Another ruinous no-budget zombie flick that helps to drive this particular sub-genre further into the ground. HUMANS VS ZOMBIES is apparently based on a live-action roleplaying game of the same name, one that's popular in colleges across the USA. As a film, it's entirely devoid of wit, intelligence, and merit.

A toxic leak at a chemical plant results in a zombie epidemic and some geeky roleplaying kids are the only ones who have a chance to fight back. That's the extent of the storyline, and for the rest of the running time we get stuck with a group of annoying teenage characters as they outrun zombies over and over again.

There are the requisite shoddy gore effects, crowds of bloody zombies, and low rent action, and all of it is captured by a director barely capable of shooting a watchable film. In the end, though, it's the poor quality script - one which is entirely derivative of pretty much every zombie flick that's come before - which scuppers this mess of a movie.

The film starts out with a zombie virus infection breach then goes headlong into a world infestation. There is a 2 weeks interval between the events. The comic book that comes with the DVD goes into more detail, but really doesn't add anything to the explanation which was given later in the film, one which I really appreciated as it pretended to have some basis in fact. The action takes place on a college campus where students engage in a game called "Humans vs. Zombies." These students believe they are zombie experts and then the apocalypse happens (Rev. 20:13).

Zombie movies are pretty much the same. Find a safe haven, purge zombies. It is the characters that separate great zombie films from pack. I liked the zombies eating people in front of the "Humanities" building and the characters in this film:

Tommi (Dora Madison Burge): She has a gamer web site and is a hot cyber chick all the guys want, especially James. She is pretty, smart, savvy, and can make quick decisions. She is the person in charge in the room.

James (Jesse Ferraro): He is the football player who wants Tommi and the man she wouldn't have sex with even if he was the last man on earth...not to be taken as an omen or anything. He could have any girl, but wants the one he can't have.

Danny (Jonah Priour): He is the studious roommate of James who engages in zombie games. He is our voice of reason, our Jesse Eisenberg from "Zombieland." He likes Amanda and shares with her the secret of the zombie metaphor.

Amanda (Melissa Carnell): Pretty coed whose clothes everyone borrows. She also has a working shower...I think you know where this is going.

Frank (Frederic Doss): Campus Security guard who believes in conspiracy theories. He contends the Illuminati let loose this virus and fellow guard Billy (Matthew Downs) is an alien. In a way he is glad this infection has happened as a point of vindication. Favorite line: "Back the F-up, zombie trash."

Brad (Chip Joslin): He is the reason I FIVE starred this film. He is the "Jack Black" of zombie killers; a humorous over-the-top slightly overweight guy who has funny quips like "You don't take a sandwich to the beach." He lives to kill zombies. I wish he was in more scenes.

PARENTAL GUIDE: F-bomb, brief sex, nudity (Taylor Kowald whose shower is broke.) Not as good as "Zombieland", but then what is?

Okay, we all know the drill by now: A motley assortment of desperate characters are forced to set aside their differences and work together in order to remain alive after a mysterious virus causes an outbreak of ferocious flesh-eating zombies. So far, so familiar. But fortunately director Brian T. Jaynes, who also co-wrote the clever and inspired script with Devan Sagliani, neatly pokes fun at the standard genre conventions by making the central protagonists a bunch smartaleck college students with above average survival instincts thanks to all the video games they've played concerning zombie infestations. Moreover, Jayne relates the lively and entertaining story at a constant brisk pace, stages the zombie attack scenes and action set pieces with tremendous rip-roaring brio, delivers a handy helping of graphic gore, develops a considerable amount of tension and a strong feeling of mounting dread, and tops it all off with a wickedly amusing sense of pitch-black humor. Better still, Jayne not only keeps everything at a poignant human level (several characters express dismay when their friends get killed),but also comes through with an admirably hard-edged take-no-prisoners attitude that stays savagely true to itself to the devastating bitter end. In addition, the enthusiastic cast have a ball with the wild material, with especially stand-out work from Madison Burge as sassy and sarcastic gamer babe Tommi, Melissa Campbell as the sweet and adorable Amanda, Frederic Doss as gung-ho paranoid conspiracy freak security guard Frank, Chip Joslin as rowdy and obnoxious hipster Brad, Jonah Priour as shy and awkward virginal geek Danny, and Jesse Ferraro as amiable hunky jock James. Francois Frazat's crisp cinematography boasts plenty of cool bird's eye view camera shots and gives the picture an impressive sharp look. Maigin Blank's dynamic throbbing score does the pulse-pounding trick. A total blast.