Twenty five years after a killer virus forced the majority of Scotland to be walled up apart from the rest of humanity, the virus begins anew, spreading outside the quarantined zone. The powers that be decide to send elite agent Maj. Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) in to see if she can find any information about a cure. Awaiting her on the other side of the barricade are decades of violent societal decay.
And it ain’t pretty. On one side, we have the cannibal punks, adorning themselves in human remains that go quite nicely with their facial tattoos. They are led by Sol (Craig Conway), who, put simply, is one crazy son of a bitch. On the other we have medieval-era knights led by Dr. Kane (Malcolm McDowell), who is the former top researcher on the virus. Yep, one faction goes Mad Max, the other, King Arthur. But since they have the cars and castles for it, they both pull it off rather nicely.
At every turn is a new conflict, and gory, squishy violence rule the entire production. Hats off to the special effects team that pulled it all together, they really do an excellent job. The film exists for its effects, reaching new levels of over-the-top ridiculousness with every passing scene: messy gunshot wounds, huge stunt filled chases. While I got a kick out of the sheer absurdity of it all, the fact remains that the squeamish need not apply.
Overall, there’s not really anything “new” going on here. The movie doesn’t strive to innovate or bring much new at all to the table, it is here to push the existing borders and go nuts. Basically, you’re either in for the ride, or you’re not.
