Block Z is a Filipino Zombie movie that takes place at a medical school. PJ is dropped off by her father at San Lazaro University after a short, emotional car ride between father and daughter. It appears he’s late on tuition, and doesn’t have the money to follow through.
Oddly, Block Z starts with subtitles, then switches to English, then has intermittent dialogue that is in subtitles. I don’t really mind, it’s just a little back and forth.
PJ And The Squad
PJ and her squad are in medical school and the school is broken down by social groups. The groups appear to be based on the student’s “block”. Some of the translations may be off, but I’m not sure. You’ll see what I mean if you watch it. Small bits of subtitles that seem off.
As PJ is starting her day in a clinic, her father, Mario accidentally hits a pedestrian. This leads him back to the emergency room where PJ is working. As Mario brings in his accident victim PJ is going to treat a patient who has what should be small injury. The patient has been bitten.
The patient is a female who has been bitten on her ankle. As PJ and her pre med friend examine the patient, the patient goes into shock. Angry veins slowly covers the patient’s brow. The woman then codes and is pronounced dead.
Patient 0
At least for a little while. Two other pre med students are in Patient 0’s room when she comes back. One of them is quickly pulled down as the other runs for it. This leaves the door open so that Patient 0 and her first pre med victim can escape. The two Zombies attack the triage unit and all hell breaks loose.
This shortly spreads o the gym. The coach gets his nose bitten off and the basketball team gets destroyed. The cheerleaders are next, which quickly turns into an all out infection. The school has been overrun.
PJ has survived, and so has her father, but they have been separated. PJ’s father is with the young man he hit with his car. The young man wants money. He has also been bitten. Of course the young man turns, and appears to bite PJ’s father, but we aren’t quite sure yet. One of the other student doctors, Lucas, show’s up, saving PJ’s father for the moment.
Lucas & PJ
Lucas ends up finding PJ just in time. She was in the Chancellor’s office after he was bitten in the initial outbreak. Lucky for PJ, Lucas manages to save the day for her as well.
In the chaos, students and patients try to make it outside, but they find their way blocked. The military has blocked the main gates. As Zombies push the survivors out into the open the soldiers panic, opening fire on Zombies and survivors alike.
While the slaughter is going on, the son of a privileged military commander calls his father for help. His father tells him to be ready at 5AM for a helicopter rescue – but only for two people.
Survivors
We now have two groups of survivors. PJ with a few fellow students, and her father who is with the security guard, Bebeth and Patient 0’s young daughter, Ruby. They are hiding out in the kitchen storeroom where they are safe for the moment.
Ruby enjoys some ice cream while Mario and Bebeth share some booze Bebeth’s coworker hid there.
The two are discussing their children when the lights go out and the red emergency lights come on.
Out in the parking lot PJ is with her small group of medical student survivors, trying to make their way across the parking lot. The rich student puts them all at risk by making a run for it just before the generators die. This results in the Zombies spotting PJ and Lucas in the open.
The group gets split up by the zombies. Lucas and PJ end up crawling under cars in a garage full of the undead. They just barely escape with their lives.
The Church
The group reunites not far away at the church. Thankfully someone had the sense to ask Lucas what his wound is from, making sure he wasn’t bitten.
As the church bells ring the group realizes they are surrounded. They grab what weapons they can find and begin a desperate fight to survive. They fight off the initial few zombies, but a massive horde is coming for them.
Lucas steps forward but before he can strike the first zombie is blown away. Dad and Bebeth have shown up just in time to save the day.
Mario and PJ hug it out but Mario was saved earlier by Lucas, and Lucas told Mario he had to go look for his “girlfriend”. I love the fact that in the midst of people eating people Dad (Mario) is still worried about his daughter’s love life. PJ goes around and says, friends, friends, friends to everyone there.
For the moment Mario is mollified and the survivors are safe.
Dressing Wounds
PJ dresses Lucas’s glass cut wounds while he has a pity party for himself. He thinks he could have saved some of the others. PJ tells him she should be thanking him and they look like they are going to kiss. At least until Mario comes by and coughs in their direction.
As the medical students discuss the virus and what it might be Ruby wanders over to a very dark stairway. She is only kept from going down by Mario’s intervention.
