Snatch review

Snatch is a 2000 Crime comedy film written and directed by Guy Ritchie. The film is set in London and contains two intertwined plots: one following the search for a stolen diamond and the other with a promoter of illegal fights, Turkish (Jason Statham). Among the search for the stolen diamond are Avi (Dennis Farina), an American "businessman;" Brick Top (Alan Ford), the swine aficionado; and incompetent pawn-shop operators Vinny (Robbie Gee), Sol (Lennie James) and Tyrone (Ade).

The film was very ‘tongue and cheek’ and had many moments of amusement. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with Brad Pitt’s character Mickey because they put emphasise of his Irish accent so much so that they made out even the characters had no idea what he was saying, and from watching it, it sounds like even Pitt didn’t understand what he was talking about. By putting the characters in the same position as you it really involves the audience with the film making you feel the same emotions and expressions. For me I payed more attention to the comedy side of this double genre film, then the crime because although the crime was the genre that circulated throughout, the comedic parts would catch you by surprise and therefore grabbed my focus.

Snatch confirms writer/director Guy Ritchie as a filmmaker with a strong visual eye, an ability to create memorable characters and write often funny dialogue. The films editing in particular courtesy of Jon Harris has helped crate and energetic film. Sound effects are crisp and startles the viewer in the right places, and a bigger budget gives way to a memorable fight scene, which is loaded but never overwhelmed with visual effects. This film reminded me of Tarantino’s work with the film based round criminals and therefore allowing the narrative to feature lots of bloodthirsty violence.

Snatch, while somewhat hard to follow, represents a fascinating study in character interaction and complex plot development, it's really the characters more than the plot that make it interesting. Writer/director Ritchie created a multi-faceted crime story deeply immersed with this multitude of tough-guy types. Although it is often violent, there is an undercurrent of humour permeating every scene, with plenty of good lines in the dialogue, and the violence itself is hardly ever shown on screen. Pitt, Farina, Ford, and the rest of the practically all-male cast a quit themselves well, making an interesting collage of personalities. In the spokes-and-wheel metaphor, it could be said that the huge diamond is the equilibrium, since it seems to touch practically every character in some way at some time, and all their experiences radiate outwards from this.

Overall I would recommend this film and it was incredibly funny. Ritchie managed to portray a light hearted tone as well as quite a serious one when need be; particularly scenes that involved the dangerous Brick Top. It followed a range of characters so could show all their personalities, some I preferred over others but I still had an opinion on all characters.   

La Haine

La Haine is a 1995 French black and white film written, directed and co-edited by Mathieu kassovitz. La Haine comes under the genres of Crime Drama and social realism but defiantly features many conventions of a thriller. The film has many different themes poverty which is shown throughout in the setting, racism and crime which again is shown throughout the film from start to finish, pride which is mainly featured within the character Vinz and revenge. Its French title is La Haine but when translated in to English it means hatred. The film follows three young men Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Said (Said Taghmaoui) and Hubert (Hubert Koundé) and their struggle to live in the banlieues (suburbs) of Paris, France faced with social turmoil and soon end up with a confrontation with the police.

The film shows the problems with racism with all three boys being from different races; an Arab, an African and a Jew, they have been singled out based on age, ethnicity and appearances. They have several run-ins with the cops during the course of less than 24 hours, and it seems that are being deliberately picked on due to race. They aren’t particularly bad teenagers and certainly not criminals. This film represents race and age in the same way. It shows that people can be treated differently based on race, if they don’t look like everyone else they are automatically presumed to be threatening and un worthy. Also they are young and again are picked on by the police this also suggests that young people/ teenagers are nuisances and get in the way of the law. Like Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, there is a sense throughout that all the hostility that has been building up with boil over and come to its climax at any point.

Kassovitz sets the full film in black and white which create more meanings and messages than he is trying to create an archaic sense. Instead by having it in black and white Kassovitz has been able to help the viewer imagine that perhaps their life isn’t as good as it’s usually made out to be. If the film was in colour he could show the picturesque scene of Paris and how beautiful and bright it looks but he wasn’t looking to show that he was looking to show the dullness and harshness of reality especially since it’s set in the suburbs.  Black and white are contrasting colours so he was able to show the contrast between imagination and reality with these two colours; not everything is what it seems.  This helped Kassovitz build on the narrative and get across some important themes.

