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!
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