The rich kids girlfriend mentions the rescue as they are standing in the church, and he is forced to admit there will only be room for two people. He says he didn’t think there would be this many survivors by now. What a d*ck! He then proceeds to basically say the guard (Bebeth) and the older guy (Mario) should be left behind with the kid (Ruby). Why? Because they will just slow the medical students down.
Lucas, being a good, moral person says they can’t leave anyone behind, but the rich kid (Gelo) doesn’t agree.
Time to Move
The group then agrees to move on to the Library. This leads the group into a lot of growling, angry zombies. As Bebeth is opening a locked door Ruby sees her mother, who is now a hungry Zombie. The kid goes running into the midst of the biters to get to her mom.
While the survivors scream in horror, Ruby is devoured. Gelo takes the moment of distraction to screw over his friends. He locks the gate that Bebeth just opened, stranding his friends on the Zombie side.
There are apparently a lot of gates at this medical school. Even though Gelo locked them out the rest of the survivors are (barely) able to make it to another gated hallway and lock the biters on the far side.
The Dormitory
It is now 1:44:08 AM, and the action has moved on to the Dormitory.
Bebeth is heartbroken. She had bonded with Ruby and likely blames herself for what happened. This transitions into a brief interlude where Mario plays the guitar before the others do a time check. They need to be at the hospital by 5AM.
PJ goes to use the restroom. When she pulls her hand back she realizes the doorknob is covered in blood.
Of course there is a zombie inside the bathroom. This leads to Mario jumping in to save his daughter, and getting bit in the process. PJ is in denial about what it means, but the others realize what’s about to happen. Mario begs Bebeth to shoot him, but PJ intervenes. Mario shuts the door on the bathroom so his daughter won’t have to see him turn.
The group leaves him to his fate while Bebeth leads the remaining survivors to the pool. They don’t get far before Myles gets attacked in a storeroom and gets bitten. Bebeth gives him a handgun with four bullets before the dwindling survivors move on.
Good Aim
Apparently Myles has genetic good aim. He places his first two shots into zombie heads before wasting his last two. He’s dry firing and screaming as the zombie horde descends on him.
Bebeth holds the stairwell with her shotgun as the other flee. They are forced to jump into the pool when they have no other escape.
Lucky for the survivors the Zombies are afraid of the water. Even more lucky, Erika can’t live without Myles. She’s willing to get eaten as a distraction so that PJ and Lucas can escape.
PJ and Lucas make it to the medical ward only to find it overflowing with Zombies. They flee to the roof as their only escape.
The Rooftop
Lucas is worried about the door giving way but is able to help PJ climb to the next level before the roof gives way. The wound on his arm from earlier in the night is holding PJ back. Lucas does the only thing you can do when your on a roof and about to get eaten. He jumps over the edge, leading a small horde with him as he goes.
The team is now down to one survivor. PJ is left, but as she’s lying on the helipad she realizes she’s been bit when she checks her watch.
Instead of waiting for the helicopter, PJ goes back down into the building, grabbing an axe in the process.
PJ Goes On The Attack
PJ does fairly well at first, but as she continues into the building she ends up getting bitten multiple times. Pesky Zombies!
PJ has realized that she’s not turning, and figures that her father might not have turned either. She’s been heading back to her father since grabbing the axe.
Once she reunites with Mario she explains that they are somehow immune. Then she breaks the news that no rescue is coming. They need to get back to the church in the hopes that the old WW2 tunnels will lead them to safety. Lucky for them, the WW2 tunnels have electric lights.
Unfortunately for Mario and PJ, even though the tunnels are conveniently lit, they also contain a just about to turn Gelo. Gelo’s pissed that someone else might get to live when he’s clearly not going to. Mario fights off Gelo long enough to let PJ escape before they both flee to the surface.
Things on the street don’t look great, but at least PJ finds a weapon fairly quickly and strikes a brave, combative pose.
As PJ clutches her weapon the audio switches to a voiceover. There is a typhoon coming and everyone should flee.
We then cut over to PJ finding Lucas and telling the band behind her that they are taking him with them before the credits roll.
Block Z Scoring
Block Z scores a 44/100, put it in Rainy Day territory, so safe it for one of those days where you are locked inside and there isn’t a lot else to do. Why did Block Z score a 44?
