This is one of those rare films which I believe every serious zombie enthusiast needs to see. Now, that is not to say that every zombie fan will necessarily like it. But what it offers is a unique look at life (for want of a better word) from the zombie's point-of-view. On that note, I found it to be original, artistic and very well thought out. For those reasons I certainly understand some of the positive comments from other reviewers. That said however, I also understand some of the negative comments too. Obviously being a low-budget production it suffers accordingly. None of the actors or actresses were known to me and other than Daisy Aitkens (as Colin's sister, "Linda") none of them had any dialogue worth mentioning anyway. Even so, I thought the lead actor, Alastair Kirton ("Colin") performed in an excellent manner all the same. Unfortunately, the camera work was quite often shaky, in some cases the lighting was bad and other than Colin there really wasn't much character development. Additionally, some of the scenes were extremely slow and dragged on way too long while others could have been cut with little (if any) noticeable effect on the final product. Along with that, some of the special effects (i.e. gore) should have either been improved upon or eliminated all together. In short, this was a zombie film that definitely needed to be made. And while I seriously doubt the production costs listed in IMDb (of $70) are true, I will say that if it had even one-tenth of the money allocated to "World War Z" it could have been one of the best zombie films ever made. Sadly, this was not the case and while I believe the director (Marc Price) has every reason to be proud of his efforts, I still have to factor in some of the negative variables I mentioned earlier in my overall rating. Having said that, although I believe this film has a definite place in the zombie legacy, I rate it as slightly below average.
51 Reviews
Technically poor, but considering its limitations, quite remarkable
tomgillespie200212 January 2012
Colin (Alastair Kirton) arrives at his friend's home holding a hammer and covered in blood. He washes a savage wound in his arm before being attacked by his friend, now one of the undead. Colin kills the zombie before slowly turning into one himself. Once turned, Colin embarks on a journey of discovery amongst an apparent zombie apocalypse. He finds a taste for human flesh but rarely attacks. He is mugged for his trainers before being rescued by his sister, who he then mindlessly bites. We then follow Colin across a chaotic city, where the humans seem to be more savage than the zombies.
The story of Colin is really quite remarkable. Apparently made for £45, director Marc Price shot the film on a ten-year old camcorder and used social network sites to gather willing actors. When screened at various horror festivals, the film attracted the attention of various production companies and Colin went onto having a limited cinema release. When Danny Boyle released 28 Days Later (2002) and re-invented zombies as fast, scary and fuelled by rage (rather than a taste for flesh), the zombie genre was given a new lease of life. Even zombie legend George A. Romero got back in the game and made the okay Land of the Dead (2005). They are still as popular now as they were back then, and the straight- to-video market especially is plagued by them. It has become slightly tiresome and formulaic. The success of Colin stems from the fact that it does something wholly original and tells the story from the zombie's point of view.
Colin admittedly looks terrible - but when you shoot a film for the same price as a video game then that can certainly be forgiven. This is by no means a great film, but it's certainly interesting, and has some inspired moments. In the early scenes, Colin wanders the streets and finds some building blocks which he eyes with recognition and confusion, and later finds an iPod which he listens to for a while before discarding. It adds new dimensions to the zombie which makes a nice change from seeing them being blasted away (although that is also fun). The camera-work can certainly be irritating, as sometimes it's hard to work out what is actually happening, but again, this can be forgiven. I'll be interested to see what Price goes on to do after this, as he's made the most likable and sympathetic zombie since Day of the Dead's (1985) Bub.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
The story of Colin is really quite remarkable. Apparently made for £45, director Marc Price shot the film on a ten-year old camcorder and used social network sites to gather willing actors. When screened at various horror festivals, the film attracted the attention of various production companies and Colin went onto having a limited cinema release. When Danny Boyle released 28 Days Later (2002) and re-invented zombies as fast, scary and fuelled by rage (rather than a taste for flesh), the zombie genre was given a new lease of life. Even zombie legend George A. Romero got back in the game and made the okay Land of the Dead (2005). They are still as popular now as they were back then, and the straight- to-video market especially is plagued by them. It has become slightly tiresome and formulaic. The success of Colin stems from the fact that it does something wholly original and tells the story from the zombie's point of view.
Colin admittedly looks terrible - but when you shoot a film for the same price as a video game then that can certainly be forgiven. This is by no means a great film, but it's certainly interesting, and has some inspired moments. In the early scenes, Colin wanders the streets and finds some building blocks which he eyes with recognition and confusion, and later finds an iPod which he listens to for a while before discarding. It adds new dimensions to the zombie which makes a nice change from seeing them being blasted away (although that is also fun). The camera-work can certainly be irritating, as sometimes it's hard to work out what is actually happening, but again, this can be forgiven. I'll be interested to see what Price goes on to do after this, as he's made the most likable and sympathetic zombie since Day of the Dead's (1985) Bub.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
I'm not saying it wasn't cheap, but...
BA_Harrison28 October 2011
Made for £45, my arse! This film's laundry bill alone would have amounted to more than that (fake blood doesn't come out of clothes by itself, you know), let alone all the other costs that are unavoidably incurred during the film-making process, no matter how cheap the production: catering, administration, travel, make-up supplies etc.
Sadly, Colin's clever '£45' marketing ploy turns out to be the most effective thing about the whole film. Despite a valiant attempt to try something different with the whole living-dead schtick, and for seriously less dosh than most low-budget horrors, most of the time the film proves to be a less than scintillating experience, the basic idea being far more suitable to a 10 minute short than a 97 minute feature.
Watching recently turned corpse Colin (Alastair Kirton) slowly dragging his feet around South London for an hour and a half, pausing to contemplate road signs or traffic lights on the way, is pretty dreary stuff. Director Marc Price occasionally picks up the pace, such as when Colin stumbles upon a house siege or a group of survivors take action against the undead (resulting in a unsettling scene where those wounded during the battle are cruelly dispatched before they can become zombies), but for the majority of the time, this is dead boring.