There are many scenes within the film that convey different messages, one scene features a TV crew attempting to interview the three boys however they are looking down on the boys whilst they are sitting in a playground which connotes the boys are animals sitting in an animal enclosure. Also because they are sitting in a children's playground it has created a sense of boredom. Escape is shown as a theme when the DJ shown in a flat is blaring music out of the window. It plays an anti-police message to convey and experience of freedom for everyone in the community. 

One scene which could be considered quite an important scene is when Vinz, Hubert and Said are all standing around in the bathroom talking when an old man exits the cubicle. The man goes on to tell a story about one of his friends Grunwalski. The Grunwalski story mimics our characters. In their situation they "miss the train" when (SPOILER) - Vinz gets shot, Grunwalski continuously reaches for the train but cannot reach because he tries to maintain his pride and keep his trousers up. The hand represents Vinz's quest for racial equality and an end to police brutality but he cannot reach them because he won't let go of his pride and co-operate with the police.  

Overall I thought this film was good, it was very realistic because their lives weren't action packed with car chases etc. Instead it all came down to the troubled day-to-day lives of these boys. The performances are solid you could really understand their emotions. I really liked the idea of filming in black and white because it adds to the grimy street feel of the film.

Headhunters

Headhunters (2011) is a Norweigan-Swedish crime thriller taken from a novel originally written by Jo Nesbo. The screen play was written by Ulf Ryberg and Lars Gudmestad and directed by Morten Tyldum.  The film follows the protagonist Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) who is a renowned headhunter but also works as an art thief to afford all the luxuries for his beautiful wife Diana Brown (Synnove Macody Lund). The film originally starts by making you think it will be a classic heist film but then quickly changes into a thriller/mystery with some parts even coming under the genre of black comedy.

The film starts with Roger Brown speaking to the audience via a voice over giving some information about himself. Roger speaks "My name is Roger Brown and I am 1.68m Tall" he also mention about his wife being tall and we can see that his wife is taller than him. This demonstrates the main theme than is shown throughout the film which is insecurity. The main reason Brown steals art is to get money to give his wife everything she wants and he thinks she would leave him if he couldn’t give her all this stuff again emphasising his insecurity in himself. Near the end of the film he learns that his wife would love him no matter what and the voice over is again used at the end when Brown says “My name is Roger Brown, I am 1.68m tall and that’s enough” this shows a theme of acceptance as he has finally accepted who he is and is no longer insecure about himself.

I liked the use of flashbacks in one scene of the film. It was when Brown realised how he was being tracked by Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). He thought back to the meeting he has with Greve when he speaks of his new liquid tracking device that is impossible to remove and then he thinks to when he said goodbye to his wife when she came over and rubbed her hands through his hair. This made the audience believe in Brown’s insecurities about his wife and put us in the position to believe the wife is working against Brown. This set the audience up to think that the wife was one of the antagonists and left us hoping for justice against her for the rest of the film. However the truth was slowly revealed when Brown arrived at someone’s house, the only person he thought he could still trust.

 Flashbacks are again used at the end when Brown tells his story of how he was able to defeat Greve which interested me because it gave you a look into everything that happened whilst we were following Brown’s story. In this second group of flashbacks it added to the negative representation of women which is shown between the three female characters throughout. We found out that with the help of his wife Brown was able to change Greve’s bullets for blanks but to be able to do this his wife had to have sex with greve. One of the other female characters is a Russian prostitute Natasha and the other Lotte is who Brown has an affair with. All three of these women are shown as sexual objects with their only goal being the ability to please men. The fact that Diana had to sleep with Greve to get into his apartment shows what the men wanted the women for. The film is defiantly male dominated with the men shown to be powerful and this is due to the dominant ideology.

Overall I really enjoyed the film I felt it used a plot twist really well and left the audience thinking who set this up and who is the real antagonist. The small sequences of black comedy fit into the film really well although the majority of the film had quite a serious tone. Some scenes were very gruesome and unexpected, but it all added to the narrative of the film.

