reality Z is every bit as good…if not better!
We have the Big Bother setting just like we did in Brooker’s 2008 original Dead Set which starred Jaime Winstone.
They have swapped things up a bit though. Instead of having just your normal media-hungry-whores as we do with Big Brother, they have changed it for the contestants to all play a Greek god. They are all in cosplay…but that really doesn’t matter. Just like Dead Set and Big Brother, they are still very much media-hungry-whores.
This is not a remake of Dead Set or a rip-off. It is very much a reimagining and one that is done right. When we hit the halfway mark, the series goes in a completely different direction – and shit only gets crazier. Just a shame, the folk who gave Reality Z a negative review didn’t make it past that part.
I don’t wanna give too much away. If you are willing to watch a remake of Dead Set (and why wouldn’t you?) and you wanna see how Brazil does some zombie action then Reality Z is a must-watch. Just know, that halfway through it goes in a completely different direction and stands proudly on its own.
It really ticks all the boxes for a zombie fan. It is rated 15c but trust me, it is way more gruesome than Dead Set and a hell of a lot of other zombie flicks out there. The zombies are Romero zombies and make-up and special fx are just fantastic.
Maybe it was just me but I am pretty sure I picked up so many small references to some of the zombie greats. It made me smile because whoever wrote this knows a hell of a lot about zombie films
References I noticed (see if you can spot them too)
- The Night Of The Living Dead
- Day Of The Dead
- Dawn Of The Dead
- Return Of The Living Dead Part 2
Reality Z consists of 10-episodes and is now available to stream on Netflix (Everywhere). As always, thanks for reading.
Words by Gary Gamble
Founder/Owner/BigCheese @ Moviehooker