Sadly, Colin's clever '£45' marketing ploy turns out to be the most effective thing about the whole film. Despite a valiant attempt to try something different with the whole living-dead schtick, and for seriously less dosh than most low-budget horrors, most of the time the film proves to be a less than scintillating experience, the basic idea being far more suitable to a 10 minute short than a 97 minute feature.
Watching recently turned corpse Colin (Alastair Kirton) slowly dragging his feet around South London for an hour and a half, pausing to contemplate road signs or traffic lights on the way, is pretty dreary stuff. Director Marc Price occasionally picks up the pace, such as when Colin stumbles upon a house siege or a group of survivors take action against the undead (resulting in a unsettling scene where those wounded during the battle are cruelly dispatched before they can become zombies), but for the majority of the time, this is dead boring.
Colin
DelBongo11 November 2009
All of the recent coverage of this film in the mainstream print press has inspired the expectation in many (myself very much included) that it has somehow transcended its origins as a film that cost 40 quid to make. It hasn't.
Looking exactly as you'd expect a £40 zombie movie to look (replete with a complete disregard for cinematography, alarmingly hammy acting and plenty of unconvincing, off- colour bloodletting) Colin is an extraordinarily hard slog. This is particularly true of its opening half hour, which is almost totally bereft of dialogue and filled with way too many ugly and aimless shots that last at least four or five times longer than they need to, without any justification.
Despite the odd moderately impressive exterior shot, Colin's "story" is one constructed around the constant need to justify the shooting locations - which are all, for the vast majority of the time, someone's drab and under-lit living room. The finale, which bucks this trend by taking place in someone's garden, is five utterly exhausting minutes of ketchup, shaky-cam and non-stop shouting; the sheer, belligerent pointlessness of which angered me so much that I almost flung a shoe through my TV.
Spades of kudos must go to the enterprising young sprouts who clearly worked like dogs to get this film made, and I'm thrilled to live in an age where filmmakers of this level can get their work seen and distributed nationally on DVD, but to be brutally honest this is film-making of an extremely sloppy vintage, and the complete lack of plot renders it monumentally, deadeningly boring.
A friend of mine remarked that he'd rather sit down in front of a decade's worth of his neighbour's holiday videos than sit through Colin again.
Ditto.
Looking exactly as you'd expect a £40 zombie movie to look (replete with a complete disregard for cinematography, alarmingly hammy acting and plenty of unconvincing, off- colour bloodletting) Colin is an extraordinarily hard slog. This is particularly true of its opening half hour, which is almost totally bereft of dialogue and filled with way too many ugly and aimless shots that last at least four or five times longer than they need to, without any justification.
Despite the odd moderately impressive exterior shot, Colin's "story" is one constructed around the constant need to justify the shooting locations - which are all, for the vast majority of the time, someone's drab and under-lit living room. The finale, which bucks this trend by taking place in someone's garden, is five utterly exhausting minutes of ketchup, shaky-cam and non-stop shouting; the sheer, belligerent pointlessness of which angered me so much that I almost flung a shoe through my TV.
Spades of kudos must go to the enterprising young sprouts who clearly worked like dogs to get this film made, and I'm thrilled to live in an age where filmmakers of this level can get their work seen and distributed nationally on DVD, but to be brutally honest this is film-making of an extremely sloppy vintage, and the complete lack of plot renders it monumentally, deadeningly boring.
A friend of mine remarked that he'd rather sit down in front of a decade's worth of his neighbour's holiday videos than sit through Colin again.
Ditto.
Colin gives me hope that I too can sell my home movies.
poolandrews8 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Colin is set in London where a mysterious virus has been been bringing the dead back to life as flesh eating zombies, the city is in disarray & panic. Colin (Alastair Kirton) is an ordinary bloke, unfortunately Colin's been bitten by a zombie & thus is infected. Poor old Colin is doomed to die & then come back as a mindless flesh eating zombie. Colin has to adjust to being a zombie & deal with all those nasty humans who try to kill him, this is his story...
This English production was shot, edited, written, produced & directed by Marc Price & I am finding all the positive comments absolutely baffling as Colin is surely one of the inept & tedious films ever made. For a start lets a get a couple of things straight, Colin is not the first film to be told from a zombie's point of view neither it is the first film to try & create sympathy for it's flesh eating undead despite what some may say. Where to start? To be fair the concept of a zombie film told from a zombie's perspective is cool but with such a low budget & very little talent on show the concept was doomed to die as we get endless scenes of Colin stumbling about doing nothing in particular. Occasionally Colin meets some humans who are being attacked by other zombies or are themselves attacking zombies, we never meet anyone or learn anything about anyone or the situation they find themselves in. Colin doesn't seem to take sides, neither the zombies or the people are seen as heroes or villains either way. Nobody says a sentence for like half an hour into the film, Colin doesn't speak until the very end in which he has a flashback revealing what happened at the start which should have been at the start rather than the end as it might have made us relate to Colin a bit more or emphasise with his transformation from ordinary bloke to mindless zombie. With zero character development or any sort of plot other than Colin wandering around the odd London street it's hard to see why Colin is getting so much praise. It's not a study of society in a crisis situation as we never see the wider society, only a few random people & the subplot about Colin's sister taking him home goes nowhere & like everything else here feels like padding. At over an hour & a half long Colin surely is one of the most uneventful & dullest films ever released, no character's & no plot basically add up to one long bore where the initial intriguing premise becomes old after about two minutes.
