They Came Back (DVD, 2005)

Pointless.
Same kind of mundane story line and acting as that horrible American film; The Happening.
OK, so they apparently want me to write at least 100 characters for my review, so here are the other characters they require though I'm bot quite sure what the point of requiring a certain amount of volume is. Unless of course you ascribe to the American notion that More must be better. Ok so I haven't been counting key strokes but I think I'm past 100 so I'll try to post again. PS only read the first full sentence because the rest of this is gibberish.

i am a zombie movie fanatic, i knew this was not a gore killer horror that i love to watch- but this film has a different look/fell/idea of what if the dead came back?
i recomened this and Fido(real killer zombies) to anyone looking for a zombie movie thats a little different from just run from the zombies kill them before they kill you!

I liked this film, potential genre viewers beware, this is a subtitled French film, but I do enjoy both horror films and art house movies so I had little problem with its leisurely pacing. Other eBay reviewers have commented on its lack of horror, this is true, but there are plenty of unsettling scenes and the film has a genuine sense of unease hanging over it.
It takes place in a high-rise suburb of the Ile-de-France, a region of Paris. There is something of a J.G. Ballard feel of dislocation to the urban surroundings that matches the inability of the returned dead to fit in with the lives of their previously grieving loved ones. Similarly, as in the short story The Monkey's Paw, it is perhaps better not to have the dead return because they may not be quite as you'd like them to be.
It's a fascinating premise and goes to show how the genre can be tweaked in to interesting new shapes. However, writer and first time director Robin Compillo does not explore the full socio-economic possibilities of the situation, let alone the potential for horror. He instead considers some of the emotional implications involved in regard to loss and wish fulfilment in relation to having loved ones return.
It might be hoped that They Came Back could kick start a new direction in the zombie genre, as a global phenomenon there are thousands of potential scenarios. However, it is unlikely this modest and thoughtful little chiller (imagine M.Night Shyamalan when he was modest and thoughtful) will have the same impact as Night of the Living Dead.