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Quote:

Zombies are the middle children of the otherworldly family. Vampires are the oldest brother who gets to have a room in the attic, all tripped out with a disco ball and shag carpet. Werewolves are the youngest, the babies, always getting pinched and told they're cute. With all that attention stolen away from the middle child zombie, no wonder she shuffles off grumbling, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha."

- Kevin James Breaux

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Short Film Review: PLAY DEAD (2011)



Nothing can prepare so the zombie apocalypse, or so they say.  But if a zombie apocalypse did happen, how would you react but more importantly how will man’s best friend react?  This is the question that the Meza-Valdes brothers’ (Andres & Diego) short film Play Dead (2011)tries to answer as the zombie apocalypse is seen through the eyes of dogs who are no longer on man’s leash (although one dog in particular is on the leash of its zombie turned owner for most of the film). 

Humans are just meat puppets to the zombies as we see how four different dogs handle their masters being killed and how their lives are ultimately changed.  Since zombies don’t really care for dog meat they’re pretty much left alone and instead of running for the hills some of the dogs find love while others search for the Dog Bar, where all their dreams will come true.  Eventually, all the dogs’ converge as they discover that the zombies are the least of their worries as there are other monsters out there in this new world.

The Meza-Valdes brothers keep the tone of the film very light despite the graphic nature of the film and the action and stunts are truly impressive especially the explosions and fire FX.  You’d think this was a major Hollywood production instead of an indie film short.  The original score by Colin Frangicetto aids tremendously in complimenting the comedic tone (additional music is by Amigo The Devil and Rachel Goodrich).

All in all this is a better film than I expected due to the fact that despite the unusual nature of the film, the filmmakers keep the tone and mood from venturing in caricature territory delivering and entertaining yet horrifying little film.

You can view the film at FearNet here - http://www.fearnet.com/shorts/play-dead

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