Right, rumour has it that Colin cost £45 to make (about $72) & all I have to say is where did all the money go? Obviously shot in people's houses & without permission on a council estate somewhere (central London is never seen) on a crappy hand-held camcorder (I think my Samsung Wave mobile phone HD camera can record clearer & sharper video than seen in Colin) Colin looks awful in every aspect. From the terrible lighting to the annoying shaky camcorder crap, whenever anything happens on screen it seems like it was shot by someone have a seizure or epileptic fit since the jerkiness is truly hideous & serves no artistic or practical function. There are scenes that are so badly lit, so dark & so shaky that it's literally impossible to tell what's happening, that cannot be right & Colin is just one long eyesore. The make-up effects are poor, there's some fake blood splashed around & some bits of meat probably brought from a local butcher for the zombies to chew on but there's no proper special effects here.
Probably edited on a PC or in camera Colin really is nothing more than a home movie, & a bad one too. Colin is a mindless zombie so the guy playing didn't have too much to do, the odd person that pops up are pretty terrible.
Colin is a film that I hated, I thought it was an ugly eyesore of a film that bored me to senseless & wasted a potentially decent idea. Maybe with an actual budget & actual filmmakers at the helm the concept may one day be turned into something good. Despite all the glowing praise I struggle to find one aspect of Colin that I liked.
This English production was shot, edited, written, produced & directed by Marc Price & I am finding all the positive comments absolutely baffling as Colin is surely one of the inept & tedious films ever made. For a start lets a get a couple of things straight, Colin is not the first film to be told from a zombie's point of view neither it is the first film to try & create sympathy for it's flesh eating undead despite what some may say. Where to start? To be fair the concept of a zombie film told from a zombie's perspective is cool but with such a low budget & very little talent on show the concept was doomed to die as we get endless scenes of Colin stumbling about doing nothing in particular. Occasionally Colin meets some humans who are being attacked by other zombies or are themselves attacking zombies, we never meet anyone or learn anything about anyone or the situation they find themselves in. Colin doesn't seem to take sides, neither the zombies or the people are seen as heroes or villains either way. Nobody says a sentence for like half an hour into the film, Colin doesn't speak until the very end in which he has a flashback revealing what happened at the start which should have been at the start rather than the end as it might have made us relate to Colin a bit more or emphasise with his transformation from ordinary bloke to mindless zombie. With zero character development or any sort of plot other than Colin wandering around the odd London street it's hard to see why Colin is getting so much praise. It's not a study of society in a crisis situation as we never see the wider society, only a few random people & the subplot about Colin's sister taking him home goes nowhere & like everything else here feels like padding. At over an hour & a half long Colin surely is one of the most uneventful & dullest films ever released, no character's & no plot basically add up to one long bore where the initial intriguing premise becomes old after about two minutes.
Right, rumour has it that Colin cost £45 to make (about $72) & all I have to say is where did all the money go? Obviously shot in people's houses & without permission on a council estate somewhere (central London is never seen) on a crappy hand-held camcorder (I think my Samsung Wave mobile phone HD camera can record clearer & sharper video than seen in Colin) Colin looks awful in every aspect. From the terrible lighting to the annoying shaky camcorder crap, whenever anything happens on screen it seems like it was shot by someone have a seizure or epileptic fit since the jerkiness is truly hideous & serves no artistic or practical function. There are scenes that are so badly lit, so dark & so shaky that it's literally impossible to tell what's happening, that cannot be right & Colin is just one long eyesore. The make-up effects are poor, there's some fake blood splashed around & some bits of meat probably brought from a local butcher for the zombies to chew on but there's no proper special effects here.
Probably edited on a PC or in camera Colin really is nothing more than a home movie, & a bad one too. Colin is a mindless zombie so the guy playing didn't have too much to do, the odd person that pops up are pretty terrible.
Colin is a film that I hated, I thought it was an ugly eyesore of a film that bored me to senseless & wasted a potentially decent idea. Maybe with an actual budget & actual filmmakers at the helm the concept may one day be turned into something good. Despite all the glowing praise I struggle to find one aspect of Colin that I liked.
Not as original or good as reviewers keep saying
barry_mckendrick4 November 2009
Just to clear up two points that are repeated ad infinitum: 1 - it's not the first zombie movie shown from the zombies POV. 2 - it's not the first zombie movie to make the zombie empathetic.
Both these points were first done by George Romero. In 'Land of the Dead' one of the core story lines was zombies recognizing they were being attacked and moving towards the human settlement. Again in 'Land of the Dead', and also 'Dawn...' and 'Day of the Dead' there was a recognisably empathic portrayal of the pilot in 'Dawn'(when he turned) and Bub in 'Day'.
There's no doubt that 'Colin' is well done if the statements about the budget are correct - there are some very good aspects to the movie: the soundtrack/score; some of the make up and effects; some the acting.
But this movie is really an extended student film, the cinematography is awful, the editing is okay as long as there is no more than 1 or 2 actors in scene, any more than that and it's very difficult to work out what's going on.
Not to denigrate the efforts of the director, cast and crew - but this is an idea of a movie and should be seen almost as a showreel than a finished product.
Both these points were first done by George Romero. In 'Land of the Dead' one of the core story lines was zombies recognizing they were being attacked and moving towards the human settlement. Again in 'Land of the Dead', and also 'Dawn...' and 'Day of the Dead' there was a recognisably empathic portrayal of the pilot in 'Dawn'(when he turned) and Bub in 'Day'.
There's no doubt that 'Colin' is well done if the statements about the budget are correct - there are some very good aspects to the movie: the soundtrack/score; some of the make up and effects; some the acting.
But this movie is really an extended student film, the cinematography is awful, the editing is okay as long as there is no more than 1 or 2 actors in scene, any more than that and it's very difficult to work out what's going on.
Not to denigrate the efforts of the director, cast and crew - but this is an idea of a movie and should be seen almost as a showreel than a finished product.
One of the most intelligent zombie movies ever made.
