The Elixir
This is a Zombie World Tour!
It’s Halloween week, of course I’m going to review a zombie movie. This week George Romero – the guy who made Night of the Living Dead – has his name in the spotlight again because his daughter has released her first full feature length film and her quirky zombie flick is getting good reviews. I would have watched that, but I’ll probably have to wait for streaming. Instead, I’m going for another Indonesian film. This one is not a psychological thriller like Outside, instead leaning way, way into traditional gore and violence. And good old American stupidity. More on that in a moment.
I had read a couple of good things about this film, especially one review that made me laugh. I don’t think they liked it much, but had some fun things to say, like, “Wrinkles – gone. Glasses – don’t need those anymore! Maybe now in this de-aged state he’ll only be about 20 years older than his wife, Karina” See? I’m not the only sarcastic reviewer.
Basically, the story is typical zombie. A stupid businessman cuts corners and creates a zombie potion. The stupid is typical, not the potion. The potion is an interesting addition to zombie creation lore, and gets the undead running around pretty quickly. His family is at the country estate, so they are there for patient zero and run from the strange people who can tear their upper body away from their lower body and still move quickly. They remain simply “strange people” for a large part of the movie, which never says the word “zombie” or even “undead”. They’re just weird people with scary eyes black around their mouth who inexplicably bite people to death and then try to bite you.
The requisite nods to other zombie films are subtle, making the film feel more fresh than usual. There is one zombie mob scene that may end up being emulated in future films. The biggest nod is the stupidity level. Stupid is the name of the game here. There is little thought beyond hiding behind a door, then going outside because maybe the “strange people” won’t notice them this time. I haven’t seen this level of aggressively stupid behavior since The Walking Dead*, which I did write down in my notes. One of the characters is a major gamer. He’s never encountered zombies in any game? Has no clue? They figure out pretty quickly that sound draws them. Is that why everyone screams a lot? Oooh, they’ve found a somewhat safe place? Everyone run back out the door! Got a locker full of weapons? Leave them! I enjoyed The Walking Dead well enough until I figured out it’s a paean to stupidity, so that kind of thing doesn’t work for me. Not EVERYONE in the world is an idiot. It made me not root for any of them to survive.
I was happy with how the filmmaker dealt with the little things, beyond the stupid. There is good character development before the chomping starts, and I was happy with the pacing. This is a pretty movie, if you ignore the gore slathered faces. The director went for high shots looking down on the zombie migrations, and that made me happier than expected. It really worked for me to see the undead running down the road in the middle of the rice fields. The music comes and goes, mostly goes. When it does come in under the action, it works really well to up the tension or the pathos, whatever is needed at the moment. There was a moment that reminded me of GWAR**, but it went by quickly. Technically, it’s not a bad film, especially for a zombie flick.
Did I mention it starts at a circumcision party? It’s more foreign feeling than Outside, which I enjoyed, while maintaining some of the core concepts of zombie fiction. Stupidity, gore, violence, stupidity. Sorry, there was a lot of stupid. Technically, like direction and art direction and sound and music and makeup, it’s all solid. If you don’t mind the stupid and aren’t afraid of a lot of gore and violence, give this a go. I don’t think I’ll watch it again but I will recommend it, given the season.
Triggers: spousal cheating, blood, gore and zombie biting
Available on: Netflix
LINKS:
CFR: In Addition
Well I doubt I will ever watch this.
I was excited when I saw this was a new Zombie World Tour review but bummer. I hate stupid people in movies. Also, I am furious that the gamer didn’t know any better! What?!?!?! As a gamer myself, I would know better. I keep telling Cranky I want a zombie movie where the main characters are gamers/SF/Fantasy readers/watchers and then immediately go to figure out if the zombies are zombies, what kind, and of course, just decapitate cut the spine to do the full kill.
Sigh.
Cranky, we need money to make our own zombie movie. Or just everyone go watch Romero. 😉 Or Resident Evil.
And finally the * notes:
*EVERYONE is so stupid in The Walking Dead I refused to watch it after episode two. YOU DON’T RIDE A HORSE INTO A CITY THAT MIGHT BE FULL OF ZOMBIES! Ok, I’ll stop.
**It is either Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement or the band GWAR and well Cranky will just have to let us know.
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