The Grand Budapest Hotel review

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 Comedy Film directed by Wes Anderson. It stars Ralph Fiennes who plays Mr Gustav as a hotel worker who teams up with one of his employees Zero (Tony Revolori) to prove his innocence after he is framed for murder. This film shows how friendships are made and how they build. We see the film from many different points of view, from so many different characters. The film led the BAFTA nominations, with 11 nominations, more than any other film, including Best Film and Best Director for Anderson, and Best Actor for Fiennes. The film won the Golden Globe award for the Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and had three more Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Director for Anderson. It also had nine Academy Award nominations, the joint most for the ceremony, including best Picture and best Director. It also won four Academy Awards.

The narrative has a lot too it and can be quite confusing to follow at times. However overall it is a very well made sophisticated film. The film contains comedy and violence and although violence is used in some scenes it can still come across as quite comedic. For example (SPOILER) when a chase scene commences between cold blooded assassin Jopling (Willem Defoe) who is following lawyer Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum), Jopling shuts the door as Kovacs  goes to leave and the door cuts off Kovacs’ fingers on his right hand. This scene although violent was still amusing because it was all very sudden and unexpected and was the climax of the chase leaving the audience surprised. The use of comedy was very effective because not all the film used comedy but small remarks were often made from Mr Gustav which really lightened the mood in some scenes. The comedic side of it really helped to enjoy the film and kept me wanting to watch more.

The film was split up into a prologue, parts 1-5 and an epilogue. I liked how this film was split up because each part had a name and introduced the next scenes of the film and implicitly informed you of what will happen in the scene and what the scene is about.  I liked how a girl at the very start of the film is seen walking into a graveyard and the same girl is seen at the very end of the film as well.

A good range of themes were used throughout the film. Including friendship which was mainly shown with the bond of Mr Gustav and Zero, this theme was shown continuously and was the main theme.  Another theme used was success because during the film it showed how Mr Gustav was successful in running the hotel and (SPOILER) how he was successful in escaping from prison. The theme of love was also used usually when the scenes involved Zero and Agatha played by Saoirse Ronan who later becomes his fiancée.

Overall I really enjoyed the film and liked how they managed to make the comedic side fit in with the violent side of the film. I found it a really enjoyable film to watch but found that you had to watch the film very carefully in order the keep track with what is happening. I would recommend this film to others to watch. 

Prisoners Review - Chosen film

Prisoners is a 2013 American thriller film directed by Denis Villenueve and written by Aaron Guzikowski. The film runs for 153 minutes and had a budget of £28 million it went on to make £76 million in the box office. The plot focuses on the abduction of two young girls in Pennsylvania and the subsequent search. Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and Grace Dover (Maria Bello) go to their friend’s; Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard) and Nancy Birch’s (Viola Davis) house for a thanksgiving dinner. The families' six year old daughters, Anna Dover (Erin Gerasimovich) and Joy Birch (Kyla Drew Simmons), go for a walk outside with their older siblings, Ralph Dover (Dylan Minnette) and Eliza Birch (Zoe Borde). The children have to be forcefully pulled away from a parked RV by their siblings when they start climbing on it. After dinner, the younger daughters leave to go back to Anna's house to get her safety whistle she is supposed to carry at all times, but they never come back. Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on the case but is having a difficult time solving it when he has to look out for Keller as well. Keller captures and imprisons the man he thinks is responsible Alex (Paul Dano), intent on beating him until he breaks – that’s a good thing, because the final product is a trip into darkness that makes even extreme vigilantism the least shocking element of its twisted story. The film was nominated for an Academy award for the best cinematography.

Prisoners is a complex story well told.  It’s gritty, violent and even nauseating at times.  It asks the tough questions and the answers don’t necessarily add up to happily ever after.  The torture scenes are difficult to watch.  The performances are strong.  And, the ending is as intense as it obscure.

The film’s title obviously refers to the young captives the two girls and the troubled Alex but it also extends to those who find themselves prisoners to their grief and guilt, and their subsequent choices and actions. None more so than Keller. Jackman delivers a searing turn as the proud father driven by a potent mix of rage, righteousness and love for his daughter, but who also seems to be dangerously spurred on by his own feelings of inadequacy. At one point even Keller himself becomes a prisoner.

