I guess that as waves of George Romero-inspired zombie movies continually bombard our theaters and rental stores, it was inevitable that 28 DAYS LATER would eventually begin to spawn its own imitators. That’s what THE VANGUARD looks like to me, although that’s primarily based on the trailer’s look (i.e. shaky cam) and because these aren’t technically “zombies” but drug-altered humans reduced to a primal state, with a tendency to growl like pissed-off lions.
Ah, but Romero’s inspiration isn’t far behind, as director Matthew Hope tells Dread Central: “When I sat down to write the script, I thought about the genre in terms of hopefully bringing something new to it. I wanted to set the film in the wilderness (I think after flicking through Max Brooks’ book The Zombie Survival Guide), and I wanted the zombies not to be slow or fast moving, but to take on an ape-like state, make it very primal. I think a big inspiration for the film was Omega Man with my film having some similarities, most notably being about the last survivor. Another thing I was interested in was that a lot of zombie films have political themes, especially Joe Dante’s episode of Masters of Horror “Homecoming” episode or Romero’s Dawn of the Dead being about mass consumerism. Mine has an interest in over-population and the treatment of people from the Middle East in the current War on Terror.”
Yes indeed, can’t have a “zombie” film without inserting some political/social subtext in there. Visit THE VANGUARD‘s Official Site for more stills, and a detailed synopsis.