by As great as The Walking Dead has been and aside from some comedy horrors of the 2000s, there hasn’t been much worthwhile in the world of the flesh-eating subgenre since Romero’s Dead and The Return of the Living Dead’s trilogies.
The downfall with zombies is – there isn’t much more they can do that keeps them FRIGHTENING. For the love of everything unholy, the last thing I want to see is some silly decaying gimp aiming a rifle.
Eat a fool, don’t shoot one.
And yet, we continue to want something different…
Which is why I was immediately awestruck by the subdued colors and the dramatic overtones in the original trailer of Maggie. With Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead, I knew right away this was no ordinary zombie flick.
Instead of relying solely on jump scares, gnarly special effects, and violent deaths, we watch a film that brings you to a deeper, more emotional level. A level I am not sure most hardcore zombie fans were prepared for.
This is why I love Maggie.
Starring Abigail Breslin as Maggie Vogel, the plagued teenage daughter of Wade (Schwarzeneggar), this 2015 drama thriller carries us through a new “necroambulist virus”, that does not kill and turn one suddenly, but over the span of weeks. We follow Wade as he struggles with knowing the closer his daughter gets to a complete turn, he has only three options for her end: Quarantine and painful euthanization , self-administering euthanization, or the quick shot to the head.
Joely Richardson co-stars as Wade’s wife and Maggie’s stepmom, Caroline, who attempts to stay in support of her husband’s choice to bring his dying daughter home, sending their other two children to temporarily live with an aunt. Once it becomes apparent that Maggie’s condition is worsening quicker than anticipated and she is starting to desire her stepmom as the next beef tartare, Caroline leaves Wade alone to deal with the inevitable.
Watching a father and daughter try to hold on to the remainder of their humanity, witnessing the deterioration of frightened youth, and the daily struggles of facing death, is almost reminiscent of the reality many of us face on a daily with our own loved ones. It is also something I feel a lot of people missed when watching this film.
The ending gets a lot of hate. Many feel cheated for the slow buildup, and as much as I want to go into details, I do not have it in me to give it away for those who have yet to watch Maggie.
The ending is ultimately what I loved, that went to beautifully written story where you found yourself wondering – am I really going to tear up to a zombie flick?
Maggie – Final Thoughts
As a die-hard zombie fan, I encourage anyone who hasn’t given Maggie two blinks of an eye, to watch it with an opened mind. It is a bit slow and there is not a full action sequence with the terminator.
However, you may be surprised at what you see… or upset you listened to some rambler on the internet.
Directed By: Henry Hobson
Written By: John Scott 3
Runtime: 95 Minutes
–MissToxicLocket
Now. Who wants to show me how to make gifs like these Tumblr finds?