 

Prisoners works as a superb, complex, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Roger Deakins’ cinematography is brooding and precise, while Villeneuve allows the plot twists to multiply and the tension to mount with expert discipline. The action did not speed up to join most of Hollywood thrillers, instead the filmmaker’s focus remains on mood and meaning, and he allows time to press down on us, just as it’s pressing down on each character in the film. We feel the heavy and unsettling passing of each day that the girls aren’t found and Alex remains in captivity. With a two-and-a-half-hour running time, it’s an emotionally exhausting journey, but it’s also riveting and wholly consuming. Some may accuse the film of exploitation, but this is a bold, brave and unforgettable piece of filmmaking that pulls you deep into the mix and doesn’t let go. No one escapes Prisoners unscathed, including the audience.

I enjoyed everything about the film. Especially the ending, it was superb you hear nothing but a quiet whistle then it leaves you on a cliff hanger, wondering what happened next. I thought it was great how all the little pieces of the film link together, like who the two accused men really are and how a past newspaper article links to them, even how a drawing of a maze was the key to finding out who the guilty party was. I would recommend this film to anyone.

Attack the block review - British Film

Attack the Block is a 2011 British monster movie. Written and directed by Joe Cornish in his directorial debut, it comes from the same writing and production stable as other horror/comedies such as Shaub of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. The world. It runs for 88 minutes and had a budget of £8 million, making £3 million in the box office.  Attack the Block is set on a council estate in South London on Guy Fawkes Night, and, with some coming of age themes, the plot centres on a teenage street gang who have to defend themselves from predatory alien invaders. Moses (John Boyega), a 15-year-old thug, is being busted for mugging a trainee nurse (Jodie Whittaker) when the first monster one lands and dispatches his would-be captors. Moses kills the creature and plans to sell the corpse, but then more of the bloodthirsty creatures start landing. The film focuses on a group of teenage boys; Moses, Pest (Alex Esamail), Jerome (Leeon Jones), and Dennis (Franz Drameh) and Biggz (Simon Howard).

The kids react to an alien like most inner city thugs would with a mixture of hostility, panic and confusion. Their innocence is proven when they take it to the block’s older drug dealer (Nick Frost) because he watches “National Geographic”. It’s their reactions that are both funny and realistically grounded that provides the film with its own attitude that stays consistent throughout it. Attack the Block is full of witty humorous dialogue and exciting ideas. It’s got a great set of young actors taking charge and very effective aliens that don’t disappoint in the special effects department. 

The excellent pacing is a main reason why the film never begins to flutter or slow down, there’s always something happening. It’s a thrill ride that never stops. The kids keep managing to find trouble with the aliens as well as other members around the block, barely escaping at times. The action is fierce and handled very well for a director who has never had an opportunity to handle large scale action sequences like this before. The choreography makes every movement easy to watch, and the night setting extracts tension in every shadow or dark corridor.

The aliens are simple in design but their appearance is an understatement for their devilishly vicious taste for flesh. They look like balls of fur with rows of sharp teeth that glow. It’s rare for a film creature to stay entertaining without wearing out its welcome, but Cornish does a praiseworthy job of adding new elements into the mix that changes up the proceedings. It helps too that the pouncing aliens are never given a proper origin explanation and are purely focused on ripping people to shreds. This lets you focus on the narrative alone not some random explanation to why they are here.

Pans Labyrinth review - Foreign Film

Pan's Labyrinth, originally known in Spanish as El laberinto del fauno (English: The Labyrinth of the Faun), is a 2006 Mexican-Spanish dark fantasy film  written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by Esperanto films. The film runs for 118 minutes and had a budget of £11 million. It made over £51 million in the box office. The story takes place in Spain in May–June 1944, five years after the Spanish civil war, The narrative of the film intertwines this real world with a mythical world centered on an overgrown abandoned labyrinth and a mysterious faun creature, with which the protagonist, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), interacts. Ofelia's stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), hunts the Spanish Maquis who fight against the Francoist regime in the region, while Ofelia's pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) grows increasingly ill. Ofelia meets several strange and magical creatures who become central to her story, leading her through the trials of the old labyrinth garden.