Part of the reason is the mix of English and Filipino which means you will be reading subtitles, listening to English, then switching back and forth as the dialogue changes. I found it a bit disruptive, which is sad, because the action scenes were actually pretty good.
The main reason though is the ending. It ends abruptly and honestly feels like a set up for a future film, but doesn’t really have a satisfying ending. PJ and Mario climb up onto the street and then it’s left to our imagination as to what happens.
| Review | Year | Score | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zombieland | 2010 | 100 | Comedy / Action |
| Train To Busan | 2016 | 100 | Action / Infection |
| 28 Days Later | 2002 | 100 | Action / Infection |
| World War Z | 2013 | 100 | Action / Infection |
| Night Of The Living Dead | 1968 | 100 | Action / Horror / Classics |
| Dawn Of The Dead | 1978 | 100 | Action / Horror / Classics |
| #Alive | 2020 | 100 | Action / Infection |
| Serenity | 2005 | 99 | Action / Sci-Fi |
| Flesh And Blood | 2018 | 99 | Shorts |
| The Girl With All The Gifts | 2016 | 95 | Action / Infection |
| Land Of The Dead | 2005 | 94 | Action / Horror |
| Resident Evil: Apocalypse | 2004 | 93 | Action / Infection |
| Resident Evil | 2002 | 92 | Action / Infection |
| Rampant | 2018 | 91 | Action / Infection / Mid Evil |
| Day of the Dead | 2008 | 90 | Action / Infection |
| Cooties | 2014 | 89 | Comedy / Action |
| Night of the Comet | 1984 | 85 | Comedy / Action |
| The Return of the Living Dead | 1985 | 85 | Comedy / Action |
| Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula | 2020 | 84 | Action / Infection |
| Zombieland: Double Tap | 2019 | 83 | Comedy / Action |
| Fido | 2006 | 82 | Comedy / Action |
| Shaun Of The Dead | 2004 | 81 | Comedy / Action |
| 28 Weeks Later | 2007 | 80 | Action / Infection |
| I Am Legend (2007) | 2007 | 80 | Action / Infection |
| The Evil Dead | 1981 | 80 | Classic / Action |
| Zombie | 1979 | 80 | Action / Horror |
| Overlord | 2018 | 79 | Action / Horror |
| It Stains The Sands Red | 2016 | 79 | Action / Infection |
| Infection | 2019 | 79 | Action / Infection |
| Plan Z | 2016 | 78 | Action / Infection |
| A Little Bit Zombie | 2012 | 78 | Comedy / Action |
| Dead Rising: Endgame | 2016 | 77 | Action / Infection |
| Day of the Dead | 1985 | 77 | Action / Horror / Classics |
| Wyrmwood: Apocalypse | 2021 | 77 | Action / Infection |
| The Dead | 2010 | 76 | Action / Infection |
| Freaks of Nature | 2015 | 76 | Comedy / Action |
| Here Alone | 2016 | 75 | Suspense / Infection |
| Cockneys Vs. Zombies | 2012 | 75 | Comedy / Action |
| Shed of the Dead | 2019 | 74 | Comedy / Action |
| The Battery | 2012 | 74 | Drama / Infection |
| State of Emergency | 2011 | 73 | Action / Infection |
| Survival Of The Dead | 2009 | 73 | Action / Horror |
| Alone | 2020 | 73 | Action / Infection |
| The Rezort | 2015 | 72 | Action / Infection |
| Dance of the Dead | 2008 | 72 | Comedy / Action |
| Dawning of the Dead | 2017 | 72 | Action / Infection |
| Remains | 2011 | 72 | Action / Infection |
| Daylight's End | 2016 | 71 | Action / Infection |
| Witness Infection | 2021 | 71 | Comedy / Action |
| The Army of the Dead | 2021 | 71 | Action / Infection |
| The Dead 2: India | 2015 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Zombie Hunter | 2013 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Dead Rising: Watchtower | 2015 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Zombie Night | 2013 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| For A Few Zombies More | 2015 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Night of the Living Deb | 2015 | 70 | Comedy / Romance |
