Review of American Zombie (2007) by Jason D — 30 Dec 2008

Speaking from sort of a biased standpoint, I'm a huge fan of zombie films, as well as horror films in general, so I'm always trying to see the good side in everything. When George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead came out, it was only a matter of time before more Cinéma vérité style films about zombies were to follow (The Zombie Diaries, anyone?).

Now, we have American Zombie, which is slightly more clever than the other aforementioned films as it implements the timeless mockumentary formula and portrays zombies as your every day regular joe, trying to make ends meet and be treated fairly.

In this film, zombies are a second rate citizen with little civil rights. Now, a film crew sets out to document the zombies' plight. While the film crew isn't that interesting, the zombies interviewed for this film are and range from a slacker skateboarder punk, a prudish and shy gardener, a civil rights activist, and a self-indulgent artist.

While the characterizations and the explanations of zombies (i.e. categories, diseases, groupies) are really fun, the overall film is kind of a letdown, due to the fact that it goes in a very predictable route, and all throughout the film, there is little to no gore or violence, leaving this to be one of the most tame zombie films ever.

There are a couple of funny moments, and the underlying message that forces one to recall their own prejudices is a sound message for the times we are living in, but overall, very tame.