For much of the film, Ofelia's fairy-tale quest is secondary to the power vectors at work in the house. Tensions bubble between the Captain and Ofelia's weak mother, and especially the Captain and the housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verd). These are two marvellous characters. She has a quiet ferocity to match her cunning side, which makes her a splendid revolutionary heroine. The Captain  is the real monster of the story, with sadism bred in him by his own soldier father, and a macho theatricality that makes him a great movie villain. Lopez has played memorably creepy types in With a Friend like Harry and Dirty Pretty Things.

Despite its strong fantasy element, Pan's Labyrinth is definitely not a film for young children. Del Toro does not flinch from showing us war and rebellion as they really are, and there are scenes of shocking violence. Unlike previous attempts at this kind of blending, like Labyrinth and The Company Of Wolves, Pan's Labyrinth never allows the fantastic viewpoint to dominate, offering an equally strong parallel story. This is supported by a host of powerful performances, most notably from Maribel Verdu as Mercedes, a servant who befriends Ofelia. The charisma of the cast is vital in holding together a tale which includes so many different elements.

Pan's Labyrinth is sometimes weak is in the development of its fantasy characters. The faun is just a little too awkward and dry to convince; the fairies get too little room to develop; the monster which pursues Ofelia is hideous but too clumsy to be as sinister as it should be. I felt somehow this creature should have been in the film more. He was a rather creepy character and the one scene he was used in had me on the edge of my seat praying for Ofelia’s escape.

Ivana Baquero’s performance is excellent and del Toro demonstrates a remarkable ability to look at the world he has created from a child's perspective. Ofelia's certainty contrasts tellingly with the hesitation of adult characters to take action when they should, giving her a sense of purpose which remains when everything around her starts to crumble. It is here that the film really excels. 

Timbuktu review - BFI film festival

 

Timbuktu is a 2014 film written and directed by Abderrahmane Sissako; it’s a realistic drama which runs for 97 minutes.  The film features Kidane played by Ibrahim Ahmed a man who lives in the dunes of Timbuktu with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohammed) and their twelve year old shepherd Issan (Medhi A.G. Mohamed).  One main theme is acceptance because Kidane learns to accept that it is safest for his family in the dunes and they won’t be around very many people he also accepts the fate that has been given to him by the new laws nearer the end of the film. Another main theme is family because they are all constantly looking out for each other and keeping each other safe. The young shepherd Issan is also treated as part of the family.

Kidane and his family live out in the dunes to keep safe away from the religious fundamentalists that now rule the town and cause suffering and hurt within the locals. Many everyday activities have been banned and the new courts issue appalling and irrational sentences. However Kidane and his family have managed to escape the chaos until Kidane carries out an awful act which forces him to face the new laws.

I felt that at times the storyline came across as quite confusing but within the narrative they were able to create a collage of stories that reveal the lives and deaths of the people whose lives have been engulfed by the extremists. I liked how the activities that took place between Kidane and his family were compared to the things the people in the town could do. At one point Kidane was playing guitar under the tent whilst Satima and Toya sat in freedom without worrying about keeping their heads covered at all times but back in town such actions resulted in public lashing or stoning to death which was shown in a brief yet alarming scene. These violent acts were very powerful and profound; they really gave you a strong insight into life outside 21^st century England.

The protagonist, Kidane had many different goals throughout. He carried out one main goal throughout the film which was to keep his family safe and make sure they were in no danger or affected by the jihadists. One of his goals was revenge after an accident with one of his cattle, the next was the chance to see his daughter after his life was overtaken by the law and lastly to save his wife. All these goals where made clear and were all shown well from Kidane’s perspective.

The very start of the film shows a gazelle running through the dunes which foreshadows the end of the film. At the start it shows a group of jihadists shooting at the gazelle; at the very end a man whose identity is unknown is shown trying to escape from the jihadists that are chasing him down once again with guns. This gazelle is the past representation of this man, which I think is quite clever because they showed you at the beginning what will happen at the end without the viewer realising it. The ending also featured Toya and Issan running through the dunes presumably towards each other, however we never actually got to see what happened to them so that is left for us to create our own visions.

Overall I think Timbuktu had quite a compelling message because it made me understand the lifestyle of people in other countries and made me feel grateful for mine. I do think that some of the characters needed a bigger or clearer role because I was unable to interpret the reason some characters were needed. The acting was very strong especially during of the upsetting scenes which made me greatly sympathise with the characters. 

