Devil’s Playground (2010) Is No Place for Red Bull
Seldom do we see reviews of zombie flicks that praise the choreography. There is a gracefulness about the zombie scenes in Devil’s Playground not normally associated with the undead. Part of it is because the zombies are not rotting away, but fit beings who can leap over cars and furniture (and other zombies); and part is because scenes of them leaping and climbing walls are shown in slow-motion.
There are no shuffling zombies wearing rags in Devil’s Playground. Instead, they move quickly and—when there are large groups of them—they move as one, like a flock of birds or ants on a greasy crumb. These are not the undead, but the newly infected.
It seems a company working on a new energy booster tested the product on 30,000 people. 29,999 of them began to exhibit symptoms similar to hemorrhagic fever. They attacked other people and the “infection” was spread through saliva or blood.
In a country the size of England, where Devil’s Playground takes place, it doesn’t take long for 29,999 zombies to take chunks out of the population, who then become infected flesh-eaters. You may be wondering, “What about that other person—that one in thirty-thousand who didn’t become infected?” One woman, Angie (MyAnna Buring), appears to be immune to the effects of the product. Having survived it, the question is whether she can or cannot survive the zombies.
Because Devil’s Playground was made for less than three million dollars and is reminiscent of other films, particularly 28 Days and Children of Men, it has taken some negative hits. Hogwash! If the film’s detractors had spent even a few moments watching The Dead and the Damned, they’d appreciate Devil’s Playground as the superior zombie flick that it is.
There are not a lot of new things that can be done with zombies, but audiences continue to crave them. Devil’s Playground has all the right elements—believable acting, visually arresting photography, suspense, irony—to be a highly enjoyable entry in the genre. It is definitely one of the better scary season films. (DVD release date: October 11, 2011)
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