From Zombos Closet

November 19, 2013

Graphic Book Review: So…I Survived
The Zombie Apocalypse

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Zombie-apocalypseZombos Says: Fair

So…I Survived the Zombie Apocalypse and All I Got Was This Podcast is about perky, nubile, blond and boxom, podcasting Mara Mitchell, who loves gardening and making new friends when all her old ones are dead. All her potential new friends are dead, too, but they like it that way and don't want her company.

Cue the zombie apocalypse peppered with satirical moments as Mara is forced to leave her cozy, walled-off, townhouse when a snake bite sends her to the drug store. Only she never reaches the drug store. Instead, she finds out what's been going apocalyptic while she's been gardening and podcasting. Unfortunately, Chris W. Freeman and Korey Hunt can't make what's been going down around her as clever as the title of this graphic book. 

I'm starting to think too many writers and artists in comic books are inbreeding at an alarming rate. Here's another cool premise shot to hell with the same stereotypical sexism, the same half-baked humor without zest or visual flair, and the same character types recycled by very good, good, and not so good artists–five  too many to keep the story flowing evenly across the pages. This is the let-the-panel-do-the-talking type of graphic novel, so dialog and written narrative are sparse, but much needed to flesh out Mara and her zombie neighbors. Her zombie neighbors are all women and that's the kicker to this premise: even they can't stand her, but since they only eat the male zombies, they leave her alone. 

Until she wants to make friends, that is; first the pretend zombie dress-up for the dead party, but that doesn't go well when her nerdgirl takes charge, then it's a pissing contest between the mangy dog that can't keep its leg down, and the lady deadites against the human, leading to a full-blown Rambo onslaught when a trap is sprung with roller-skates and a mannequin. Goofy, but not smart funny; just stupid-funny. 

Mara's hookup with old chum, Lisa–she's really dead, like non-reanimated corpse dead–leads to an odd, one-sided buddy-buddy reunion. That's a little smart-funnier.  But not much.

Naprata (2013)

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NaprataZombos Says: Good

So much for swearing off found footage horror movies. When Mladen Milosavljevic messaged me on Facebook offering his movie, Naprata, for review, I could have declined but I didn’t. I’m more open to watching foreign horror movies because their tempo, their tone, and their cultural nuances tend to make them more interesting and less standardized than the American made fare; at least when they are at the beginning of a potential franchise cycle anyway.

Ad-libbed dialog, the use of a non-professional Canon camcorder, and a simple storyline setup, all combine to make this hour-long movie about local legends and a clear lesson in what you shouldn’t do when told, repeatedly, not to do it an effective little chill.

There’s a silent demon we see briefly; enough to know he’s badass as hell. There’s also an odd, matter of fact attitude conveyed by the local villagers about the demon and his good and bad sides: a yes-he’s-real-but we’ve-learned-to-live-with-him-around-here attitude that is either intentionally directed or accidentally produced from the ad-libbing, but either way it works to create the necessary should we or shouldn’t we situation for the newsteam from Belgrade.

The movie is in need of trimming–the interview with Kaleja (which is the actor’s name)–goes on a little too long. Also needed was a less shaky-cam approach: the premise has a seasoned newsteam going around interviewing people about violence against women. I would expect an experienced news cameraman to set up his framing better than how the camcorder is utilized here, especially when filming people around a table where the framing would be less mid-shot and close-ups–causing a lot of unnecessary panning back and forth to each person speaking–and more wide-shot with a 3 to 4-shot framing, smoothly combined with zoom-ins for dramatic effect where appropriate.

What’s not needed is better acting. It’s natural and near cinéma vérité flow here is provided by Baco (Marko Backovic), Ivana (Ivana Bogdanovic),  the strange and yet inviting Guardian of the Cemetery (Dusan Colakovic), and everyone else in this micro-budget, three-day, exercise in minimalist horror.

The Professor (Branko Radakovic) is even stranger and less inviting, and we never fully understand his intentions. He refuses to talk about violence against women, sees cats that aren’t there, and knows way too much about local lore. The newsteam goes to him to continue their interviewing in the Serbian Village where Kaleja hit his mother with a tray. It is Kaleja’s bad behavior, now very popular on FaceBook, that brings investigative reporter Ivana to the village. Ivana is serious, but her crew, including Backo who pees in odd places (he must be the producer) aren’t that enthusiastic until the Professor detours their investigative reporting with tales of local vampire lore. Ivana loses control as Baco and her shaky cameraman insist on meeting another odd pair of villagers who tell more tales, of a demon called Naprata. And, oh yes, you can easily summon him with little food offerings or an evil task. But you must be absolutely quiet or he will not be a happy camper, okay?

Any horror fan will know how well that goes over.