Mimesis (2011)

A group of horror fans find themselves unwilling participants in a nightmarish role playing game that pays homage to a classic horror film.

Director:

Douglas Schulze

Writers:

Douglas Schulze (story), Joshua Wagner (screenplay)

Stars:

Allen Maldonado, Sid Haig, Lauren Mae Shafer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Allen Maldonado	...	Duane
Sid Haig	...	Alfonso Betz
Lauren Mae Shafer	...	Judith
Courtney Gains	...	Gordon
Taylor Piedmonte	...	Russell
David G.B. Brown	...	Keith
Jana Thompson	...	Karen
Gavin Grazer	...	Karl
Bryana Dorfman	...	Kyra
Dan Gerics	...	Benjamin
David Gries	...	Patrick
Brian Matthew Richardson	...	Owen
Terence Lee Cover	...	Manson
Rachael Adams	...	Alexis / Lizzy
David Schwager	...	Gacy

Storyline

A group of horror fans find themselves unwilling participants in a nightmarish role playing game that pays homage to a classic horror film.

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Plot Keywords:

horror film fan | reference to george a. romero | murder | role playing | bound and gagged | 

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Taglines:

Welcome Back To That Night

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mimesis: Play Dead

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dead Wait Productons

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Besides the obvious scene recreation and clips used from the original Night of the Living Dead, this movie is just one big homage to the 60s classic. Several characters are named after cast/crew members of the original Night of the Living Dead (Duane/Duane Jones, Judith/Judy O'Dea & Judith Ridley, Russell/Russ Streiner, Keith/Keith Wayne, Karl/Karl Hardman, Kyra/Kyra Schon, Marilyn/Marilyn Eastman) and a few others are named after characters (Judith/Judy, Karen, Benjamin/Ben). Additionally, Bill Hinzman, who was in the original NotLD has a cameo in this film.

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Goofs

Russell's name tag goes from Hello (with his name) to just his name.

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Connections

Features Night of the Living Dead (1968)

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Soundtracks

Where's God?
Written by Violent J, Shaggy 2 Dope and Mike E. Clark
Performed by Insane Clown Posse

User Reviews

Self aware but not Smarmy

It's refreshing to see a film that knows the true meaning of the word "homage" -- something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another -- rather than "rip off," which is something we see far too often in films, especially horror movies.

Douglas Schulze's Mimesis is a clever homage to George Romero's Night of the Living Dead on one hand and a modern "thrill killer" movie on the other. After an opening scare starring Courtney Gaines, the audience is taken to a horror convention where Alphonze Betz (Sid Haig) rails against the media blaming horror movies for real life horrors. In the audience are Russell (Taylor Piedmonte) and his unlikely pal Duane (Allen Maldonado).

Russell is a horror fan while Duane is more keen on meeting some of the hotties at the con including Judith (Lauren Mae Shafer), a goth girl who invites the boys to a party later that night. Thinking he'll get some, Duane convinces Russell to drive out to the spooky farmhouse where they encounter some out-of-place regular people and a number of silent, spooky dudes all made up in makeup. Before the party gets too "dick in the mashed potatoes" crazy, Russell and Duane are down for the count, waking up dressed in different clothes and hanging out in some eerily familiar settings.

There's no "They're coming to get you, Barbara!" line in Mimesis but much of the rest of Night of the Living Dead is there as our protagonists find themselves cast in a living remake of the film, complete with flesh-tearing zombies.

Thus, Mimesis becomes a film with disparate characters trapped in a farmhouse with a menacing presence outside but the presence isn't supernatural, it's psychotic. Additionally, the script by Schulze and Joshua Wagner is incredibly self-aware, playing with and against the plot of NOTLD along with more current films where strangers toy with innocents (Them, Inside, High Tension, etc.).