Juan of the Dead (2011)
"Juan de los Muertos" (original title)

A group of slackers face an army of zombies. The Cuban government and media claim the living dead are dissidents revolting against the government.

Director:

Alejandro Brugués

Writer:

Alejandro Brugués

Stars:

Alexis Díaz de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andrea Duro

5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alexis Díaz de Villegas	...	Juan
Jorge Molina	...	Lazaro
Andrea Duro	...	Camila
Andros Perugorría	...	Vladi California
Jazz Vilá	...	La China
Eliecer Ramírez	...	El Primo
Antonio Dechent	...	Father Jones
Blanca Rosa Blanco	...	Sara
Elsa Camp	...	Yiya
Susana Pous	...	Lucía
Eslinda Núñez	...	Leader of CDR Meeting
Juan Miguel Mas	...	President of the CDR
Pablo Alexandro González Ramy	...	El Niño
Manuel Herrera	...	TV Announcer
Luis Alberto García	...	Padre

Storyline

Juan is a slacker trying to reconnect with his daughter, who plans to rejoin her mother in Miami. Lazaro, Juan's friend, is trying to connect with his own son, a persistent womanizer. They begin to notice that locals are "going crazy", killing people and eating their flesh, and the recently deceased are returning to life. The Cuban government and the media claim that the zombies are dissidents revolting against the government. Juan starts a business to profit off of killing the zombies, but the group may soon find their own lives at risk.

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Plot Keywords:

penis | splatter | dark humor | dark comedy | death | 

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Taglines:

Get ready for epic.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

Spain Cuba

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

13 January 2012 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Juan of the Dead

Filming Locations:

Havana, Cuba

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$12,007 (USA) (16 March 2012)

Gross:

$18,005 (USA) (16 March 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

La Zanfoña Producciones, Producciones de la 5ta Avenida

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alejandro Brugués has stated that the English speaking character's unspoken plan was to steal Granma, the yacht Fidel Castro used to sail to Cuba, from the Museum of the Revolution in Havana and use it to sail off the island.

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Crazy Credits

We see Juan fighting zombies on the dock, except that it's animated to look like a graphic novel.

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Connections

References The Terminator (1984)

User Reviews

Outstanding achievement

The Cuban / Spanish production "Juan de los Muertos" is one of those pleasant surprises every day more difficult to find in the entertainment world. For those familiar with the Cuban regime and people, the movie is a very hard critic to both. In fact it seems the movie was only show on cinema festival but was never released in Cuba. For the rest, this is "SHAWN OF THE DEAD" style comedy / satire with some elaborated special effects and surprising production and technical values. Without any explanation Zombies appears in La Habana, Cuba and start eating people. Juan, a lazy fisherman; a "survivor" on his own words finds a way to make money, charging people to kill next of kin that became undead. With the help of his best friend and son, his daughter and a gay couple start a business called "JUAN DE LOS MUERTOS" or "JUAN OF THE DEAD". Obviously things get more complicated than them or the Cuban government expect. The language could be a limitation for not Spanish speakers; some puns are almost impossible to translate; even worse not knowing Cuban idiosyncrasy. In one of the most celebrated jokes, Juan is asked to kill a cow but he refuses because it is too dangerous. In Cuba killing a cow is worse crime than killing people. The other problem with the movie is that attempting to mock every dramatic cliché in movies (like daughter hating father, friend about to die, farewell , even MATRIX style fights) drags the pace down for some moments. Behind the comedy there is serious critic to the Cuban regime (the zombies are call "DISSIDENTS" , the news are always accusing USA of an attack and stating that everything is controlled even when nothing is being done). However the worst criticism goes to the Cuban society main defects; their selfishness (nobody helps anybody and less for free), their arrogance ("we are invincible" is stated many times), laziness and lack of interest in fighting (let's take a boat and move to Miami seems to be the only solution). In brief; if you are Cuban or with Latin roots; you must see it; if you are not, give it a try; will not be disappointed.