American Zombie

For those who watch this for a zombie flick, this will be a disappointment. That is not what this film is about.

This is a movie of subtext. It is a statement on multi-culturalism and the demand to conform to social norms. The Zombies can represent any modern stereotype - from homosexuals to immigrants, or people with HIV or disabilities.

It is a statement about society's respect for the individual. We want to think of ourselves as socially permissive; accepting of differences; PC.

But the more people just want to be left alone, the more our fear-driven prejudices emerge. The climax of the movie is a wake-up call to audience of just how much we, through the course of the movie, have judged the characters, based solely on stereotypes.

This isn't a Zombie flick; it is a human flick, with zombies.

IMPORTANT NOTE: AZ IS DEFINITELY NOT A COMEDY! - there must have been a mistake in the classification. Emotions are all represented in this movie, from hope to pathos to sadness, but certainly not humor.

If your average idea of a good movie is 120 minutes of explosions and flying limbs, move along, there's nothing to see here. If, though, you're interested in something new, fresh, giving a second birth to a topic already exploited to death and beyond, you're in for your money.

In world where Zombies retain their mental faculties after turning, and try coping with their ailment, American Zombie is a mockumentary (fake documentary) following the afterlife of several revenants, each having a distinct approach towards their status (legally dead), future, lack of memory regarding event before their legal death and, most of all, their place in society. But activist, new age tinker or desperate optimists, they all have one thing in common: well kept secrets.

Every aspect of this movie is impeccable, and really leaves us with the impression that the mock filming team has done the best they could to uncover the truth, even it the film deliberately leaves some questions unanswered to add to its realism. The acting is surprisingly masterful, techniques used are not over the top, yet not sub standard either (no overused shaking and bad image quality) ; the mock filming team is supposed to be made of professionals, and we're watching professional result.

Grace Lee manages to fuse narrative and documentation to keep a dramatic curve that will hook you until the last minute, and deliver a spectacular piece of entertainment which will make you wonder for a minute or two whether or not zombies are real.

A must see, definitely.

"American Zombie" is probably the biggest pleasant surprise I encountered in quite a few years and I urge every fan of cinema – whether horror or films in general – to check it out as soon as the opportunity occurs. The film is an odd and unconventional mixture between a zombie film (duh!) and the so-called "mockumentary" (people with hand-held cameras registering the unusual situation they find themselves stuck in). Just because of this label, I approached "American Zombie" with extreme caution and low anticipations. Let's be honest, the market for zombie movies already suffers from over-saturation since many years and the Mockumentary forms a suddenly unstoppable trend ("Cloverfield", "rec", …) that yet has to prove its stability. George A. Romero also joined in on the combination of zombies and shaky cameras with his latest effort "Diary of the Dead". Now, he's an acclaimed director and even the founding father of zombie cinema, but what to expect from a bunch of inexperienced documentary makers? Well, I love being proved wrong when it comes to innovating and new film projects! "American Zombie" is refreshing, original, intelligent, well structured and far more stylish than it has any right to be. The subject matter may sound ridicule, but writer/director Grace Lee presents everything in a convincing style and even the cast members, who have the difficult task of depicting plausible corpses, play their roles with a constant straight face. The script uniquely introduces resurrection from the dead as some sort of congenital defect, caused by a substance in the brain that is activated in case of a violent death. There are several categories of "Revenants", varying from the absolute braindead to the living dead with most of their vital brain capacities still intact. Throughout a period of several days, a Los Angeles film crew follows four of these "intelligent" zombies and illustrates how they live their everyday afterlife, deal with all sorts of discrimination and desperately attempt to oppress their physical decomposing. Just like normal people, these revenants have different personalities, hopes, desires, sentiments and goals to achieve. Meanwhile the film also centers on the arguments between the filmmakers mutually, as Grace wants to maintain an objective viewpoint whereas John continuously confronts the revenants with provocative questions. The revenants' stories and the crew's constant quarrels are already fascinating to behold, but the script is uplifted to an even higher level of quality through interviews with other groups. There are scientists listing the characteristics and history of the Living Dead, Zombie-haters (displaying various ways to destroy a dead brain) and Zombie-chasers (similar to people who write love letters to convicts on death row). Seemingly without much effort, "American Zombie" succeeds in bringing a biting satire that subtly mocks modern social issues and media sensationalism, but simultaneously doesn't lose track of story depth and character drawings. There are multiple powerful scenes in the film and you honestly come to care for the revenants … even though the maggots occasionally fall out of their bodies. "American Zombie" is also a rather atypical "Mocumentary" (since there are still professionals in charge of photography, sound and editing) so the amount of shaky camera movements and extreme close-ups are thankfully kept to a minimum. Highly recommended to open-minded cinema lovers.

This movie seems to have multiple personalities. It starts out very, very dry, a little too much so. Then it warms up and is hilarious in the middle, but suddenly turns serious at the end, making it seem like a different movie entirely. A good mockumentary should build to a large climax that leaves me smiling, not depressed.

However, I do recommend seeing it. The good parts are enough to make the movie worthwhile. The private investigator is especially funny, and John Solomon's antics perfectly balance Grace's personality.

I'd be excited to see what these filmmakers do next. Though a better ending would have moved this film from six stars into eight or nine, there's certainly quite a bit of talent at work here, and a few more films under their belt might make all the difference.

What a splendid documentary! Finally, a Fair And Balanced look at the plight of The Un-Dead. Grace Lee's, American ZOMBIE treats the viewer to a never seen before look at 'a day in the life' in a variety of High Functioning Zombies in contemporary Los Angeles. 'The Creatures of the Night' are people too, and are lobbying for their rights, and demanding recognition from mainstream society! The film gallantly demonstrates how, ZAG (Zombie Activist Group) tirelessly champions the rights of this over-looked and ignored marginalized community. If you like documentaries that fearlessly seek out the truth, you can't pass this up. There ain't no 'sizzle' in this spectacular film, it's all 'red, red meat'.