Handling the Undead: Sundance London Film Review
The zombie subgenre has been done to death (pun intended) but I can’t resist it, hence why I made a beeline for the Norwegian horror Handling the Undead.
After a blackout and weird electrical goings-on, the dead start coming back to life! The film follows three families as they are thrown into chaos by the return of a loved one. Anna (Renate Reinsve) is reunited with her deceased son, David (Anders Danielsen Lie)’s wife Tora (Bahar Pars) dies and immediately wakes up – but she is clearly not the same person – and Tora (Bente Børsum) finds her dead wife Elisabet (Olga Damani) alive in her home shortly after the funeral.
This is an interesting and unexpected take on the zombie subgenre. If you’re expecting a mainstream gorefest with lots of blood, guts and kills, you will be sorely disappointed. Handling the Undead takes a more grounded, human approach and the returnees aren’t your typical zombies – they are simply strange reanimated individuals – and their loved ones have to figure out what to do with them.
While I appreciated the fresh approach and performances (particularly Danielsen Lie’s), Handling the Undead was too slow and quiet for me. There was a strong sense of tension that built throughout the story (the score helped with this) and it reached a satisfying conclusion but I struggled to engage with it and found my attention waning. Who knew a zombie film could be so dull?
I respected Handling the Undead but I prefer more horror and thrills in my zombie films!
Screening at Sundance London this weekend