The Clearing: A zombie apocalypse comes to Crackle

The Clearing, the latest apocalyptic zombie movie on the horizon premieres June 4 on Crackle. The streaming site is hoping that pandemic audiences will be tuning in to this Umberto Lenzi and George A. Romero inspired production.

Based on its trailer, The Clearing (premiering on Crackle June 4) appears to be following in a tradition that started nearly 40 years ago, when Umberto Lenzi decided his zombies (or “infected”) could run around and even brandish weapons, in Nightmare City.

Surprisingly, it took contemporary filmmakers a long time to co-opt this motif, perhaps because it strained credulity in the face of George Romero‘s shambling “ghoul” mythos. After all, when 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake presented their undead/infected as capable of running marathons, it was two decades removed from Lenzi’s effort.

Even the oldest and most well-known monsters and cliches can take on exciting new shapes and forms. It all depends on the creativity the artists bring to the material (to that end, I’m a huge believer in remakes equaling or exceeding their source).

And this latest attempt to invigorate the zombie mythos just might pull me in.

According to Crackle:

"“Set at the dawn of the zombie apocalypse, The Clearing unfolds amid tensions between Tom (Liam McIntyre) and his wife (Sydelle Noel) over his parental responsibilities [toward] young daughter Mira (Aundrea Smith). Tom takes Mira on a camping trip, only to discover the impending disaster that leaves the pair trapped in a clearing in the woods, fighting to make it out alive.”"

I like zombies. I’ve never watched an episode of The Walking Dead, but bow at the altar of Romero and Fulci (and even Mattei). Whether shambling and shuffling or fast and furious, I’m fine with either…as long as the vision driving them is creative.

The Clearing also has the type of plot I often can’t resist: where a deadbeat learns a lesson and maybe, possibly, becomes a better person in the process. I like flawed, realistic characters and how they interact with others, especially under duress (another hallmark of Romero’s ghoul cinema).

The trailer is heavy on zombie action and stunt work, so it might provide some escapist fun for those of us still being phased out of our bleary quarantine haze.

The Clearing premieres on Crackle on June 4.

Will you be tuning into The Clearing? Let us know in the comments.