| Resident Evil: Afterlife | 2010 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse | 2015 | 70 | Comedy / Action |
| Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead | 2014 | 70 | Action / Infection |
| The Valley Of The Dead | 2021 | 70 | Horror / Infection |
| Bird Box | 2018 | 69 | Action / Horror / Possession |
| Exit Humanity | 2011 | 69 | Action / Infection |
| Among The Living | 2022 | 69 | Suspense / Horror |
| Ravenous | 2017 | 68 | Action / Infection |
| Blood Quantum | 2019 | 68 | Action / Infection |
| Republic Z | 2018 | 68 | Action / Comedy |
| The Night Eats The World | 2018 | 67 | Suspense / Infection |
| Forget Everything And Run (F.E.A.R.) | 2021 | 67 | Suspense / Horror |
| Quarantine | 2008 | 67 | Infection / Horror |
| Trench 11 | 2017 | 66 | Action / Horror |
| Cargo | 2017 | 66 | Suspense / Infection |
| How To Kill A Zombie | 2014 | 66 | Action / Comedy |
| Ultimate Zombie Feast | 2020 | 66 | Shorts/ Action |
| Zoombies | 2016 | 65 | Awesomely Bad |
| Zombie Town | 2007 | 65 | Action / Horror |
| Dead County | 2021 | 65 | Drama / Horror |
| Zombie Apocalypse | 2011 | 64 | Action / Infection |
| Quarantine 2 | 2011 | 64 | Action / Infection |
| The End? | 2017 | 64 | Horror / Infection |
| Red Spring | 2017 | 63 | Action / Infection |
| Resident Evil: Extinction | 2007 | 62 | Action / Infection |
| Virus:32 | 2022 | 62 | Horror / Infection |
| Resident Evil Retribution | 2012 | 61 | Action / Infection |
| Resident Evil: The Final Chapter | 2016 | 60 | Action / Infection |
| Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead | 2023 | 60 | Comedy / Action |
| Life After Beth | 2014 | 59 | Comedy / Action |
| Diary Of The Dead | 2007 | 58 | Action / Horror |
| Revelation Trail | 2013 | 57 | Action / Horror |
| My Mates vs. The Zombie Apocalypse | 2015 | 56 | Comedy / Action |
| Eat Brains Love | 2019 | 56 | Comedy / Horror |
| Anna And The Apocalypse | 2017 | 55 | Musical / Infection |
| Deadsight | 2018 | 55 | Suspense / Infection |
| Bong of the Living Dead | 2017 | 54 | Action / Infection |
| Amigo Undead | 2015 | 54 | Comedy / Horror |
| The Dead Undead | 2010 | 53 | Action / Infection |
| Black Friday | 2021 | 53 | Action / Horror |
| Deadheads | 2011 | 52 | Comedy / Romance |
| Redcon-1 | 2018 | 52 | Action / Horror |
| Day of the Dead: Bloodline | 2018 | 51 | Action / Infection |
| Dead Don't Die in Dallas | 2019 | 51 | Action / Infection / LGBTQ |
| Disaster L.A. | 2014 | 50 | Action |
| Road Wars | 2015 | 50 | Action / Infection |
| Within the Woods of Undead County | 2016 | 49 | Action / Infection |
| Zombie Strippers! | 2008 | 49 | Horror / Comedy |
| I Am Alone | 2015 | 48 | Action / Infection |
| Rise of The Zombies | 2012 | 48 | Action / Infection |
| Day Zero | 2023 | 48 | Horror / Infection |
| Valentine DayZ | 2018 | 47 | Action / Infection / Awesomely Bad |
| Savageland | 2015 | 46 | Horror / Drama |
| Lethal Virus | 2021 | 46 | Action / Horror |
| Infected | 2019 | 45 | Shorts |
| Zombie Warz: Falls The Shadow | 2011 | 45 | Action / Horror |
| Block Z | 2020 | 44 | Action / Infection |
| Bridge of the Doomed | 2022 | 44 | Horror / Infection |
| The Dead Don't Die | 2019 | 43 | Spoof / Drama |
| Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City | 2021 | 43 | Action / Horror |
