American Zombie

The non-living community wants you to know that they’re people, too. They have the same hopes, dreams and disappointments as the rest of us. They eat healthy (some of them are even vegan), keep scrapbooks of the good times, have jobs, dabble in artwork, and many hold menial jobs. These are the high-functioning zombies. There are some low-functioning ones, and even “ferals”. The census figures there are 5,000 - 7,000 revenants in L.A.  alone.

It is here in la-la land where documentary filmmakers Grace Lee and John Solomon (playing “themselves”) decide to document the dead and their doings. It’s not easy being deceased. Even when employed, they can’t get credit (though they can be cruelly overworked, since they don’t need sleep). It’s not simple to scrounge up a decent meal (“I eat as many preservatives as I can,” says one, while showing the documentarians the convenience store-bought contents of his fridge. He laughs as he shows them around: "It's like 'Zombie Cribs' "). They can’t have families (“I’m going to adopt,” says one dreamy deadite).

Presented in mockumentary style, the film shows a variety of characters commenting on the zombie community. The zombies themselves, their groupies, those who study them, those who exploit them, those who protect them, and so on. It’s got some really funny lines, but the movie is presented straight – almost dour, actually. There aren’t any obvious plays for laughs ala This Is Spinal Tap meets Shaun of the Dead, but American Zombie is still quite witty. That is, until about halfway through. Once the initial amusement of the premise wears off, there isn’t much to carry the story.

Not that Lee and her writing partner, Rebecca Sonnenshine, didn’t give it the old college try. There is actually a plot to tie all the interviews together: the idea is, the documentary crew is going to be the only media allowed inside the Live Dead Concert. This is unprecedented, and as the filmmakers find out, there’s a very good reason no living person has ever been allowed into that inner sanctum.

There is a lot of social subtext (AIDS, immigration, homelessness, labor laws, and so on), which puts this dissertation of the undead right in line with the Romero films, just on a different plane. American Zombie is more droll than scary, but if you have some patience, it’s definitely worth a look (the first half, anyway). It would actually make for a nice double feature on intermittent fast-forward with American Cannibal: The Road to Reality (2006). Both movies have entertaining premises and a few very worthwhile gems, but overall they wear out their running time a bit before the end-credits roll.

American Zombie is now playing in limited release in L.A. and New York City.

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