LIVE SURVIVAL is the sequel to LIVE ESCAPE, a found footage tale of two cops who get stuck in a maze full of zombies and get out by the skin of their teeth. The sequel picks up right from there, following them again in a found footage manner as they try to make their way out. They find out the zombie plague has spread everywhere and find a few other survivors with whom they continue the fight for survival.
The original had an interesting concept but was marred by a poor execution. The sequel retains many of the flaws of the original, such as banal dialogue (likely improvised), poor believability of the zombies (including poor make-up), mediocre acting, low production values and so on.
However, the sequel does improve on two counts:
First, there is something like a story here, where in the original there was not much more than the outline of a story, the events being really in the service of illustrating the concept. I think having a story does elevate the movie a bit.
Second, while the production values are still low and shortcomings in the set design still persist (the ceiling still gives away that it is a set), the setting is more atmospheric than in the original. In fact, I was reminded a little of some of the settings in the HOTEL INFERNO (2013) franchise, though that series of movies still has far more atmosphere (and way, way more gore).
The movie ends on a cliffhanger that is almost identical to the ending of the original, so perhaps there will be a third part.
Despite the improvements, this film cannot really be recommended unless you are a found footage zombie horror completist.
The original had an interesting concept but was marred by a poor execution. The sequel retains many of the flaws of the original, such as banal dialogue (likely improvised), poor believability of the zombies (including poor make-up), mediocre acting, low production values and so on.
However, the sequel does improve on two counts:
First, there is something like a story here, where in the original there was not much more than the outline of a story, the events being really in the service of illustrating the concept. I think having a story does elevate the movie a bit.
Second, while the production values are still low and shortcomings in the set design still persist (the ceiling still gives away that it is a set), the setting is more atmospheric than in the original. In fact, I was reminded a little of some of the settings in the HOTEL INFERNO (2013) franchise, though that series of movies still has far more atmosphere (and way, way more gore).
The movie ends on a cliffhanger that is almost identical to the ending of the original, so perhaps there will be a third part.
Despite the improvements, this film cannot really be recommended unless you are a found footage zombie horror completist.