| Strain 100 | 2020 | 42 | Action / Infection |
| The Plague | 2006 | 42 | Action / Horror |
| When the Fever Breaks | 2019 | 41 | Suspense / Infection |
| Before Dawn | 2013 | 41 | Drama / Action |
| Infected | 2021 | 41 | Action / Horror |
| Hostile | 2017 | 40 | Action / Infection |
| Zombie Undead | 2010 | 40 | Action / Infection |
| Dead Before Down | 2012 | 39 | Horror / Supernatural |
| Gangs Of The Dead | 2006 | 38 | Action / Infection |
| Zombies | 2017 | 37 | Action / Infection |
| American Zombieland | 2020 | 36 | Comedy / Infection |
| Another World | 2014 | 35 | Action / Infection |
| Deadlocked | 2020 | 35 | Action / Infection |
| Dead Trigger | 2017 | 35 | Action / Infection |
| Zombie Diaries 2 | 2011 | 35 | Action / Infection |
| Cannon Fodder / Battle Of The Undead | 2013 | 35 | Action / Horror |
| KL24: Zombies | 2017 | 34 | Action / Infection |
| Evilution | 2009 | 34 | Action / Horror |
| Antisocial 2 | 2015 | 33 | Action / Infection |
| Re-Elected | 2020 | 33 | Comedy / Suspense |
| Antisocial | 2013 | 32 | Action / Infection |
| Aquarium of the Dead | 2021 | 32 | Comedy / Horror |
| Dead 7 | 2016 | 31 | Action / Infection |
| By Day's End | 2020 | 31 | Suspense / Infection |
| Pandemic | 2016 | 30 | Action / Infection |
| Attack of the Southern Fried Zombies | 2017 | 29 | Comedy / Action |
| Zombie Hood | 2013 | 28 | Action / Infection |
| The Dustwalker | 2019 | 27 | Action / Parasite |
| Day of the Dead 2: Contagium | 2005 | 26 | Action / Infection |
| Anger Of The Dead | 2015 | 25 | Action / Infection |
| Solar Impact | 2019 | 25 | Action / Horror |
| The Last Hope | 2017 | 24 | Action / Infection |
| The Day of the Living Dead | 2014 | 23 | Drama / Detective |
| Zombie Road | 2018 | 22 | Shorts |
| Zombie Wars | 2007 | 21 | Action / Infection |
| Last Rites Of The Dead | 2019 | 20 | Drama / Thriller |
| Army of Thieves | 2021 | 20 | Heist / Horror |
| The Mad | 2007 | 19 | Comedy / Infection |
| The Living Dead | 2020 | 18 | Horror / Drama |
| Zone of the Dead | 2009 | 17 | Action / Infection |
| Killer Weekend | 2018 | 16 | Comedy / Not Zombies |
| G Zombie | 2021 | 15 | Drama / Infection |
| Quarantine L.A. | 2013 | 14 | Action / Infection |
| Driven | 2020 | 13 | Drama / Suspense |
| The Hive | 2014 | 12 | Demonic Possession / Horror |
| The Horde | 2016 | 11 | Action / Gore |
| The Last Starship | 2017 | 10 | Action / Infection |
| Rebirth | 2020 | 10 | Action / Horror |
| Rise of the Zombie | 2013 | 9 | Drama / Action |
| Rising Undead / Rise of the Undead | 2005 | 9 | Action / Horror |
| Flu | 2013 | 8 | Infection / Not Zombies |
| Plague | 2014 | 8 | Suspense / Drama |
| Red Days | 2016 | 7 | Action / Infection |
| The Returned | 2013 | 6 | Drama / Romance |
| Apocalypse Nerds | 2012 | 5 | Comedy / Action |
| Zombie with a Shotgun | 2019 | 4 | Infection / Drama |
| Soon Enough | 2018 | 3 | Action / Drama |
| Range 15 | 2016 | 2 | Comedy / Action |
| Army of the Dead | 2008 | 2 | Action / Horror |
| Eyes Of The Dead | 2015 | 1 | Action / Infection |
| Pandemic | 2009 | 1 | Drama / Action |
| Nazi Undead | 2018 | 1 | Paranormal / Horror |
| Dead End | 2003 | 0 | Horror / Thriller |
| Broadcast Dead | 2018 | 0 | Horror / Thriller |
| Afflicted | 2013 | 0 | Drama / Infection |
| Carriers | 2009 | 0 | Drama / Not Zombies |
| Curse of the Blind Dead | 2020 | 0 | Horror / Not Zombies |
| All My Friends Are Dead | 2021 | 0 | Horror / Not Zombies |
