Vanguard

Had the misfortune to buy this movie thinking it was going to be entertaining... what a load of old rubbish, one for the recycling bin!

A first feature film from Matthew Hope, not bad for a first effort.

I am a lover of zombie films especially the of the italian kind. I found this film to be a bit slow really with not enough gore. It's ok for a low budget first film, but the pace of the story doesn't quite move quick enough. A promising start but expecting more for the next film. For now, i'd buy a romero film instead!

I hate to stereotype low budget films such as this one but unfortunately if you have no money to spend on special effects, make up, music, video editing or other essential extras you really need to rely on a strong script and good acting.( perhaps and up and rising actor?)Unfortunately this is not the case as I could not get into the film at all and found none of the characters believable.If anything there was times when I was left confused by the script, 'Rage crazed zombies' would bizzarly run past humans even after spotting them, characters said things that made no sense, the main character who is deaf speaks perfect english which is bizarre as in the first 40 minutes he says nothing at all, I even saw 2 cameramen in the background of just one scene.As for the ending it was just as disappointing as the film.There are so many problems with this film I would recommend giving this a miss unless you want to find out for yourself.

I don't think I've ever been so disappointed with a purchase. The Vanguard is unbelievably awful. I kept watching, waiting for the pace to quicken, waiting for something to happen, waiting for the story to go somewhere- but then it ended.I'm sure there was a good idea in there somewhere, at some point.The idea of overpopulation, lack of oil and zombie outbreak all rolled into one film sounded intriguing. However, for the first half hour, we watch a man (i.e. The Vanguard) wondering around in the middle of a forest, occasionally provoking zombies in order to study them. In the next half hour, he meets an army rescue team who join him in wondering around the forest aimlessly, arguing now and then. The final half hour goes something along the lines of how the group get bored and turn on each other.The Vanguard tries to justify the fact that nothing happens with a droning, mono-toned voiceover, detailing all the death and destruction that's taken place before-hand; this quickly becomes incredibly irritating.Other than this, The Vanguard has several other irritating factors: The acting is painful to watch, the limited dialogue sounds as if it were written by a 5 year-old and the director has absolutely no idea how to shoot a horror film. Don't even get me started on the 'zombies'. Let's just say that a zombie costume should consist of more than face-paint, contact lenses and ripped clothes. (In one particularly embarrassing scene, you actually see a zombie's make-up running as the actor begins to sweat.) Honestly, zombie effects were 10 times more effective than these in the 60s.Ultimately, The Vanguard is a boring, embarrassing and disappointing mess. Try not to be fooled, as I was, by the decent production values- they reach the furthest extremities of false marketing. If you're after a decent low-budget zombie movie, go for Danny Boyle's classic 28 Days Later or even the surprisingly effective remake of Dawn Of The Dead.

Really enjoyed this film. It's flawed, especially in the middle where the pace drags a bit, but there are so many entries into this genre I was just impressed to see someone trying to do something a bit different with it. The characters are interesting, Ray Bullock Jnr gives a really amazing performance as the lead and the film looks great.While a bigger budget would've helped the size and scope of the film that's no reason not to try and tell a story like this and as far as I'm concerned I'm really glad they did. Originality is scare these days, about as scarce as British genre films, and I think it should be applauded wherever possible.