Director: Alejandro Brugués
Starring: Alexis Díaz de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andrea Duro
Certificate: 15
Running time: 96 minutes
Extras: N/A.
Synopsis: Former revolutionary and current deadbeat dad Juan is unfazed when a zombie apocalypse hits Cuba. Seeing the potential for capital gain, he bands together with his friends and forms ‘Juan of the Dead’, a business that specializes in ‘killing your loved ones’…
JUAN OF THE DEAD is a curious little film. Essentially a Spanish-Cuban zom-com, JUAN attempts to juggle the blood, gore and laughs with social-political commentary, much in the same way as Romero’s various zombie flicks and SHAUN OF THE DEAD have done (or have at least attempted to do). Unfortunately, this doesn’t sit well with the rest of the picture, resulting in a tonally unbalanced film.
The film has plenty to say about politics, revolution, and capitalism. All well and good, but the over the top comedy doesn’t sit well with these messages. Had the film been entirely one or the other, it would be probably be more successful in making its point about about Cuban politics.
A minor problem though, because despite the odd mash-up of political commentary and bad-taste gags, it’s a fun little film, full of gore, violence, and gross-out humor. Ignore the political stuff, concentrate on the comedy at hand and you’re bound to enjoy yourself. There’s plenty of great laugh-out-loud moments, some equally great fight scenes, and some brilliantly sick and imaginative zombie dispatches. The notion of using the apocalypse for personal profit is one that’s both original and funny, and results in a great little action-packed montage, both hilarious and incredibly well-directed.
OK, the central characters are a little bit unlikeable, but they do redeem themselves throughout by being so damn funny when placed in crazy situations (the character of Lázaro, played by Jorge Molina, gets most of the best gags, particularly towards the end of the movie, in a wonderful rooftop scene between him and Juan). And the absolutely mental climax is both jaw dropping, clever, and very sweet.
I highly recommend JUAN OF THE DEAD to those who love their gross humor and zombie films. I won’t be recommending it to anyone who expects smart, inventive political satire. Watch it for laughs, and you’ll have yourself a great time. Those who want something more intelligent to get their teeth into should probably seek something with fewer zombies.
Extras: Sadly nothing. A shame, as it would have been nice to understand more about the writer-director’s political intentions with the film.
JUAN OF THE DEAD is available on DVD 4th June.
