Film Review: My Boring Zombie Apocalypse (short film) (2015)

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SYNOPSIS:

What happens when the apocalypse you want is not the apocalypse you get?

REVIEW:

More short films, kiddies! Today we have something a bit different. This is MY BORING ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, written and directed by Kevin Perkins.

In the interest of full disclosure, I actually appear in this film as an extra in several sequences. I also am acquainted with the filmmakers and many of the crew, some of whom I have worked with on other projects. The indie film scene in Maryland is fairly small and most of us who work in the industry know each other. I suppose that’s true for many states with such a scene. So to keep any bias away from this review, I decided to watch this film with a panel. This review will be the sum of our combined opinions and observations.

As the title would suggest, the undead uprising finally comes and quite frankly, its a bit of a let down. Hollywood gave us so many awesome scenarios but in the end….yea, not all that cool after all.

Our story follows David (played by Charlie Driezen, but voiced by Rex Anderson in ADR sequences) as he navigates the new world of the living dead with less than enthusiastic zeal. David tells the tale of the zombie uprising – what he expected, how it actually plays out, and how much more awesome it could have been.

The first member of our panel, a retired Marine and actor, fell in instant love with the film. He actually watched it five times. He described it as the “Pringles of horror movies…once you start watching you just can’t stop”. He likened it to one of those “choose your own adventure” books from back in the day, the way that our hero plays out all the scenarios he wished had happened.

He calls out two scenes as his favorites – an early sequence with our hero fighting the zombie horde in a red convertible. He felt this scene was very al a Evil Dead and described it as classic. Also the military sequences, specifically the scene with the secret military lab and the clumsy soldier. The attention to detail was, in his opinion, stunning.

He found the lead actor, Mr. Driezen, absolutely entertaining. He described him as a “straight up card”. Just an every day Joe in the apocalypse saying everything we would say if it was us.

Overall, he found the special effects to be satisifactory. Some had a really high wow factor, others not so much. But he was particularly impressed with the attention to detail paid to every sequence. Knowing it was a budget film, he found the results of the film crew’s efforts to be quite good.

The second member of our panel, a musician and sound engineer, also enjoyed the film but was a bit more judgemental. He felt the special FX were good overall, but not consistent.There was no standard look for the zombies, which he felt was distracting. However he felt the practical effects were, on the whole, well done.

His favorite scene is in the opening sequence, during the credit roll. There is a very Fulci-esque melting corpse sequence used to reveal the credits and he felt it was a very strong and well done scene.

He described the film as being a bunch of films within a film. That is to say, each sequence is basically its own movie, and they all come together to show us a complete picture of the world as it exists for the hero.

While he found the film to be entertaining, he felt like the story didn’t really go anywhere. He is quick to say that isn’t a bad thing, however. He called this a “party movie”, something super fun to watch with a bunch of friends and not to be thought too deeply about.

As for me, this was my first time seeing the film complete. I was familiar with the IndieGoGo campaign a few years ago, which featured a test reel of what they called the “Ace of Cakes Massacre”. Baltimore pastry chef Duff Goldman and his team allowed the crew to film in the bakery (Charm City Cakes, for those who watch reality TV) and created a really fun sequence. This scene is in the finished film.

The film is very Maryland. Cameos by local celebrities, radio personalities, actors, and television presenters set the story squarely in the state. Many of the filming locations are easily recognized as being here as well. These tastes of home may not mean much to those outside this area, but if you are one of us, they are a lot of fun.

There is also a lot of fan service for those who are fans of the zombie genre. Pay close attention to the backgrounds and news crawls. There’s a lot of subtle jabs and humor in there that you could easily miss.

Gotta give a shout out to the FX team. Victor Acord, Nichole Leavy, Mark Wenger, and P. Scott Moore. I’ve worked with most of these people and I know what they are capable of doing. The practical effects, if not consistent on a theme, are well done overall.

Even the CGI and green screen stuff, overseen by Max Glick (sure, that’s his real name….) are not bad. Considering this was a crowd funded project, and knowing how expensive and time consuming these sort of effects are, I give a lot of respect to the final product. Sure, some of it is kind of obvious, but I don’t really care.

So basically….this is a really fun film with a lot of silly stuff and fun gore and general taunting of society. I read a short story similiar to the concept of this film (not sure if the film is based on or inspired by that story or not) and always felt this would be a good basis for a film.

The first panel member gave this film 8.5/10.

The second panel member gave 4/10.

I’m going to say a solid 8/10. I really enjoyed it and I think anyone who is a fan of zombie/apocalypse films will find it funny.

so that averages to….what, about a 6.5/10. It’s not gonna be for everyone, but its worth the time to watch and see if its for you.