IF bare-knuckled martial arts and apocalyptic zombie fare are what you’re after, then Thai action film Ziam might just reel you in.
Now streaming on Netflix, director Kulp Kaljareuk serves up horror fans spirited fight scenes and gore aplenty, but he doesn’t seem overly committed to the possibilities this gratuitous undead calamity brings.
This Southeast Asian flick has plenty going for it but, sadly, it doesn’t take any risks or try and break its ghoulish mould. It’s let down by a halfhearted final act, while setting itself up for what will probably be a reserved and rather disappointing sequel, and proves as memorable as an Irish Eurovision entry.
The film kicks off with Planet Earth in the death throes and facing environmental collapse as food shortages finds Thailand’s tyrannical government clambering for control as all out anarchy looms. There was the makings of something distinct here, but Kaljareuk missed the boat.
The miracle cure to the ‘Land of Smiles’ starvation problems ends up turning everyone in its path into flesh-eating zombies with a resemblance to hideous fang-toothed fishies from the ocean’s floor. Of course, that’s all down to the crates of unappetising seafood, brimming over with deadly bacteria, that ends up being chowed down on at the local hospital.
Ziam stars Mark-Prin Suparat as Singh, a former professional Muay-Thai fighter, who dreams of retiring to a peaceful life with his girlfriend, Rin (Nychaa-Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich), a doctor in the hospital where the zombie virus is unleashed. A one-man army, with neither shotgun nor machete, Singh uses his hard-hitting fists of steel to kick some serious walking dead backsides.
He takes it on himself to try and save Rin and a young boy named Buddy (Vayla-Wanvayla Boonnithipaisit) from the fiendish offensive at the overrun hospital. But the clock is ticking down against him with the military preparing to blow the building to smithereens.
Alas, it all sounds a lot better in black and white!
(2/5)
