On the first day of the romantic honeymoon at the beach, a random zombie that comes stumbling out of the ocean infects Danny with an incurable virus. After being dead for a full ten minutes, he miraculously awakes and even continues planning his emigration to Portugal with his beloved bride Denise. But Danny really isn't the same anymore, as his insatiable hunger for human flesh drives him to forcefully attack people while Denise loving wife as she is helps him get rid of the leftover corpses. For only his second film as a writer slash director, Dave Gebroe had the bizarre ambition to blend gross horror with genuine romantic drama and even to throw in bits of comedy. The idea is admirable but, as you can imagine, the result is an often lacking and pathetic film. You can't really expect a story to emotionally affect you while you're watching at a slowly rotting zombie that takes large bites of flesh out of people, right? Luckily for me, I saw this film at a national festival where Gebroe himself came to enlighten the audience about his motivations and influences to make it. Believe it or not, but that actually helped me appreciating the effort slightly more! The whole dramatic aspect of the story is apparently based on a real event, as the director's brother-in-law tragically died in a surfing accident, which left his young wife behind with an emotional trauma. Re-working bits and pieces of this real-life drama into a horror film served as some sort of therapy for Gebroe, who was really fond of his brother-in-law as well. However, even with bearing Gebroe's introduction in mind, "Zombie Honeymoon" can't possibly pass for a good film. The sentimental moments are painfully tedious whereas the zombie action is quite gore and explicit. These sudden changes in tone are difficult to process and especially the tongue-in-cheek gags entirely miss their effect. The make-up effects are rather convincing considering the fairly low budget and the acting performances are spirited. The music selection and exterior filming locations; both a homage to the deceased Danny as well, are winning elements too.
Review of Zombie Honeymoon