Parkingtigers4 October 2008
I was lucky enough to catch a screening of this movie at the Sci-fi Oktoberfest at the Apollo Cinema in central London. It was the first movie in a zombie quadruple-bill, an all night gorefest. Quite frankly I was expecting this unknown low-budget horror to be as awful as it sounded, but it actually turned out to be the best movie of the night in many ways. The director and main star of the film were both in attendance, and I had a chance to congratulate Marc Price on creating a damn fine little movie on what was clearly a shoestring budget.
Let's get the downsides out of the way first. The ultra-low budget really does hurt the film. The camera-work and lighting are the biggest victims, in that what might have been intended as a naturalistic documentary style is actually just a mess of incredibly shaky video footage. Marc Price admitted that he was unhappy with the dark/night scenes as they were still perhaps a bit too dark. On the plus side, the sounds and music are very well done and they manage to carry the sometimes dodgy visuals.
The real lure of this film however, is the the story. Rather than explaining the hows, the whats and the whys of this particular zombie apocalypse, it simply focuses on a single zombie and follows his shambling journey from death to undeath while civilisation comes to a grinding halt in the background. Other movies in the genre have the zombies as a faceless horde of implacable eating machines, but "Colin" plucks one half-eaten face from the crowd and makes him a highly believable character. I never thought this would happen, but I felt genuine empathy for Colin at times. As he shuffles around a London that is collapsing in upon itself, various groups of human survivors cross his path offering snapshots of other untold stories that are occurring at the same time. There is the man being slowly and quietly eaten to death, the group of grim-faced zombie-hunters, the man with a secret in his cellar, the grieving sister ... every one of these stories gives hints of the wider chaos that must be going on, making this a very believable, and very English, zombie uprising.
This is a film that absolutely deserves to be seen by a wider audience. I can only hope that a distribution company picks it up and ensures that it gets a full release in the same way that other low budget films like Blair Witch Project and Open Water did. Ideally, I'd like to see a studio offer Marc Price the money to make a shot for shot remake but with professional level equipment. The story is very strong, it seems that even zombies can have a character arc and a sense of purpose, and there are so many clever ideas in both the script and the execution. There are some moments of subtle humour, lashings of blood, and at least one moment that was genuinely terrifying. I'm greatly looking forward to seeing more work from this novice director, there is real talent on display here. It might look low budget, but script- wise this is as strong as anything being released by the major studios.
If you have ever enjoyed a good zombie film, then do seek out "Colin" because it is truly a fine example of the genre. It's quite literally a film for people with braiiiiiiiiins.
Let's get the downsides out of the way first. The ultra-low budget really does hurt the film. The camera-work and lighting are the biggest victims, in that what might have been intended as a naturalistic documentary style is actually just a mess of incredibly shaky video footage. Marc Price admitted that he was unhappy with the dark/night scenes as they were still perhaps a bit too dark. On the plus side, the sounds and music are very well done and they manage to carry the sometimes dodgy visuals.
The real lure of this film however, is the the story. Rather than explaining the hows, the whats and the whys of this particular zombie apocalypse, it simply focuses on a single zombie and follows his shambling journey from death to undeath while civilisation comes to a grinding halt in the background. Other movies in the genre have the zombies as a faceless horde of implacable eating machines, but "Colin" plucks one half-eaten face from the crowd and makes him a highly believable character. I never thought this would happen, but I felt genuine empathy for Colin at times. As he shuffles around a London that is collapsing in upon itself, various groups of human survivors cross his path offering snapshots of other untold stories that are occurring at the same time. There is the man being slowly and quietly eaten to death, the group of grim-faced zombie-hunters, the man with a secret in his cellar, the grieving sister ... every one of these stories gives hints of the wider chaos that must be going on, making this a very believable, and very English, zombie uprising.
This is a film that absolutely deserves to be seen by a wider audience. I can only hope that a distribution company picks it up and ensures that it gets a full release in the same way that other low budget films like Blair Witch Project and Open Water did. Ideally, I'd like to see a studio offer Marc Price the money to make a shot for shot remake but with professional level equipment. The story is very strong, it seems that even zombies can have a character arc and a sense of purpose, and there are so many clever ideas in both the script and the execution. There are some moments of subtle humour, lashings of blood, and at least one moment that was genuinely terrifying. I'm greatly looking forward to seeing more work from this novice director, there is real talent on display here. It might look low budget, but script- wise this is as strong as anything being released by the major studios.
If you have ever enjoyed a good zombie film, then do seek out "Colin" because it is truly a fine example of the genre. It's quite literally a film for people with braiiiiiiiiins.
Ed Wood, eat your heart out! (assuming you're a zombie, that is)
neil-47615 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I occasionally haunt the pound shop because I love the conversations I have there ("How much is that?" "A pound." "And that?" "A pound." "And that?"...) The DVD of zombie movie "Colin" was there. It was a pound. I read the effusive sleeve blurb telling me that "Colin" had cost ninepence (OK, forty quid) to make, and what a wonderful piece of work it was, especially given how little it had cost. I passed.
And then it turned up on late night TV. So I thought, "Let's try it out - if it's any good, I might go back to the pound shop and splurge." Ed Wood, he of the infamous Glen Or Glenda, Plan 9 From Outer Space et al, has achieved an affectionate respect among some mainstream filmmakers because of his sheer determination to get his films made with threadbare resources and his success in then getting them out there into the market place and seen by the public. Yes, one accepts that it was a remarkable achievement. But that doesn't mean that his movies weren't hamstrung by both technical ineptitude and an absence of production values.
Meet "Colin", the noughties equivalent of Ed Wood. Only, rather than the thousands of dollars Wood's films cost (a small number of thousands, admittedly, but still thousands, and during the 1950s, too), "Colin" cost forty quid.
It shows. Filmed on hand-held lo-res video throughout, it's not so much that production values are low, more that there aren't any. It is technically lacking in every respect - script, acting, lighting, pacing, editing - to the extent that it is more or less unwatchable.
