Well Deserved Praise

Memorable, crazy movie

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

A very original, creative take on post-apocalyptic zombie films. Only the men are affected, which is quite unique to say the least. The acting and directing are excellent. I was glued to my screen the whole time. Some might not like the animation but keeping in mind it's supposed to be from a schoolgirl's Japanese English book, it makes sense. The twists at the end were fantastic and obviously well thought out. You get some riveting action, great atmosphere, and an intriguing mystery. It's not your typical stupid schoolgirl T&A movie. In fact, it doesn't have any T&A but it doesn't need any. It's stronger and better without it. If you like original horror films or Japanese genre movies, I absolutely recommend this one. Or if you're just a fan of indie films in general, it's obvious the writer/director put everything he had into this and it shows. Can't wait to see what he does next!

Simple effects, budget, writing, acting, and it all works..The characters are confusing which adds to the appeal.. There are a couple of intense scenes that are well worked out and set the mood and plot.. You are never quite sure which way anyone is going to go so it adds suspense..Honestly, it reminded me of low budget 50s films but where 50s films worked because they were schlocky, this one uses the schlocky as part of everyone's hallucinations and makes it interesting..It's not your everyday zombie movie, our heroine is a teen but I don't think it's just for teens.. It's that odd movie that few will see but those that do will smile while remembering it.. (it is subtitled in English but there aren't that many words so not a lot of reading)

Plot: An infection is spreading across Japan turning all the males into zombies. After Sakura's mother is attacked and killed, Sakura takes to the streets in hopes for surviving the inevitable apocalypse. She meets a few people, good and bad, but one guy seems to be of more importance than everyone else... Our thoughts: It's only fair that I break any ideas you might have so far: even though the movie is Japanese and is called "Schoolgirl Apocalypse", this is NOT one of those over-the-top splatter movies that are really popular (though it seems like they are on the decline, finally!). This is a very serious zombie movie that doesn't mind going to some unique places by mixing drama and at times even animation. What makes this movie so entertaining isn't really the story, as that one doesn't have too many tricks up its sleeves: it's about males turning into zombies. As the title suggests, the movie is about a schoolgirl, Sakura, who is trying to survive this zombie apocalypse. Her mother was attacked and killed, and now she's roaming the streets. She gets in contact with a few people, and one girl who is making things harder for Sakura instead of helping. A rotten egg, so to speak. Sakura is starting to have weird visions (or are they dreams?) about a boy who wants to reach the ocean. These sequences are shown as very crudely drawn animations, which definitely stands out to an otherwise upright zombie drama/horror. The survival/zombie aspect of "Schoolgirl Apocalypse" is just excellent - one of the most entertaining in Japanese zombie movies and fits nicely with some fun favorites like "Junk" and "Bio-Zombie" (I guess "Versus" and "Wild Zero" are on a level of their own). Sakura is a great character - strong but still with the always important emotional touch. The zombie action is quite true to classics, though they might be a bit more hyper, like the modern ones. In every way, the zombie part of the movie is spot-on, even with the effects. There are some things I could nitpick, but overall I am very surprised that it managed to bring on the drama, action and the zombie horror so well. But then we have the other part.. the animations. They are very hard to swallow, really. They stand out so much from the rest of the movie, and I can't help but think that maybe there could have been a better way of doing this. But these scenes aren't bad scenes per se, just catches us by surprise and come off as very trippy. They do help in separating the boy character from the rest of the movie, so that when she meets him for real we always know that he is important to the story. The use of animation is not something that leaves much of a negative effect, but it made it a bit harder to get into. The only thing I can really say that was specifically "bad" was the finale. Let's just say that it gets to the roots of the zombie infection, and while the idea could've been decent, it just doesn't pull off the effects to make it work. To keep it short, they use CGI for a pretty wild finale. CGI is fine up to a certain point: if you can enhance scenes with it, go ahead. But I don't enjoy seeing something built up entirely with CGI. "Schoolgirl Apocalypse" went from feeling like a really entertaining and interesting zombie movie, to something you'd see on SyFy (okay, that's harsh - it was better than SyFy). Overall I am very pleased with "Schoolgirl Apocalypse". It's interesting that it's a Japanese movie made by an American (I think) director, yet he captures a lot of the style of the countries other titles, and often perfects it. It does so many things right that I'm willing to accept the surprisingly odd animation/cartoon scenes and the lacking finale. The movie wins me over completely by being a great zombie movie outside of those things. It has great characters, fun effects and some really creative ideas that often work in favor of the visuals. If you enjoy zombie movies but feel there have been so many bad ones recently, then you should at least check this one out. You might have a hard time accepting some things, but I think you'll at least find a neat little "zombie apocalypse meets coming of age" movie.