ZOMBIE ASOCKALYPSE: a short film by Paul Bruce

Zombie Asockalypse (2009)
Directed by: Paul Bruce
Written by: Gregor Fergie
Starring: Gregor Fergie, Joe Peat, Margeret Henderson, Paul Bruce

RUNNING TIME: 5 min

REVIEWED BY: Dr Lenera, Official HCF Critic

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/19037683[/vimeo]

Four people are trapped in a house while flesh-eating zombies approach. Panicking and arguing, they see a TV broadcast telling them to kill the zombies by destroying the brain. They decide upon a plan: one of them will bring to the house a car which is nearby, and they can all escape…..

Afew months ago I reviewed a double DVD set entitled Ultimate Zombie Feast. It was a very lengthy collection of mostly short films all about zombies. Far from being boring, something which even this fan of zombie movies feared it would become, it showed amazing diversity and showcased some hugely talanted filmmakers who wanted to do different things with the premise of the living dead. What a shame that more bigger budget efforts seem reluctant to do the same. Zombie Asockalypse is another short film that puts a totally new spin on the idea. According to the IMDB its estimated cost is £200. I got more enjoyment out of this five minute production than all of World War Z, though, thanks to it, I doubt I’ll be able to ever watch Night Of The Living Dead again without thinking of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Zombie Asockalpyse basically replays George Romero’s classic, but cutting it down to its essentials and having it acted by….sock puppets. Yes, you read this right, sock puppets, and it’s one of the silliest [in the best way] things I’ve seen in a while, in fact I had to watch the film twice because I was almost pissing myself. I suppose it depends on what you find funny. In any case, the tiny resources available to the filmmakers are obviously stretched to the limit and ingeniously applied. There’s some cool detail [like a sock deer head mounted on a wall], the best zombie slurping noises ever, and even some gore. Meanwhile the characters are well-sketched, and are clearly influenced by familiar screen characters yet have a few original touches. Wouldn’t it have been great if Ben had played a tune on a keyboard? It’s all very humorous but its love for Romero’s film is evident in every scene. Iain Stephen’s music makes use of what sounds like the theramin!  Zombie Asockalpyse won the Cinefridge [Edinburgh Fringe] Judges Award for Best Film 2010 and the Edinburgh Short Film Feast 2010, and though I haven’t seen the other entries, I would say that those wins were well deserved.