S.O.Z: Soldados o Zombies

As "S. O. Z: Soldiers Or Zombies" (2021 release from Mexico; 8 episodes of about 30 min. Each) opens with Episode 1 "The Outbreak", we are in "Hidalgo County, New Mexico, USA", and a Mexican migrant turns on the rest of the group to steal whatever cash they have. Alas, he is noticed by what he thinks is a border guard, but in reality turns out to be a zombie, and he is killed. We then go to "Two Days Earlier", where someone in a US military lab is experimenting on piglets to turn them into "fighting machines". Finally, we go to a maximum security prison in Mexico, where Alonso Marroquin, the "Da Vinci of crime", is about to be extradited to the US... At this point we are less than 10 min. Into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: I literally knew nothing about this series, and simply took a flier on it when I was surfing on Amazon Prime for something to watch. Turns out that this is a fast-paced horror-action series with a surprisingly entertaining take on the zombie genre. It takes the full initial 2 episodes to get into the zombie action scene, but when it finally gets, it's really on! There are several other parallel story lines (Marroquin's relationship with his 9 yr. Old son; a Mexican TV reporter who goes undercover to get an exclusive interview with Marroquin; the eventual involvement of the US military in all of this), but again, it's all happening so fast that there is not a moment to waste. Not sure why the episodes are presented as 30 min. Episodes (as opposed to, say, 60 min. Episodes), but either way, once you start watching, chances are that you will skip from one episode into another (as I have done through the initial 3 episodes so far).

"S. O. Z.: Soldiers or Zombies" premiered on Amazon Prime a few weeks ago, and I watched the first 3 episodes just yesterday, and I will catch the rest of the episodes later today and the next few days. If you like a good zombie horror-action series, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

First, this series is a mixture of El Chapo and 28 Days later. It's a non pretentious low budget one.

Second, don't expect anything remarkable.

I recommend this show only for genre fans that want a zombies series with Mexican flavour.

Last, I think it's quite enjoyable keeping the expectactions in the right place. Quite enjoyable.

This series is just fun, brainless (no pun intended) fun. This movie revolves around a scientist that wants to create the perfect soldier, but that does not go according to plan. The acting is not bad, but the effects are really great and let's not forget the amount of humor.

Want a daily 30 minutes of mindless entertainment? Then this series is the right one for you.

Zombies are pretty boring but I enjoyed this version.

I was rather thrilled when I stumbled upon this Amazon TV series. And with it being a Mexican zombie series, I must admit that my interest in it was definitely and instantly caught.

And "S. O. Z: Soldados o Zombies" was off to a great start. And yeah, that whole thing with the zombie pig was definitely interesting and added something interesting to this particular series and its take on the zombie genre.

But then things started to crumble really fast.

The zombies were just a swing and a miss. Sure, the make-up, special effects and prosthetics were good. But the sounds that the zombies made was just ridiculous and sounded like pigs. Sure, I get that patient zero was a pig, but come on. And then there was the whole running, agile and super athletic part to the zombies, that is simply a no-go in my book. And the fact that they could communicate and had more than rudimentary intelligence, just didn't sit well with me either.

I really liked the concept idea here, with an outbreak taking place near the US/Mexico border and having a criminal cartel as the focal point of the story. Now that was definitely something that had potential.

They had some nice talents on the cast list, so the ensemble of actors and actresses that were in this series definitely put on good performances and carried the show quite nice.

While I managed to sit through the entire first season of "S. O. Z: Soldados o Zombies", then it was overall a less than mediocre experience. And it was all because of the concept of those zombies in the series. That was just not my cup of tea. And I doubt that I will rush out to get to watch subsequent seasons of this show.

My rating of "S. O. Z: Soldados o Zombies" lands on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars. I just couldn't move past that ludicrous zombie concept that the creators went with here.