And I say this as someone who actually watched "Aquanoids" all the way through.
I give it one star because I have to, and another for the Ed Wood factor.
And then it turned up on late night TV. So I thought, "Let's try it out - if it's any good, I might go back to the pound shop and splurge." Ed Wood, he of the infamous Glen Or Glenda, Plan 9 From Outer Space et al, has achieved an affectionate respect among some mainstream filmmakers because of his sheer determination to get his films made with threadbare resources and his success in then getting them out there into the market place and seen by the public. Yes, one accepts that it was a remarkable achievement. But that doesn't mean that his movies weren't hamstrung by both technical ineptitude and an absence of production values.
Meet "Colin", the noughties equivalent of Ed Wood. Only, rather than the thousands of dollars Wood's films cost (a small number of thousands, admittedly, but still thousands, and during the 1950s, too), "Colin" cost forty quid.
It shows. Filmed on hand-held lo-res video throughout, it's not so much that production values are low, more that there aren't any. It is technically lacking in every respect - script, acting, lighting, pacing, editing - to the extent that it is more or less unwatchable.
And I say this as someone who actually watched "Aquanoids" all the way through.
I give it one star because I have to, and another for the Ed Wood factor.
An original take on the traditional zombie movie
DVD_Connoisseur1 November 2009
"Colin" is an amazing achievement, given its shoestring budget. Marc Price's ambitious independent and original zombie film shows us proceedings through the undead's perspective (the role of Colin played by Alastair Kirton).
This is a genuinely moving film which contains a number of unforgettable scenes. Taking the genre beyond mere blood and guts (but there are plenty of juicy entrails and examples of body dismemberment on display to keep the gorehound's interest fixed on the proceedings), "Colin" is a thought provoking, rather tragic, movie.
7 out of 10. Recommended viewing. Price shows genuine talent and it will be interesting to see where he takes the viewer next.
This is a genuinely moving film which contains a number of unforgettable scenes. Taking the genre beyond mere blood and guts (but there are plenty of juicy entrails and examples of body dismemberment on display to keep the gorehound's interest fixed on the proceedings), "Colin" is a thought provoking, rather tragic, movie.
7 out of 10. Recommended viewing. Price shows genuine talent and it will be interesting to see where he takes the viewer next.
Surely the most tedious film of the decade
vforvirulence2 February 2010
I can't believe we sat through this - thanks TGG, not ! If you want to waste 97 minutes of your life, watch this film. Nothing happens, and though we begged for Colin to die, the director refused to put us out of our misery.
This film would have been interesting as a 3 minute short, every second after that was a waste of time.
The comparisons to Romero are farcical, those films capture the attention, there is nothing in Colin to do, other than the vain hope that someone will drive a screwdriver into his eyeball.
I can't believe that people gave this film reviews of 10, what exactly were they smoking? Or do they work for the distribution company? Then again, perhaps they were one of the zombie 'extras', who took their mindless attitude from the film set onto the IMDb review boards.
This film would have been interesting as a 3 minute short, every second after that was a waste of time.
The comparisons to Romero are farcical, those films capture the attention, there is nothing in Colin to do, other than the vain hope that someone will drive a screwdriver into his eyeball.
I can't believe that people gave this film reviews of 10, what exactly were they smoking? Or do they work for the distribution company? Then again, perhaps they were one of the zombie 'extras', who took their mindless attitude from the film set onto the IMDb review boards.
A zombie film from the zombies point of view.
pericleslewnes8 August 2009
This movie pulls off a new spin on the zombie genre which is being done to death. (Sorry) This is a very smart film by a smart director and a talented lead actor. This movie is creepy, gore laden and at times humorous. I would say say that this approaches "Romeroesque" in it's execution. It was being hyped that this movie cost only $70, but I think that was hype to get people to see it at the markets. It doesn't really matter how little it costs, COLIN is a tiny masterpiece that will end up a classic that will transcend the genre. I hope the this movie gets it's due. Right now, Independent Film is an orphan with so many distribution outlets drying up. Well done Mr. Price.
Flawed gem of a zombie movie
harekrishna7 November 2009
Saw this at the Leeds film festival the other night and 'Colin' is definitely one of the more original zombie movies I've seen. There's very little dialogue and the title character's descent into shuffling zombiehood is told almost totally visually.
The glimpses of an undead-ravaged London that we see through Colin's eyes make for some great sight gags along the way. There are a couple of twisted characters, some excellent gore (at least for such a low budget) and a few surprisingly sad and poignant moments - one of the greatest things about this film is that you actually empathise with a zombie for once. It's all backed up by a nicely subtle illbient soundtrack.
It's not without its faults, though. The very-shakeycam and high-contrast visuals give it a gritty, home-made feel that mostly works well with the subject matter, but too often it's also confusing and hectic, leaving you wondering what the hell just happened.
It also felt too long, despite being only 97 minutes - there are plenty of scenes that could have been snipped down and as simply effective as the premise is, there's just not enough story to fill an hour and 40 minutes. Something like 70 minutes would have been perfect in my opinion.
Overall, definitely worth seeing if you enjoy zombie flicks, especially clever, left-field ones like Pontypool and The Signal. While it's not as good as either of those, it's a fresh take on an old genre that deserves a watch.
The glimpses of an undead-ravaged London that we see through Colin's eyes make for some great sight gags along the way. There are a couple of twisted characters, some excellent gore (at least for such a low budget) and a few surprisingly sad and poignant moments - one of the greatest things about this film is that you actually empathise with a zombie for once. It's all backed up by a nicely subtle illbient soundtrack.
It's not without its faults, though. The very-shakeycam and high-contrast visuals give it a gritty, home-made feel that mostly works well with the subject matter, but too often it's also confusing and hectic, leaving you wondering what the hell just happened.