Get off My land Review

Get off my land is a short black comedy written and directed by Douglas Ray about a young couple’s walk in the countryside that leads to a confrontation with the land owner.

At the very start a close up camera view is shown of some legs and feet walking along a muddy path. One person wears boots and the other white trainers. This is a good way for the viewer to make a first impression on these characters. From this they can tell what sort of lifestyle these people are used to.

Throughout the film natural light was used which helped the viewer to focus more on the characters and story. When the couple are talking to the farmer and the camera is facing the couple more sun light can be seen behind and on them whereas when the camera gives a close up of the farmer there is not much light and in the background there are many dark trees which may portray that the farmer perhaps has a darker more dangerous side. When any character is shown close up during the confrontation the background is blurred so the viewer will focus more on the tense atmosphere between the characters rather than the environment.

The camera work also made the conversation between the three people more realistic because close up’s were used for the majority of the time which really put the viewer in the position of the character as if they were having the conversation themselves, what made it more realistic however was that the camera moves up and down when the close up’s are used which makes it even more effective because it almost makes it seem like you are viewing it literally from the other persons eyes and they are fidgeting as they listen.

However the camera shots do not vary very much away from close up’s. The close up’s are used mainly to capture the characters facial expressions during different points in the confrontation to show how they are feeling or so you can understand their reactions. But only two other camera shots can really be noticed throughout. Long shots are used usually to show the location such as when the couple are first walking through the peaceful country and medium shots are also used but these are used in the same way as the close up’s.

The film had a simple linear narrative, more elements of the story were revealed as the film went on, however one element of the film was continuously repeated and that was the element of which the conflict was about; trespassing. By reminding the viewer what the conflict is about we are able to understand the seriousness of the situation and the strain between the characters.

Not many sounds were used in the background which added to the films simplicity. Dialogue was more dominant throughout the film and the tone of the characters voices showed how they were feeling very clearly but nearer the end birds are seen flying away from the trees to show a sense of fear from the event that has just happened. This camera view was interesting because if showed the reaction to the event from another point of view in this case animals. 

The Walking Dead Review

The walking dead is an increasingly popular American post-apocalyptic horror drama developed by Frank Darabont into a television series. Adapted from a comic-book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, this horror drama follows the survivors of an apocalyptic holocaust who are searching for a safe haven while being tracked and menaced by zombies.

The plot focuses primarily on the dilemmas that a group faces as they struggle to maintain their humanity during the day-to-day challenges of surviving in a hostile world. This includes battling the zombie hordes, coping with casualties, and dealing with predatory human survivors.

The first season mostly takes place in the Atlanta metropolitan area, where sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes played by Andrew Lincoln emerges from a coma to find his town abandoned with few people but far too many flesh-eating "walkers" who have died and come back to life now feasting upon the living.  Holding out hope that his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and young son Carl (Chandler Riggs) are still alive, Grimes embarks on a frantic journey to find them, and encounters many other survivors and obstacles along the way.

The second through fourth seasons are set in the surrounding countryside of northern Georgia, as the survivors search for security away from the shuffling hordes of predatory "walkers" or "biters" (as the zombies are referred to in the show), who eat any living thing they catch, and whose bite is infectious to humans. Without screaming or sobbing the characters have moments when they transmit a sympathetic sense of emotional devastation.    

The way the zombies have been made to look captures the simple desolation of an empty city at the end of the world; the zombie makeup is gruesome, skin hangs off their bloodied faces, mouths ripped apart (yet still chomping pointlessly) and chunks of their faces missing whilst they are strewn within the wreckage of cars and bloody chaos, but all this detail just makes the whole show more captivating leaving the viewer wondering where the next horde of wandering zombies will appear.

The world as we know it is gone, and in its place, for now at least, are only two things to think about: the ferocious onslaught of ravenous eaters of human flesh; and the struggle, sometimes with other humans, to live another day.

In my opinion this television series has pushed the horror genre into an area that allows it to be explored further. Darabont portrays aspects that would not usually be used throughout classic zombie movies or other television series; they use things such as empathy that really helps you to understand the characters feelings of each other that creates a final opinion of each and every character for you. It’s even able to create an emotional attachment between the viewers and the characters where the emotion quickly breaks out as you watch the characters fall into the limp hands and mouths of the zombies.