Maggie

Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson, Jodie Moore

Director: Henry Hobson

With some measure of success, Arnie essays a straight dramatic role in this unremittingly grim zombie film (although the 'z' word is never mentioned). A plague of 'necro-ambulist' (that's the walking dead to you) has swept America, and the dying must be sped into quarantine as soon as their symptoms become uncontrollable.

The virus also seems to have infected crops that now have to be burned - so farmer Wade Vogel (Schwarzenegger) is facing a double tragedy, as Maggie (Breslin) his teenage daughter by his late first wife, has also been infected after being bitten in the arm.

Extracting her from hospital quarantine, Wade returns her to the farm, where his second wife (Richardson) sends their children away and stays on to care for Maggie. All too soon, alas, the infection progresses towards 'the turn' as black veins course up Maggie's arm and into her back. Soon, she'll begin to experience urges for raw meat...

Breslin is brilliant here as the helplessly degenerating Maggie, and the film only occasionally misses a step, but it's just hard to understand why anyone would want to see anything this downbeat - darkly photographed and heavily tragic throughout as it is.

David Quinlan

USA 2014. UK Distributor: LionsGate. Colour by The Mill.
95 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 18 Jul 2015