Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante, released in 2001, is
a sequel to Pablo Parés and Hernán Sáez’s Argentinean SOV backyard-epic, Plaga Zombie. The film picks up nearly
where Plaga Zombie left off, and
follows group of three courageous friends, as they try to escape the
alien-initiated zombie pandemic that is plaguing their town.
Keith’s Take:
Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante is a no budget
zombie flick that profits, rather than suffers, from its lack of funds. Exploding
heads, colons, and eye-sockets are no rarity in this film, as the alleged three
thousand dollar budget that went into making it results in the admirable
promulgation of a love for practical effects and unrestrained gore. Heavily
borrowing from splatstick classics like Dead
Alive, Re-Animator, and Evil Dead 2, Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante
is full of the cartoon-type splatter that zombie-film fans fall in love with.
Yet the directors’ creative flair abounds in more
areas than just simply special effects. For one, the filmmakers use a number of
different lenses to their advantage, and the film is loaded with enough
expressive shots to really highlight the talent emanating from behind the lens.
Though, there is no short of talent in front of the lens either, as the
directors themselves appear as the film'vas main characters. Sharing the screen
with one other companion, they form a power-trio that dishes out a true
comic-book-style delivery. In fact, Parés wrote and illustrated a comic book
sequel to Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante, entitled
Plaga Zombie: Camino Tóxico So it’s
no wonder that the film really plays as a comic book reads, both in its
expressive qualities and in its pacing.
Which brings us to our next topic: pacing. If
anything really plagues this film,
it’s the placing. Despite numerous action sequences, the pacing of the film’s
downtime is rather slow, resulting in, at times, an uneasy tension that is not instantly
redeemed by the following splatter sequence. On the contrary, however, there is
one scene alone that easily compensates for any fault this film may have, and
that is the John West bedroom scene, in which we are saturated with the
brilliance of his character in both fanatical set design, and a catchy original
tune that will never leave you. “John West: he's the best! A hero! A cowboy!
He's John West!”
Lauren’s Take:
I used to have only good
things to say about this movie, but after watching it a second time, my fond
memories have been slightly deflated by the slow story line. When Keith and I
were screening this for Zombie Movie Night, our bi-weekly attempt to
cultivate zombie enthusiasm, I was getting anxious watching the film plod along
between action scenes. I really hyped up this film because the zombie gore
leaves a lasting impression and because there are some really goofy twists.
A lot like the first film in this series, Plaga Zombie, the
make-up is really unique. The first time around, Plaga Zombie's super
low budget gave us gore-ified cake frosting zombies. Zona Mutante
has come a long way, but still has the creative charm of a low budget horror
film. Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante recalls the splatstick gore of Peter
Jackson's Dead Alive: spinal cords get ripped out, an intestine-hose
torments with its fecal spray, goopy neon and charred zombies scream and stalk
the streets in packs.
I love the too-cool-for-school attitude of the zombies. They have other
things to do besides just eating flesh. Hippie zombies chill out in a park and
rebel zombies organize their violent takeover. Actually, not only are the
zombies great, the main characters are entertaining too. There is John West,
the wrestler vaquero, Max Giggs, the computer hacker nerd, and Bill Johnson,
the cool and collected leader. Put all this together and you've got some
comedy. Oh yeah, and there are aliens!
The humor and random plot twists left me speeches the first time I saw
this film. Though I can still find a ton of things I love about this movie, it
was a bit too slow the second time around. Maybe I was feeling the pressure
since I had promised such an epic film to those in attendance of Zombie Movie
Night. Either way, this doesn't quell my excitement for the third installment:
REVOLUCIÓN TÓXICA, which is due out in October.
Rating: 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment