FrightFest 2023: ‘Herd’ forages through zombie lore

Steven Pierce’s Herd treads familiar territory while expanding zombie mythos. Set during the early days of the outbreak, the film is an exercise in human futility and how dangerous people thrive in chaos. It’s not a particularly new or fresh conceit, but the film’s strengths lie in its characters – led by a couple named Jamie (Ellen Adair) and Alex (Mitzi Akaha). Through a very real and raw human story, Pierce dissects what it means to be alive and what exactly that looks like at the end of the world.

Jamie and Alex aren’t getting along. Their relationship hangs by a thread, and Alex urges Jamie to get away from the city and go camping. She hopes, at the very least, they can mend what is broken. As they pull away from their suburban house, an alarming newscast warns of various incidents around the city and that everyone listening should stay put. Disgruntled, Alex lashes out and claims Jamie doesn’t care about their failing relationship. Jamie then brushes off the news and darts down the street.

With plans to take a five-day canoe trip, Alex and Jamie venture deep into the mountains. Woods stretch out from every direction. You could scream and no one would hear you. While out on the water, Alex breaks her leg after tipping over the canoe, which leaves them without supplies and stranded. Having spotted a nearby town on the map, Jamie and an ailing Alex trudge slowly through the woods and onto a backroad. They eventually run into a group, led by Jeremy Holm’s Big John, who take them back to their compound for medical attention. It’s your usual community; there are stakeouts and protocols in place to ensure the community stays safe. If you’ve ever seen The Walking Dead, or any zombie film ever, it never lasts long. Not before either the dead or humans overrun and leave a trail of bodies in their wake.

In many ways, Herd is your typical zombie fare. Puss-filled rotters stumble through abandoned city streets, weaving between broke-down cars and derelict homes. Survivors try to make sense of it all, stock-piling food and ammunition and learning who to trust. When things go sideways, it’s a slaughterhouse – and Alex and Jamie are caught in the eye of a zombie-infested storm.

Adair and Akaha both deliver emotionally-wrought performances, twisting the knife in your chest as the events quickly unravel. Grasping onto one’s humanity lies at the core of the film, evidenced also through Holm’s hypnotic performance as the community’s leader, who contends with doing what is right versus what is best for the group. These questions come into startlingly clear focus in the finale, as the limits of human nature are tested beyond the breaking point. Holm, for his part, commands the frame, and he never wastes a single moment. (Related: Between this and Brooklyn 45, Holm is on a roll this year!)

Herd might not be reinventing the wheel – the details about the virus are actually quite interesting – it does supply plenty of entertainment for a Friday night. So, grab your popcorn and tune in. It shouldn’t be missed.

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