MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

BA_Harrison I'm all for people trying something different with the zombie/infected movie, UNLESS it's at the expense of all that is enjoyable about the genre. The Vanguard attempts a vaguely art-house approach, with a contemplative mood, introspective narrative, a degree of quirkiness, and an attempt at social commentary about racism, but offers none of the stuff that usually makes these kind of films fun: gore, excitement, scares, and more gore.The Vanguard does have a couple of good basic ideas: they're the same ones used for I Am Legend and 28 Days Later, only here they are completely wasted by film-makers with no idea how to turn them into an entertaining movie. The acting is mediocre, the action is dull, the splatter is restricted to some arterial spray (some of it crap CGI), the characters are irritating, and the 'zombies' are very disappointing, loping along like apes, growling like lions, and sporting naff zebra stripes drawn on with face-paint (I realise they're supposed to be like animals, but this is too silly for words).Somehow, this film garnered some decent comments from Fangoria and Gorezone (who are proudly quoted on the DVD cover), and was selected for the Dead by Dawn horror festival; I'm not quite sure how that happened, but take it from me (and the majority here on IMDb who have voiced their opinion)—The Vanguard sucks, even rivalling The Zombie Diaries for the title of worst British zombie film.

The_Dead_See I'm not going to beat around the bush - The Vanguard reeks of amateur student film-making. I'm not talking about the low quality of the stock, the lighting, the acting, or anything like that. Those things are all evident but not important. No, I'm talking about the self-important yet somehow meaningless voice narration, the tribal drums soundtrack, and the failed attempt to shoehorn in a political agenda... you know, the very things that student filmmakers live and breathe for.It's sad, because it it wasn't for those weakness, this would be an exceptional zombie movie. It has a fresh take on zombie lore, some great action scenes, and some very engaging and sympathetic characters.Matthew Hope - if you happen to read this - here's my tuppence for your future career... hang up the student pretentiousness and focus on what you're clearly better at - action and characterisation - and you will go far indeed.

cg_regan Not quite sure why this film has so many negative reviews - I knew it was a low budget film when I went in so wasn't expecting it to be perfect, but by the end I actually really enjoyed it. It's a flawed film, especially in the middle where the pace drags a bit, but there are so many entries into this genre I was just impressed to see someone trying to do something a bit different with it. The characters are interesting, Ray Bullock Jnr gives a really amazing performance as the lead and the film looks great.While a bigger budget would've helped the size and scope of the film that's no reason not to try and tell a story like this and as far as I'm concerned I'm really glad they did. Originality is scare these days, about as scarce as British genre films, and I think it should be applauded wherever possible.Really keen to see what the filmmakers do next!

tcoll32 Well if there is one genre done to death (no pun intended) it is the zombie movie. We have the holy war still waging between fast and slow zombies. We have zombies that talk, act like normal people, shuffle, learn how to do various things (whatever the plot needs), evolve, and some attempts to make them cute. Besides the vampire there is no other great cliché movie. Having said this, every once in a while you see a film take the genre in a way you didn't imagine. The Vanguard is one of those very rare and dying breed. This film takes place in the UK and is after the world has ended. Civilization is represented by the evil Corporation (we never learn it's name) and the barbarians are represented by the Biosyns. They like the zombies in 28 Days Later are fueled by rage but unlike 28 Days they are evolving. The main character is Max and his story takes you on a very strange but also incredibly enjoyable ride with an ending that you probably won't see coming but will be impressed with none the less. A worthy addition to my horror collection and well worth you time to check it out.