It also felt too long, despite being only 97 minutes - there are plenty of scenes that could have been snipped down and as simply effective as the premise is, there's just not enough story to fill an hour and 40 minutes. Something like 70 minutes would have been perfect in my opinion.
Overall, definitely worth seeing if you enjoy zombie flicks, especially clever, left-field ones like Pontypool and The Signal. While it's not as good as either of those, it's a fresh take on an old genre that deserves a watch.
Do not watch this movie !
amy-skolnick14 December 2010
If I could go lower than a 1, I would. This movie has absolutely no point. It's so awful. My friends and I watched this movie for an hour- way longer than we should have- expecting something to happen, but absolutely nothing happened.
Do not waste your time and your money to watch this movie. It's literally a camera following a zombie while it walks around town and someone occasionally gets eaten.
We tried to figure out the plot but the film gives you no information about anything. The only reason I know his name was Colin is from the name of the movie.
Do not waste your time and your money to watch this movie. It's literally a camera following a zombie while it walks around town and someone occasionally gets eaten.
We tried to figure out the plot but the film gives you no information about anything. The only reason I know his name was Colin is from the name of the movie.
What's the fuss?
Leofwine_draca7 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
COLIN is a British zombie film famously made on a camcorder with a budget of just £45. It garnered rave reviews at the time, but having just finished watching it I'm absolutely perplexed as to why. This is no different from plenty of other mindless indie movies, a cheap film that goes through the all-too-familiar motions. The acting is of the shrieking hysterical variety and any attempts at originality are subdued amid the usual overload of guts and neck biting. There are good, cheap zombie films out there - I particularly love the Irish ZOMBIE GENOCIDE - but this isn't one of them.
A valiant attempt, but no cigar...
brendan-26816 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Colin suffers from several major flaws (and no, I'm not talking about the zombie virus that plagues the main character - ba doom boom chish!), and these flaws undo what would have been an otherwise praiseworthy piece of indie film making.
I'm not going to critique the cinematography, because at the end of the day this was a low budget indie film, and it wasn't too bad when considered in that light - however there are other problems with Colin that being a low budget indie film is no excuse for.
Firstly, it's simply far too long for the story it tells - there's no way it needed to take 1 hour and 37 minutes to tell this story. A lot of extra time is wasted on pointless scenes and events that feel far too long, and don't do anything to advance the plot. I almost turned this film off at the 30 minute mark because it was just starting to feel like a series of totally unrelated, and totally unconnected zombie attack/fight scenes that were merely there to pad out the film and to out-gore Romero.
Secondly, large chunks of this film just don't seem to make coherent sense (remember, generally speaking, when it comes to film making, what appears on screen shouldn't require an off-screen explanation). Why were all those people in a house full of zombies? What was up with that serial killer with the basement full of zombies, and why would he let one just walk right past him? Why does Colin attack some people, including his own family, but then walk right past that serial killer guy at the top of the basement? Why does the girl who died in the basement look like the same girl who Colin was bitten by, and whom he killed? Why was all that camera time devoted to the leader of the violent mob at the end of the film, when he had no actual importance to the plot, and was never seen in the film again (such camera attention would normally be the precursor to an important reveal).
Thirdly, the acting was terrible in places - and I'm talking here about the people pretending to be zombies, which is hardly something that requires Oscar winning acting talent.
A valiant attempt at something original, but unfortunately it was derailed by mistakes that mom and pop home-film makers, rather than indie ones, should be making.
I'm not going to critique the cinematography, because at the end of the day this was a low budget indie film, and it wasn't too bad when considered in that light - however there are other problems with Colin that being a low budget indie film is no excuse for.
Firstly, it's simply far too long for the story it tells - there's no way it needed to take 1 hour and 37 minutes to tell this story. A lot of extra time is wasted on pointless scenes and events that feel far too long, and don't do anything to advance the plot. I almost turned this film off at the 30 minute mark because it was just starting to feel like a series of totally unrelated, and totally unconnected zombie attack/fight scenes that were merely there to pad out the film and to out-gore Romero.
Secondly, large chunks of this film just don't seem to make coherent sense (remember, generally speaking, when it comes to film making, what appears on screen shouldn't require an off-screen explanation). Why were all those people in a house full of zombies? What was up with that serial killer with the basement full of zombies, and why would he let one just walk right past him? Why does Colin attack some people, including his own family, but then walk right past that serial killer guy at the top of the basement? Why does the girl who died in the basement look like the same girl who Colin was bitten by, and whom he killed? Why was all that camera time devoted to the leader of the violent mob at the end of the film, when he had no actual importance to the plot, and was never seen in the film again (such camera attention would normally be the precursor to an important reveal).
Thirdly, the acting was terrible in places - and I'm talking here about the people pretending to be zombies, which is hardly something that requires Oscar winning acting talent.
A valiant attempt at something original, but unfortunately it was derailed by mistakes that mom and pop home-film makers, rather than indie ones, should be making.
Ow
kittenkongshow15 April 2011
After twenty minutes i had a headache from the Shaky Cam and couldn't watch much more, Sadly while i admire the fact that this got out there being a very low budget film, i cant help thinking that I know people who have been making much better films than this for there own enjoyment for years...
Mr. H you know which i mean! I don't know if it gets better as after 28 minutes I thought Bugger this for a lark and switched it off.
Give me Bub (from Day of the Dead, Romero, 1985) over Colin any day!.
It leaves me asking how did it get a release let alone the good reviews posted on here.
As with all my reviews it is my opinion so if your interested try it just don't come to me asking for a refund!
Mr. H you know which i mean! I don't know if it gets better as after 28 minutes I thought Bugger this for a lark and switched it off.
Give me Bub (from Day of the Dead, Romero, 1985) over Colin any day!.
It leaves me asking how did it get a release let alone the good reviews posted on here.
