Zombie Movie Marathon Sunday! Part 2.

Juan of the Dead (2011)

Rounding up my mini marathon is Juan of the Dead, it's a stark change of pace following the previous film I watched Train to Busan (link to that post here), its emphasis is on comedy and it makes a great follow up to what was a serious nail biter. 

It was at first a little slow but this film is totally worth sticking with. Juan is our protagonist (played by Alexis Diaz de Villegas) along with his bff Lazaro, his son Vladi and Juan's less than meek daughter Cami.

The scene opens up with Juan and Lazaro fishing with a harpoon in what looks to be the middle of the sea but is actually just off the coast of Cuba. As normal, we begin to see odd things happening, random attacks, the forces being called in etc. Juan and Lazaro put it down to the fact they live in Cuba. What follows is one of the most kick-ass zombie flicks I've ever seen (and there have been a lot!). Juan's old man is the first to get it after he dies of hold age. Lazaro in his constant attempt to be the hero fires his harpoon which pierces the old man and his still alive wife. Sadly it becomes his 'thing' throughout the remainder of the film. 

It was funny watching them stuff garlic into the old guy's mouth as well as steak him with three chair legs, all the time he's attached to his missus via the harpoon. When that doesn't work, they do away with the idea of him having become a vampire and try to exorcise him instead. This doesn't work so they simply bash his head in with the cross. In disposing the now severed body, Juan stumbles on a very lucrative business opportunity and Juan of the dead is born.

"Juan of the dead, we kill your loved ones, how may I help?"

Together with his rag tag team of amigos, Lazarus, Vladi, Cami and Juan set out and eliminate this latest pest to their peace. I liked that the weapons we once again unconventional. Juan and his oar, Lazarus and his butchers knives, Vladi and his baseball bat , China (the trans queen) and his slingshot. There are also nun-chucks and who doesn't love to see a zombie get smashed by those?! 

The cash starts pouring in, and the bodies start piling up in a funny montage of gore and ingenious zombie deaths. As ever in these types of film, not everything ends up going to plan and they run into the military who force the gang to strip naked before loading them into a van, handcuffed to each other. Lazaro shoots the driver as they hit a bump in the road just as they realised there was a stowaway zombie on board. The van becomes a cement mixer of testosterone as it tumbles to a stop. 

China is the next to get it, having been bitten in the worst stone tumbler situation imaginable. Juan is cuffed to China who is cuffed to a severed arm and a fresh Cuban ditty plays as they dance a dance of death. Lubrication saves the day as China is dangling over the edge of the building still cuffed to Juan. The oil causes him to slip out and fall to his demise. 

Some time passes and although the radio still says that all is well, people are getting killed on the streets and buildings continue to fall. Opting to get a boat and hightail it out of there, the gang heads for the coast. When they find themselves totally surrounded, in drives a God-fearing Crocodile Dundee who, using a car-mounted harpoon in a post drives around the hoard like a May Day pole dance gone horribly wrong. 

This guy is the saviour, the Chuck Norris the gang needed and what happens? Lazaro shoots him with his harpoon. I had to laugh, I wasn't expecting it. The tone darkens momentarily when Lazaro reveals he's been scratched, he asks Juan to give him one last sunrise before the oar-to-the-face he requests. Granting his request, the two head to the roof of the building to see the sunrise.

Following the usual heart to heart between bros, Lazarus confesses his undying love for Juan and begs him to allow Juan to receive oral sex from him. After a very convincing speech, Juan agrees just in time to see Lazaro laugh. The sun comes up over a very sombre scene, Lazaro is slumped forward and without a word Juan cracks the oar down onto his head.

He's still alive! Hooray! Turns out his scratch was a non-zombie related injury and in celebration, the gang builds the Greased Lightening of aqua cars. Lazaro and Juan head to the seaside for a spot of zombie hunting to build a ramp of zombie parts to the sea. The Great Escape style jump is hilarious when it turns out it's only a few feet deep in the water.

Juan, who had rescued a small boy trapped in a dog house by a zombie arrives and wades through to water, handing the boy to safety. His speech is heartfelt when he leaves his amigos behind, happy to slay zombies knowing his friends and his daughter are safe.

The credits roll, showing Juan destroying zombies with his oar in a fab animated smile. The song My Way (Paul Anka) plays over, a punk version of the classic and it all just fits so well. The last scene of the credits show the gang back together again on the island, ready to kill. 

The feel of this film overall was so much more upbeat and funnier to that of Train to Busan, but both films are great examples of a genre that's hard to get right. Juan of the Dead had an epic soundtrack, believable characters and plenty of gore and comedy in equal measure. As I mentioned in the first post, I enjoy subtitled films as it gives you insight into the culture and the way a different language can affect the way you experience a film. A few things were a little over the top, but I liked the refreshing comedic feel following a tense nail biter of a film.

