REVIEW: They Shall Pay With Rivers of Blood

Folks who loved Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill saga and Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror will no doughtily love this little indie gem. The movie is about a young woman who, after seeing her friend get killed by two zombies, decides to run from her safehouse while zombies are popping out of nowhere trying to kill her. After making a daring escape she is saved by a masked ninja, but is this ninja worth trusting or is he hiding a dark secret? I don’t even know where to begin with this movie because it’s just one large chase scene but I shall try my best.

It looks like the movie was filmed on an old camera from the 70s and for good reason since the entire movie is played off to look like a grindhouse movie. Much like Planet Terror, there is a lot of gore, a lot of grotesque makeup for the zombies and the picture has this gloomy apocalyptic feel to it. When we finally meet the ninja it feels like we just entered Crouching Tiger Hidden Zombie (not a real title, mind you). The close ups, the music and the style all fit to give us that Western/Kung-Fu tone to the movie. Additionally, They Shall Pay With Rivers of Blood sounds like the title of an obscure horror movie from the 70s.

Out of all the throwbacks that I have seen I would have to say that this is one of my favorite. I highly recommend this to anybody who is craving a good, well-made, bloody zombie movie. Films like these prove one thing, and it’s quite sad, that a filmmaker who isn’t a professional can make a better and original movie than most of the big studios in Hollywood. If this is the case, I am in full support of an indie uprising in Los Angeles. In that case, they shall pay with rivers of ruined celluloid.