As with all my reviews it is my opinion so if your interested try it just don't come to me asking for a refund!
Zombie flick meets 'slice of life'
neil-upto113 March 2011
I enjoyed 'Colin'. I love conventional 'bite and chase' films but I found this ultra-low budget, slow-paced effort intriguing and moving. I don't want to get too analytical but I thought 'Colin' was pretty bold to allude to such heavyweight social issues as family disintegration, urban decay, violent crime and despair. Now this doesn't exactly leave a lot of room for laughs but 'Colin' still managed to inject a sliver of humour in there as well.
All in all, a thoughtful production. The sad reality is that it would almost certainly never be green-lighted as a major film because of its pace and tone so I suppose the lesson is: enjoy these little gems - in all their rough-edged glory - whenever they shuffle along and grab you.
All in all, a thoughtful production. The sad reality is that it would almost certainly never be green-lighted as a major film because of its pace and tone so I suppose the lesson is: enjoy these little gems - in all their rough-edged glory - whenever they shuffle along and grab you.
If this film was meant to be as bad as it is then it is a masterpiece!
ernestw0629 October 2009
Poor Poor Poor does not do this "film" justice! I know all the hype about how this was made for £45 but please, do you really expect people to watch something this bad! Don't under any circumstances waste your life watching this rubbish!
Unless you are after a really really really good laugh and learn how not to do it, then this is the film for you!
Im sorry to be so negative but there's is really no upside to this waste of time and £45
please don't put this sort of film in our cinemas. No one wants it no one needs it and above all else no one cares!
Unless you are after a really really really good laugh and learn how not to do it, then this is the film for you!
Im sorry to be so negative but there's is really no upside to this waste of time and £45
please don't put this sort of film in our cinemas. No one wants it no one needs it and above all else no one cares!
An underrated low budget gem
rj_barstow5 April 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I've got to say i'm perplexed by all the negative feedback this film has received, I've just watched it and found it to be an intriguing and understated low budget film. Its angle (from colins perspective) is beautifully and intelligently executed. The confusion, born out by elements such as the normal folk remaining nameless, the very fact that there is very little plot development rings true of the unfocused mind of a zombie. The complete lack of empathy bestowed by the film maker on anyone except Colin is, to me, a fantastically under played tool allowing the viewer to really see the post apocalyptic world from the eyes of a zombie.
To folks complaining about the setting, why would the film be made anywhere else than normal "drab" surroundings? this is where the majority of us live! And to counter those of you that found the lingering shots of street signs or just of Colin ambling along, I personally found these moments the most striking, they gave room to breath an contemplate the situation, what sparks they may be triggering in the virus addled zombie mind.
Just to counter balance myself, and for the sake of reasoned argument, yes, there are a few moments of hammy acting, such as the youths trying to steal colins shoes, and a few moments of absurdity, fighting of zombie hordes with saucepans... but i must say, the action sequences were the low points of the film for me anyway. The true embryonic genius (yes genius) of the film maker lies in his ability to capture moments of pure poignancy in the simplest of moments, Colins captivation of a brightly lit road sign, relating to the stolen sign in the flat where he was first bitten, a perfect example. If you want big budget and balls out action, go look at Hollywood, if you want a subtle, delicate, occasionally bleakly humorous examination of the soul via the apparently soulless, forgive it its bugbears and try Colin.
To folks complaining about the setting, why would the film be made anywhere else than normal "drab" surroundings? this is where the majority of us live! And to counter those of you that found the lingering shots of street signs or just of Colin ambling along, I personally found these moments the most striking, they gave room to breath an contemplate the situation, what sparks they may be triggering in the virus addled zombie mind.
Just to counter balance myself, and for the sake of reasoned argument, yes, there are a few moments of hammy acting, such as the youths trying to steal colins shoes, and a few moments of absurdity, fighting of zombie hordes with saucepans... but i must say, the action sequences were the low points of the film for me anyway. The true embryonic genius (yes genius) of the film maker lies in his ability to capture moments of pure poignancy in the simplest of moments, Colins captivation of a brightly lit road sign, relating to the stolen sign in the flat where he was first bitten, a perfect example. If you want big budget and balls out action, go look at Hollywood, if you want a subtle, delicate, occasionally bleakly humorous examination of the soul via the apparently soulless, forgive it its bugbears and try Colin.
Far from good!
ChrisJ210614 October 2010
After reading reviews on here for this movie I got quite hyped up to watch it. I was lucky enough to record it on television and save myself a good £8. The movie cost £40 to make apparently, but it looks like it was made on £5. I honestly cannot work out what cost £40! There is no lighting in the movie and most of it is darkness. The camera shakes throughout the movie, which yes helped to make Cloverfield good, but it did not work here.
I am a huge zombie movie fan and this was more of an insult. The main character get ill before he turns, yet you see another infected person who is infected for what I can guess to be about 2 days, showing no signs of sickness and she just turns. Continuity?????
Granted that this movie was an independent movie, it is nothing more then a movie you would make as a joke with your friends. The acting is terrible, including when one of the actresses smirks whilst saying that there is a zombie in her bathroom and the main character almost laughs.
It really is a horrible movie. Good try but nothing I'd pay to see. Do NOT buy this movie. You will regret it.
I am a huge zombie movie fan and this was more of an insult. The main character get ill before he turns, yet you see another infected person who is infected for what I can guess to be about 2 days, showing no signs of sickness and she just turns. Continuity?????
Granted that this movie was an independent movie, it is nothing more then a movie you would make as a joke with your friends. The acting is terrible, including when one of the actresses smirks whilst saying that there is a zombie in her bathroom and the main character almost laughs.
It really is a horrible movie. Good try but nothing I'd pay to see. Do NOT buy this movie. You will regret it.
