My quick rating – 5.3/10. Thought I’d give a Thai horror flick a whirl tonight with Ziam, a zombie-action hybrid that throws elbows, roundhouses, and an unsettling number of fish at the genre. If you like your undead with a side of Muay Thai, then at least on paper, this one’s for you.
The movie kicks off with a clean, fast-paced fight scene featuring our lead, Vasu (Johnny Anfone), a retired Muay Thai fighter who doesn’t waste time proving he’s still got the chops. It’s a promising start, hinting that martial arts is going to be a major focus, and thankfully, the film delivers on that front. When the zombie outbreak hits, it does so in a claustrophobic hospital setting, and the ensuing chaos is satisfyingly gory. The make-up team deserves a nod; the zombies look great, and the blood flows freely as hallways become buffets for the infected.
But then things get… fishy. Literally. The zombie plague is hinted to be fish-related (sure), and in one of the movie’s strangest moments, fish-like features start showing on the mouths of the undead. It’s visually interesting but conceptually baffling. Was it meant to be symbolic? Gross-out horror? Some kind of parasite tie-in? Whatever it was going for, I was thinking more on the “huh?” side than “wow.”
The sound design also veers into questionable territory. At some points, the zombies make clicking noises straight out of Predator, which felt completely out of place and pulled me right out of the scene. A zombie growl or moan is fine, clicking is just trying too hard to be different.
The film’s backbone is a straightforward rescue mission: Vasu battling his way floor by floor to save his girlfriend, Rin (Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich), who’s trapped with a group of survivors. While Vasu’s journey supplies most of the action, Rin’s side of the story attempts to add some moral weight as she spars verbally and emotionally with another patient. It’s a decent effort to balance blood with brains, but it’s mostly there to keep the camera busy while Vasu is throwing punches.
There’s also a young boy Vasu rescues along the way who injects some much-needed humor into the story. He’s probably the most charismatic character in the film and helps break up the action with some lighthearted exchanges.
Now, about that extended fight scene. I’m all for a good martial arts showcase, but there’s one drawn-out brawl between Vasu and a character who had no real reason to throw hands in the first place. The longer it went on, the more I found myself questioning its purpose. It’s hard to stay engaged in a fight when you’re stuck wondering why it’s happening at all.
I watched the dubbed version, so it’s hard to fairly judge the performances, but nobody stood out as awful, and in a zombie flick, that’s often good enough. These movies aren’t Oscar bait—they’re about guts, grit, and getting to the end credits with your limbs intact.
In the end, Ziam doesn’t reinvent anything, and it certainly doesn’t come close to Train to Busan despite the inevitable comparisons just from being an Asian zombie film. But if you’re a genre fan who doesn’t mind a thin plot and is just here for the action, blood, and chaos, this is a serviceable addition to your undead watchlist. Just be ready to suspend a bit of logic, and don’t order the fish.
This one is currently only available on Netflix.