Review: Highway 91
Highway 91 is one of those no-budget zombie flicks where some kids got together and made a movie. It’s fun in spirit, but, as is usually the case with these movies, they simply don’t have the means to pull off their vision. All the main staples of amateur no-budget zombie filmmaking are here:
- Inconsistent zombies. Some are green-faced, some are gray, some are raccoon-eyed, some are covered in paper mache. Not only are there several different styles of make-up, but they make the horrendous no-budget mistake of putting make-up only on the face of the zombie but not on the arms and hands (as if we aren’t going to notice?).
- The characters complain about the luxuries of the modern life they miss, yet their clothes are always clean with just a few stains and tears here and there (but nothing to suggest an apocalyptic setting). Both lead female actresses also have perfect, clean hair and make-up throughout the entire thing. It does make them cuter, but if you’re going to go that route, at least go all the way and give us a topless scene.
- Horrible, horrible music editing. The music will often jump from one part of the song to another as if it’s been mismatched in editing.
- Pathetically bad CGI. The sprays of red blink across the screen and don’t affect any of the actual surrounding environment. It doesn’t look gory, it just looks tacky, unnatural, and half the time, unnecessary: it’s the first time in one of these no-budget fares that I’ve actually seen MORE CGI gore than physical gore. What little gore isn’t CGI is pretty average for this kind of movie; nothing special, but nothing awful either. It’s decent enough and gets the job done.
- Haircuts change drastically from one part of the movie to the next. I know this is a small thing, and most probably can’t be helped, but I’ve got to point it out as it is distracting (I shouldn’t be thinking about a damn hair cut when there’s plot points being explained by a character).
- The acting is flat and cringe-worthy. Actors seem to struggle to get through their lines at times. Sonny Fernandez, who plays Virgil and is also the writer/director, is by far the most comfortable onscreen and really owns the character. All the others, though, are pretty interchangeable. The cult leader (Justin Kavlie) is supposed to be this savior messiah-figure, but he shows no kind of charisma or any other kind of characteristic that messiah types possess. He swears more than any other character and drops his messiah persona at the smallest indiscretion. He’s simply not believable in the role.
Each of these things add up, and everytime you notice one, it’s one more layer that takes you out of the movie; one more thing that makes it harder to get into the one thing that really matters: the story. They build up like a wall around your mind, and everytime you encounter one it becomes more and more difficult to care about the characters and the point of the movie.
Luckily for Highway 91 though, it really does shine in the storytelling, where it matters most. The story is reminiscent of The Walking Dead, in that there’s a band of characters on the road, trying to escape from zombies, and along the way they encounter various other characters and situations, such as cult leaders, serial killers, brutal scavengers, and other survivors. The story focuses mostly on our main characters, their interactions with each other, and their general struggle to survive in such a harsh post-apocalyptic environment. There’s real potential here for the characters to grow and become their own three-dimensional people, but unfortunately we never get to witness this. Really, the whole movie has great potential, but it just can’t capture that same kind of intrigue as The Walking Dead.
For one, the first half is more comedic in tone, but it’s as if the movie is forcing a smile. There’s a scene where the group accidentally trips on magic mushrooms, and the viewer is treated to silly hijinks and random cartoon visuals dancing across the screen (which, of course, as anyone that has actually tripped shrooms will tell you, is nothing like what actually happens). It’s all pretty goofy and out of place. There was a funny scene in which Brian (played by Cody Tergesen) is about to shoot a rabbit with a bow-and-arrow for dinner, but Andre (Aaron Swenson) comes in and blasts it with a shotgun so it gets obliterated into a few chunks of CGI meat. “Hmm.. maybe I need a smaller gun for that,” says Andre.
The movie crams too much stuff in and it becomes bloated because of it. There’s really no reason that this should have been two hours and thirteen minutes long. I think if they would have cut out the whole Kierra (played by Jessica Helland) and serial killer (Topher Williams) parts and concentrated on the cult, it would have worked better as a movie. Either that, or do what The Walking Dead TV series did and make several shorter vignettes from each part of the story. In the end, the 133 minute runtime simply weighed down the film and you end up checking your watch.
All in all, Highway 91 is a somewhat solid effort from Sonny Fernandez. You can tell he loves doing this. The concentration on storytelling was great, if a bit loose. I think if he continues to hone those skills the no-budget aspects won’t be as distracting, and the wall they build around your mind will be easily knocked down. I gotta give it 4/10 CGI chunks. You can get Highway 91 at Amazon.