8 zombie heads out of 10.

And so there rounds up my mini movie marathon this Sunday, I've had my zombie fix for now, time to go and play in the real world. 

Until next time film fans!

Zombie Movie Marathon Sunday! Part 1.

Train to Busan (2016)

Kicking off this mini zombie marathon is Train to Busan, set in south Korea a group of commuters are in for the ride from hell. Who else likes to guess who's going to get it first? Our protagonist is a man (Seok-Woo played by Yoo Gong) who is the father of a young girl called Su-An (played by Su-An Kim). After missing her music recital, and buying her a Wii for her birthday when she already had one (yeah, cheers dad!), Su-An is adement she's getting on the train the next day to see her mum on her birthday. Sufficiently guilt tripped, dad and Su-An climb aboard and the train pulls away.

Our team of survivors starts out with dad and Su-An, a pregnant lady (we'll call her June), and her husband. Our resident bad guy, intent on sacrificing anyone to save his own skin, (grumpy old git man), a team of baseball players and their cheerleader and two elderly sisters. Not forgetting homeless man, train driver and conductor bringing up the numbers.

As with many zombie films, you're subjected to many small, isolated incidents at the beginning of the film, you know, ash raining from the sky, fire engines hurtling by and that deer you just ran over coming back to life. That sort of thing. Su-An sees a guy getting rugby tackled by a zombie and when she notices her dad is asleep decides now is the perfect time for a toilet break. Horror Movie Mistakes 101 never go anywhere alone in the event of a zombie outbreak.

The authorities have informed the train to stop at the next station, but the only thing awaiting them are hoards of zombies hungry for brunch, they steam right through and the survivors are separated in the chaos having to manoeuvre through three carriages crawling with the undead. Turns out the zombies can't see in the dark,and the survivors use the long tunnels to their advantage, fighting their way through with duct tape clad arms, baseball bats and a police riot shield. The scene where they're crawling across the overhead storage rail is particularly nail biting. One at a time please!

June's husband heroically sacrifices himself, while dad, Su-An, June and one of the elderly sisters make it inside to a less than welcoming gang of survivors lead by grumpy git himself. They are subsequently forced into the vestibule at grumpy's request, but one elderly sister, seeing that her sibling is now zombie kill decides they'll be none of this stupidity on her watch and lets in the zombies bringing down all but grumpy in their path. It's a bloodbath from start to finish. The baseball team are down to just one and the cheerleader by this point. Turns out their training hadn't reached what to do in the even of apocalypse. After all her complaining, and screaming it isn't all that sad to see the cheerleader get it, along with her boyfriend who basically cries and lets her eat him. Go Tigers!

The train is forced to make an emergency stop because of debris on the tracks, their only choice being to raid the handy station they are near for another train to Busan. I'd be writing a letter of complaint by this point, I'm late for work and covered in blood. I want my money back! Out of nowhere comes a runaway train, totally ablaze that traps dad, June, Su-An and the homeless man who bravely sacrifices himself to let the other three get away (technically four since June is pregnant). Meanwhile grumpy sacrifices the train driver who becomes zombie-chow after leaping from the moving carriage to save grumpy's sorry ass. 

Dad, June and Su-An manage to get a grip on the speeding train with a clusterfuck of zombies barrelling over one another, clinging on like shoppers to the sale rack. It's happy hour at the station and they're hungry! After they manage to rid themselves of the hoard they turn to see grumpy man, and yep, you guessed it, he's a zombie. Dun duh DUUUUN! In the brawl, dad manages to get himself bitten, and manages to finally give grumpy man what was coming to him and throw him over the side of the train which is still steaming ahead.

It was actually genuinely sad to watch Seok-Woo tell June (Seong-Kyeong played by Yu-Mi Yung) to pull the brake on the train only when it is safe and Su-An scream for her dad. He walks to the bvack of the train remembered her birth in a nice flashback before falling gracefully to his own demise. Only Su-An and June and the baby remain after what was probably more like a rollercoaster than a gentile commute to work and enter the dark tunnel, bodies strewn everywhere.

Su-An sings the song from the recital her dad missed as they approach the military and we're left to assume that they all lived happily ever after. It was a total nail biter from start to finish. They story was plausible (if not a little predictable in parts), the zombies were fast and the virus extremely fast acting. Definitely had a hint of 28 Days Later with it's large, open and empty spaces and agile zombies , but slightly less rage. Minimal, but well used CGI (like the deer for example) and a great overall sound and visual experience. I really enjoyed how tense this film was, and being able to tolerate subtitled movies I often enjoy experiencing the culture and effect other languages have on my viewing experience. Good solid plot, very believable characters, another different take on this well loved genre.

8 zombie heads out of 10.

Check out part 2 here!