Cold Storage

"Cold Storage" won't be winning any awards, nor is it terribly memorable, but it is fun. This is a very downbeat horror action comedy with a fungal zombie vibe that's ridiculous enough to work. It's backed by a cast of down-on-their-luck, likeable characters who very sensibly don't take themselves too seriously. The results are quite watchable. I did like the "he's got COVID" moment. It's probably the only point where I would say this film was genuinely funny. That said, there's plenty of action to keep things chugging along. In summary, a silly, fun, zombie action flick. Worth a look.

After a space station’s orbit had disintegrated, one of it’s fuel tanks found it’s way to Western Australia where a deadly fungus was detected by “Quinn” (Liam Neeson) and “Romano” (Lesley Manville). Quickly realising it’s lethal and zombifying toxicity, they ship it back to the States where it is buried deep underground. After many years, this facility is sold off by Uncle Sam and is now one of those storage units for folks with excess junk to keep. It’s here that “Travis” - aka “Teacake” (Joe Keery) does the nightshift with newbie “Naomi” (Georgina Campbell). Having just admitted the elderly “Mrs. Rooney” (Dame Vanessa Redgrave) they settle down to their night’s work. Then he hears a beeping. She hears it too. They investigate. They demolish a wall. Next thing, they are deep in the depths of the former military base where the long forgotten sludge has found itself lots of new friends amongst the bugs and rodents who inhabit the ventilation system. Fleeing for their lives, they call the helpline number on the door and that reactivates the now somewhat older duo who had first discovered it. Armed with seven important items, they must race to the site and save the day before the rain gets to the deadly green stuff and world domination ensues. Though it’s all fairly standard zombie fayre, there are some fun moments as the animal kingdom (especially those of the antlered variety) find themselves infected, and both Neeson and Manville bring an agreeable degree of old-codgerism to their desperate attempts to thwart the bubbling and menacing goo that would have us all combusting. What this might only really be remembered for, though, are the brief appearances from Dame Vanessa. As she approaches her ninetieth year, you have to wonder for how much longer she will be bothered making films at all, let alone daft escapades like this one. If you are just looking for a light-hearted comedy then the affable Keery and Campbell add a little sci-fi; a corrupt boss shifting some dodgy televisions and a jilted lover to these proceedings and you could do a lot worse with films that take themselves more seriously. You will almost certainly never recall it, but it's quite good fun.