Review: Cold Storage

Slime, goo, body horror, action, a bunch of jokes and some misfits rising to the occasion: Cold Storage is the kind of film that not everyone will like, but those that do will like it a lot. There isn't really a name for this particular niche - Tremors is the touchstone, but films like Slither carry the torch - but despite never really breaking out they keep on coming back. Seems the people who do like them are often film makers themselves.

When Skylab crashed in the late 70s, it spread a bunch of wreckage across Western Australia. A decade or three later a fungus on one of those chunks of debris came to life, ate a small town, and only the actions of a containment team led by Robert Quinn (Liam Neeson) kept it under control. Not all the team survived.

A small sample was kept, dumped in a top secret government vault, decades passed, privatisation happened, and today the vault is a cut-price storage warehouse. And the fungus left behind in a freezer is starting to wake up.

For minimum wage worker "Teacake" (Joe Keery), the night shift is just another chance to keep his head down. New hire Naomi (Georgina Williams) is a bit more proactive. Together they decide to investigate the weird beeping noise coming from the bowels of the facility. This would usually not be a good idea, but considering there's already a zombie cat outside, the faster they find out what's going on the faster they can start dealing with fungus-infected humans. Of which there are a steady stream.

There's a fair bit going on here: this isn't exactly deep, but it is wide. Suicidal old ladies, infected ex's, an extremely rag-tag bikie gang who arrive to buy dodgy 4K TV sets, and vomiting deer all push the story forward. And that's not counting the return of Quinn, who is still in the loop as far as the contents of the vault and is coming out of retirement to take care of things once and for all.

Adapted by David Koepp (most Jurassic Park movies, various other blockbusters) from his novel, and directed by UK TV stalwart Jonny Campbell, this is a polished product (despite all the slime) that keeps throwing new ingredients into the mix. Not all of them are first class - Teacake and Naomi are likable enough, but there's probably an excess of backstory with both of them - but there's enough going on that the more time-worn elements don't drag the whole thing down.

Which is to say, while this is a zombie movie of sorts, it doesn't belabor the gory point. There's also a bunch of weird animals, living bad guys, and "don't get it on you!" sequences that keep things fresh, plus Neeson is off in basically another movie for a large chunk of the run time which doesn't hurt. Just don't ask too many questions about exactly how the fungus is meant to spread (does it have spores or what?)

Cold Storage might feel a little reheated at times, but there's enough flavour left in the many ingredients to create a tasty snack. Well, apart from all the vomiting.

- Anthony Morris