The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are immune to the zombie plague. Traylor (Greyeyes), the tribal sheriff, must protect his son’s pregnant girlfriend, apocalyptic refugees, and reserve riffraff from the hordes of walking white corpses.
Starring: Michael Greyeyes, Forrest Goodluck, and Kiowa Gordon
Directed and written by: Jeff Barnaby
“Blood Quantum” opens with a man out on the water fishing. He brings ashore a few nice looking fish, and throws them on a table to gut them. As he proceeds to cut the fish open they suddenly begin to flap around. The man and probably the audience are shocked by the sight of…zombie fish! Looks like the movie didn’t take long to have me hooked, but could it reel me in?
As horror fans continue to be hit with zombie films, it’s films that bring something new or a little different that really stand out. There are definitely a few things different about this film (besides the zombie fish). The most obvious thing is that this story is centered around the Indigenous inhabitants of the Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow. It follows Traylor (Greyeyes), the tribal sheriff, as he takes it upon himself to protect his family, the tribe, and others from the zombies. Audiences have seen zombies run rampant over many communities, but rarely get to see how an Indigenous community would react to them.
The opening of the movie introduces the audience to the main characters and how the zombies come to the tribe, but it also brings an interesting twist in this story. No worries, this isn’t a spoiler just a key point that again sets this movie apart from others. The Indigenous inhabitants are immune to becoming zombies when bit. That’s right, they don’t become zombies, but are definitely a food source for them. This also brings up the continued historical clash between Indigenous people and the people who are always trying to take their land, except this time it’s not the land these people (now zombies) want.
After the stage is set the story moves forward several months where the Indigenous tribe has tried to secure their territory from the zombies, and have been taking in refugees. They seem to have a good plan in place expect not everyone sees things the way Traylor does. Lets just say a faction of the tribe does their own thing, which ultimately leads to a wild battle among themselves, and the zombies. So it turns out that even though they have immunity on their side, they still suffer the same downfall as so many in zombie movies. If you’re not a united front against the zombies something bad will always happen to the group.
So yes there are several ways in which this movie is a little different, but it’s a zombie film and what do a lot of zombie films have in common…deaths! And deaths mean blood and guts, and the audience gets plenty of it. Zombies do get to chomp down on several people, and do a great job of ripping them apart. The Indigenous people also kill plenty of zombies with guns, swords, and even a chainsaw spilling a glorious amount of blood everywhere. These aren’t slow moving zombies either, so the action is fast paced, especially the final act.
“Blood Quantum” shows that not even Indigenous people can escape the zombie apocalypse. It presents a film that has some differences from the many typical zombie films audiences are used to seeing. A new landscape with people who are actually immune from becoming zombies. This doesn’t mean the danger is any less because these zombies are just as hungry as any other. The blood is gushing and the fish are flopping! It definitely reeled me in so I give it 3 pools of blood!
HorrO
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