A Zombie Action Thriller Is A Huge Steaming Hit On Prime Video

It's always interesting to see what the streaming services churn up as part of their endless effort to keep subscribers from abandoning ship. While Netflix is the undisputed king of the streaming game, Amazon's Prime Video isn't all that far behind it in terms of subscriber numbers, and is seemingly just as adept at dredging up forgotten films only for them to experience a modest renaissance as a result. Take, for instance, the time a spooky family movie with a hilarious Clint Eastwood cameo hit the Prime Video charts for the Halloween season.

Of course, the other side of the streaming coin is new "content." All the big streamers produce their own films and TV shows as part of the aforementioned battle against subscriber churn, whether by producing them in-house or buying the rights to exclusively distribute finished projects. Now, Prime Video's latest exclusive has managed to become a global hit.

"Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End" is a Spanish zombie outing that follows Francisco Ortiz's Manel as he tries to reconnect with his family amid a global pandemic that has zombified huge swathes of the populace. Directed by Carles Torrens, the film doesn't have the most original premise and certainly won't be topping any lists of the best horror movies ever made. But "Apocalypse Z" is topping the Prime Video charts.

While we all await the arrival of "28 years Later," which is set to star a trio of unexpected actors, "Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End" appears to be filling the gap nicely. The film hit Prime Video on October 31, 2024, and as streaming viewership tracker FlixPatrol shows, immediately started to climb the most-watched film charts worldwide. In the United States, the film debuted at number two on the most-watched film chart on November 1, 2024, before climbing to the number one spot on November 3, where it stayed until November 5. It then fell back to second place where it remains at the time of writing.

'But that's just half the story, because "Apocalypse Z" is a big hit worldwide. At the time of writing, the film is charting in an incredible 112 countries around the world and is number one in 68 of them. What's more, the movie has been number one in 35 countries since it hit the Prime Video service, with Carles Torrens' film maintaining its run at the top in countries the world over, from Albania to South Korea.

Is "Apocalypse Z" actually any good? Well, on Rotten Tomatoes, it only has five reviews, three of which are fresh and none of which are from so-called "Top Critics." That means that "Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End" does not yet have an RT score, but it looks as though such a score would represent a somewhat mixed reaction to the film. Still, if the audience reaction on Prime Video is anything to go by, this one might be worth a look.