More than just a zombie film
daniel-weekes26 May 2009
I have been lucky enough to see a preview of this film and it really is a VERY good film. Obviously, being a very low budget film it has its technical flaws and in some cases the shaky camera work doesn't quite hit the spot that it was meant to, but none of this can take away from the quality of the story, acting and execution of this film. Marc Price is clearly a very talented director in many ways. He has managed to conjure up a fantastic post zombie world and via our journey we get insights into this world. Along this journey there is plenty of gore and a touch of comedy but most surprisingly there are also a few tears and a lot to think about! There are moments of pure emotion which bought a tear to the eye of many of the people watching the film and this is all bought about by Alistair Kirtons (Colin) great ability to play with your emotion without saying a word and Marc Prices ability to do the same with the world he creates, he uses also uses music to good effect and the soundtrack of this film is very good in this regard. There is so much more to say about this film and the multitude of ideas that is addresses, but I guess half the fun is discovering that for yourself, so lets hope this films gets out there very soon
Colin
jboothmillard8 October 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I literally heard about this film on the entertainment news, I heard this home-made camcorder horror film was considered so good and professional, that they made it a cinema release. Basically Londoner Colin (Alastair Kirton) just about escapes the zombie devastation outside getting into his house, but he has the misfortune of one being in his house. He manages to kill it, but not before it managed to bite his neck, although he initially already had a zombie bite on his arm this speeds up the process of becoming a zombie himself. The next thing you know Colin is a full flesh eating undead creature, and the rest of the film follows him in his journey to find a human victim. He goes through houses and towns among the many other hundred recently dead returning to life people wreaking havoc. There is a point when those who know Colin best, including sister Linda (Daisy Aitkens) and her friend Marlen (Tat Whalley) try to make him remember his previous self, but of course ti doesn't work. Soon enough, a gang of heavy types with weapons of all kinds seem to have bludgeoned Colin to death, and used a little dynamite to blow some of his face off. But of course he still "lives" and in his still undead state he returns to his house and falls to the floor, where his former life before becoming a zombie flashes back to him. These flashbacks reveal that Colin and his girlfriend Laura (Leanne Pammen) were holding up in the house from the situation, and she managed to tie up one of the creatures for safety. Of course a false move allows the zombie to escape, and when Laura is bitten and became a zombie, Colin had no choice but to kill her, and of course she was the one who bit his arm, this is the conclusion. Also starring Kate Alderman as False Laura, Kerry Owen as Colin's Mother, Leigh Crocombe as Damien and Justin Mitchell-Davey as Slingshot Guy. The usual zombie film would obviously look from the perspective of some survivors, but this is actually quite a clever idea to see from the flesh eaters point of view, makes it different. It is quite astonishing that this home made film from debuting director Marc Price only had £45 budget, achieved by free extras, home made special effects and saved make-up, but it looks actually very professional, and it's fun viewing. Good!
One of the most horrid, detestable genre films ever
kannibalcorpsegrinder25 February 2013
After being subjected to a zombie bite and becoming infected with the infection, a man joins the ravenous crowds of zombies swarming London joining in their activities before finding family members who try to turn him back to his normal self before he can engage his normal zombie behavior on them.
This might end up being the most boring zombie film ever, despite the fact that the film starts off immediately with a zombie attack and keeps them on-screen for the duration of the movie. This is due to the film's incredibly hair-brained decision to make the film from the zombie's point-of-view, making it nearly wordless and free of dialog for the majority of the film. While that does make for a lot of great attack scenes that provide plenty of gore here as we see the swarms rip people apart and so on, it deteriorates into a series of him stumbling around before meeting someone else and it gets old fast. Then it gets to the parts at the house where they try to rehabilitate him, and the sentimentality on display totally erodes any semblance of horror it could've had, and it's just an extremely tiresome affair without sustaining any interest whatsoever. A mostly useless zombie movie overall.
Rated R: Graphic Violence and some language.
This might end up being the most boring zombie film ever, despite the fact that the film starts off immediately with a zombie attack and keeps them on-screen for the duration of the movie. This is due to the film's incredibly hair-brained decision to make the film from the zombie's point-of-view, making it nearly wordless and free of dialog for the majority of the film. While that does make for a lot of great attack scenes that provide plenty of gore here as we see the swarms rip people apart and so on, it deteriorates into a series of him stumbling around before meeting someone else and it gets old fast. Then it gets to the parts at the house where they try to rehabilitate him, and the sentimentality on display totally erodes any semblance of horror it could've had, and it's just an extremely tiresome affair without sustaining any interest whatsoever. A mostly useless zombie movie overall.
Rated R: Graphic Violence and some language.
Good make-up and zombie performance
amesmonde20 October 2010
Colin is bitten by a Zombie; he dies, returning from dead and tackles what every zombie has to deal with, the living.
A poor mans micro-budget zombie film that is less effective than the low budgeters Autumn (2009) and Zombie Diaries (2006). Allegedly shot for £40 (even though petrol would cost more than that in UK to get to each location filmed).
Some of the make up is well executed. Alastair Kirton gives a good zombie performance as Colin and the supporting cast are fine. Nevertheless, the filming suffers from problems of most low budget movies. That said, director/writer Marc Price does his best with what he has and credit to him for the film reaching such a wide audience.
Overall, interesting film making which tries to stir emotions for 97 minutes.
A poor mans micro-budget zombie film that is less effective than the low budgeters Autumn (2009) and Zombie Diaries (2006). Allegedly shot for £40 (even though petrol would cost more than that in UK to get to each location filmed).
Some of the make up is well executed. Alastair Kirton gives a good zombie performance as Colin and the supporting cast are fine. Nevertheless, the filming suffers from problems of most low budget movies. That said, director/writer Marc Price does his best with what he has and credit to him for the film reaching such a wide audience.
Overall, interesting film making which tries to stir emotions for 97 minutes.
Great idea but hard to watch
seanpatrickchandler30 August 2019
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