Aaah! Zombies!! (2007)

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Director: Matthew Kohnen

Writers: Matthew Kohnen, and Sean Kohnen

Cast: Matthew Davis (Mike), Julianna Robinson (Vanessa), Michael Grant Terry (Tim), Betsy Beutler (Cindy), Colby French (Nick Steele), Richard Riehle (Colonel South), Jack Orend (Dr. Richter), Joel McCray (Mark Kanan), and Tracy Walter (Mr. Whicks).

Opening Credits:

 The film i'm about to review is a low budget film. Granted folks keep that in mind, not all films will be huge budgets in order to be a success. I wanted to come back from my break with something different. Yes i know, i could've reviewed newer films, blockbusters, but just in case you've haven't noticed this website is dedicated to being very different. This film is just that, different. The breaks from high intense blockbusters is sometimes a wonderful thing. With that being said, remember movies that are high, energy, and balloon like budgets may not always make it in the box office. I respect these film makers because it brings a new dynamic to the film industry. How else would the Matrix, and other achievement films be brought to light. These film makers just did there thing, and what happened was ground breaking. The bullet time would've never have been if it wasn't for the Lana, and Lilly Wachowski. A remarkable vision that was translated on to film in 1999. Not only was the film ground breaking in basically everything, it was a set up for the future in the industry. So yes low budget is good, not every film needs to be over inflated.  

Review:

"I got it. What do zombies look like?"  -Tim-

"Keith Richards."  -Vanessa-

"No, corpses. We look like corpses."  -Tim-  

The film begins with a Doctor recording himself. The film is black and white. Dr. Richter (Jack Orend) is giving some information, a serum, called, the "Irresistible Force." Or the code name that was chosen for the project. A soldier is lying down on a table, which is positioned 90 degrees, facing the Doctor. Richter, continues about the soldier project. He goes on about becoming stronger, a super soldier when injected with the serum. As the doctor's assistant injects the soldier, the body begins to shake violently. The soldier dies. His body awakens but this time his eyes are white, and his veins are thick, almost protruding. He attacks the assistant, killing him. The camera shakes while the soldier continues to feast on the body. Fade to black.

Two soldiers are transporting the serum in barrels. The orders are clear, and transportation must be in secret. The serum is in large barrels that are black and labeled, "Bulk Infant: Perishable." The two soldiers talk about leaving the job; Chit chat continues, both men argue about where to go. Suddenly a man that looks like something out of a sci-fi film moves along side of the truck, he is on a motorcycle, looks very matrix like. Black sun glasses, black leather, and a fast bike. He advances beyond the truck. While the two soldiers continue to argue about a map and the whereabouts of their destination. Both are fixed on each other, arguing on what is the right path and the wrong one. Suddenly, they both look up, not paying much attention and the truck crashes, turning the beast on it's side. The barrels falls from the truck, one manages to roll along side ice cream boxes. The barrel spews and contaminates the ice cream. The Bowling Alley a place where four friends reside, little do they know their lives are about to change.  Mike (Matthew Davis), Vanessa (Julianna Robinson), Tim (Michael Grant Terry), and Cindy (Betsy Beutler).

The film's unique vision makes this a good B-movie. Zombies have a point of view. The perspective of the decayed.  The film loves to tease you with the mix of comedy and horror, well at least a bit of horror. Casting was good as well. Granted it was a small cast, but never the less the cast did their thing without a huge special effects, and a good story. Not overly complicated, which for a zombie movie it's good. Sometimes the story and especially in a zombie apocalypse isn't the important aspect of the film, doesn't have to be a complex or twist like kinda story, but one that delivers. The gore and leading up to the third Act is all about these kind of films. Take a look at the World War Z (2013), for example. The film was based off a novel by Max Brooks. The film makers decided to go way off the book, and it is a decision, but sometimes it comes with a cost. Audiences might turn away from the film, and your budget will take a huge hit. In the case for WWZ it did well enough for a sequel that will be out sometime in 2018, and that's good enough for the studio.  Zombie films are a hit and miss, unfortunately. The target audience are either fan boys, or under ground die hard fanatics like myself. 

What made the show Walking Dead so successful? Was it the gore, or the way the zombies were killed. Or the idea of a world without human leadership. Chaos ensues and the only thing that is left is the human factor. To me the zombie idea or movies are not what makes them so good. I'm using the Walking Dead as an example because it's the core to every zombie movie or series that was ever made. The human factor, and the fight to survive in a world that is starving for the human connection that was lost when humanity started to turn into those decayed corpses. Maybe those corpses are a reflection of what we will become if the path doesn't change. Politics, hatred, possession, jealousy. Traits that make up humanity, but some are negative and some might be something worthwhile enough to move forward in what we call life. I could probably write down ten or more human traits, but what is important is those things that were lost in that battle between humans, Walkers, Zombies, whatever you'd like to call them. Those traits become something else, they're a tool used to challenge any wall that maybe in the field of vision. Those walls will come down, the human condition is the core to the brave new world.

Aaah Zombies is a Comedy, Horror that takes you into the world of zombies, in their point of view. A challenge that becomes real from the first Act to the final Act. The film is good to me because for a change it's a zombie film that makes you laugh, and the film makers really gave it some heart, with the different twist. Black and White, and Color. Color to expose the human self, and black and white to show what they have turned into in real time. Speeding the film made good use of zombie sight. What they saw first hand. Zombies are sluggish, and to them everything is sped up. The pure enjoyment of the film like Walking Dead, and many other films is the human factor. The film even had a community of the dead towards the very end. A challenging aspect, but it was done well. My comparisons of the hit series, and other zombie films are right on because they all have the human factor as a basic connection that makes up all films. Even in Aaah! Zombies they group of friends still had each other, especially when they found out what they truly are. 

Fan boys, fanatics would agree because why else would a zombie series be a hit TV show. Not for the gore, or how many people die, it's the human factor. Even the older films like Dawn of the Dead (1978). George A. Romero the father of zombies had the same factor which is the center piece of all films, and series alike. The simple connections that make up survival, what it is to fight for food or simple things like clothes or foot wear. these films, series have all that in common, even comedies like  Aaah! Zombies. The Walking Dead i like to bring up because it's the popular series, and it's big enough to examine the importance of it all. The special part of these films, and or series is that no matter if it's a horror, or a comedy it still achieves huge marks. The feeling of a desolate place is there in a comedy. The characters in the film Aaah! Zombies only wanted to be with each other, friends till the very end. Human factor was all over this film. Even if some of the characters weren't intelligent enough to understand what is going on, it still made sense, to them at the very least it did. The challenge was the new environment that they now live in. The comedy part was the characters didn't know what was going on till it was to late. The very soul of the film was the connections each character had with the difficult situations that came before them. Two characters were in love, the film went into that, and the comedy was the people interacting with them saw Tim (Michael Grant Terry), and Cindy (Betsy Beutler) as dead. But the point was simple. Tim and Cindy wanted to be with each other, and what came out of it was pretty funny. To me this film was good enough for zombie fanatics and anyone who likes this kinda stuff.