American Zombie (TNL Movie Club)

[Rumpy]

Part mockumentary, part horror film, American Zombie follows filmmakers Grace Lee and John Solomon -- both playing themselves -- as they infiltrate a Los Angeles zombie community in an effort to document the undead subculture. Finding that the reanimated aren't much different from the rest of us -- save for some patches of rotting flesh -- the moviemakers offer a comical look at their marginalized subjects.

I know a few of us here have seen American Zombie, but I think it's worth pushing to the people who have over looked it. AZ is one of the few movies (let alone mocumentaries) that really stuck with me after I watched it. Days later I was still thinking about it and watched it again (very rare for me).

The official description has this film labeled as funny and gory. Half true. There's definitely some funny stuff here, but very little gore. A few bites here and there so to speak.

The draw for me here was the honest portrayal of the characters. The movie takes itself seriously, the humor comes from the circumstances and the actions of the zombie characters. American Zombie is a real throw back to when George Romero was making great movies with real social commentary running underneath them.

American Zombie takes the zombie genre in a different direction that we normally see. The premise is that it is real condition, some people turn into zombies after a violent death. It's not an immediate switch into flesh eater. They awaken and all memory is lost. Without language, a place to go they stumble around. There are a few stages, some do go feral while others can regain their mental capacities and can function as a member in society (but do in fact rot, they are dead after all). American Zombie looks into this zombie culture in Los Angeles to try and figure out and understand the undead (are they dangerous? Do they have any secrets? What's it like to be undead?).

The docu team finds 4 zombies to follow around. One is an activist for zombie kind, one is just trying to be a regular guy, one a regular girl and the last is an old, heart breaking mess. Each one with their own quirks and level in the zombie society.

Sure it's not a perfect movie and some say the ending is trite and predictable, but I loved it. It's something new and I think most will get a kick out of it. Paced just right at 90 minutes too; I'd like to hear what you guys think.

Netflix has it on DVD and Instant.

[Josh]

I made it halfway through this turd before I had to stop. This simply is not good. The piss poor acting and the HORRIBLE zombie makeup never allowed me to suspend my disbelief. My standards are not low enough for a movie like this.

[arjue]

I've heard mixed things about this movie but I'll give it a shot.

[animegirl]

I thought it was pretty good. It is a bit low-budget feeling but most zombie movies are. It gets creepier towards the end. I also thought it captured the docu-feel pretty well, but I agree the acting could have been better.

[Rumpy]

Yeah, it's a cheap movie. I liked that about it.

[magnifiedplaid]

hmmm....I've never heard of this movie. This sounds like an interesting watch.

[DacaZ]

y'know, I love me my zombie movies, but I couldn't make my way through this one. I checked it out last month on Netflix.

Maybe I need to try again when I'm a little better lubricated. The initial post makes me think I may have given up on it too soon.

[Nash]

OMG! It's DacaZ!

[Brand X]

So I went in expecting an original take on the zombie genre, and that's exactly what I got. But god damn was it boring. I'm not sure whether it was the concept of zombies being integrated into society and not being an enemy of society, or if it was simply the acting and/or the pacing of the movie, but I was bored to tears throughout the entire thing.

The 4 main characters they spotlighted weren't interesting and the direction didn't do much in the way of actively engaging the viewer to make the characters any more interesting. There definitely were some funny parts, specifically the introduction to the zombie fetish/sex scene, and the zombie religious revival scene. But they seemed to few and far between to make it a comedy, and the in between parts just weren't gripping.

I can understand the appeal of it being a 'different' style of zombie movie, but this one just didn't do it for me.

[Rumpy]

The red headed lady lived a life of hell, dies, and still lives a life of hell being undead. Even zombies thought she was nuts. Poor bitch couldn't get a break.