Wasting Away/ Aaah! Zombies (2007)
It's rare that just reading the plot of a film is enough to get me interested. I usually look for a trailer and check some reviews first. For this film, that was not the case. While skimming the latest additions to Netflix tonight, I came across what appeared to be a generic zombie flick, at least based on the title- the 2nd one listed above, and the poster image. Not that I have any issues with zombie movies, they just aren't at the top of my horror list. That and the genre is becoming oversaturated, first with the release of Shaun of the Dead and the subsequent attempts to make a similar zombie comedy, to the popularity of the Walking Dead television series- hell, there is even a movie coming soon that is essentially Twilight with zombies- at that point you know the genre is jumping the shark.
Still, I clicked the flick so I could at least see the synopsis before I condemned it and continued my search, and for the first time in awhile, that was enough. What I read there intrigued me enough to at least give the movie a chance- I've done so with better sounding flicks that turned out to be crap. At worst it could be a good way to kill an hour and a half.
What followed was an original, albeit low-budget and quite dumb little flick. This is the kind of zombie movie I can get behind because it took the very basic concepts you find in the genre, and went a whole different direction with them. Not only that, but that direction works, and while the movie is not amazing, it is definitely worth talking about. This is Wasting Away.
Plot
The movie begins with a zombie movie cliche- the experiment gone wrong that turns ordinary people into zombies, followed by a failed disposal of said experiment leading to an infection, all in black and white. In this case however, it is not a wide-spread one, in fact, one barrel falls off the truck and winds up, after some time, in the back of a bowling alley, where it leaks into some boxes of ice cream. Said boxes are then taken inside by employee and all around good guy Tim, played by Michael Grant Terry, who kinda seems like he walked out of a 1950s sitcom. He is a nice guy, but stereotypically so, which I guess works in a film that is skewing conventions. Tim is getting the alley ready for League Night, and keeping him company are his childhood friend and secret crush Cindy, played by Betsy Beutler, typical slacker and best friend Mike, played by Matthew Davis, and Mike's career oriented ex-girlfriend Vanessa, played by Julianna Robinson. As the four talk, Tim unknowingly pours the tainted ice cream into the machine, where Mike, in an attempt to both try a new snack concoction and lighten Tim's spirits, mixes beer with the ice cream to make some 'Ale Cream' cones. All four notice the strange greenish tint to the ice cream, but figure it's just a trick of the light and chow down. Within moments of finishing, all four feel ill, and the movie turns to color. Quickly the four notice some changes- Mike has a craving for something he can't quite explain, while Cindy, at first in agony, soon demonstrates enhanced strength when trying to shut up a pay phone with a strange ringing sound that starts when Vanessa tries to use it. Deciding to go to a clinic to make sure Cindy is ok, the four head outside, where they realize something is not right. A group of gang members see them coming and speed off, which Mike first tries to blame on drugs, until he is corrected by Nick Steele, a soldier who claims the gang members are infected, and the foursome, like him, seem to be fine. This pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the film, as the five characters believe that they are the only ones not infected, even after several moments that prove other wise- such as Nick have the handlebar of a motorcycle sticking out of his side when he meets the group, to Tim surviving a gun shot to the chest. Nick brushes it off, explaining that as the experiment was supposed to create super soldiers, the five of them must be part of a small group that received the chemical's original intent. As the group attempts to find a cure for everyone else, typical tropes set in- panic from the rest of the town, the military tries to clean up it's mess, and all the while the characters are blissfully ignorant of what is really going on.
Thoughts
A zombie movie from the zombie's point of view. At first glance, such an idea could have gone horribly wrong, but this movie took the right approach by showing reality and reality as seen by the characters- we can see the infected interact with one another as if everything is ok, and then see normal people seeing them as they really are- a good example being when Tim and Cindy have a tender moment during a climactic fight scene, and it looks very touching, until we return to reality and see the two zombies almost gnawing on one another. It helps that the film plays off the fact that while zombies tend to be seen as slow, shambling creatures, they see regular humans moving super fast and even talking as such, which in a movie like this, adds to the delusion that everyone else is infected. The film does have some holes, such as one moment the characters are unable to read a sign but later have no trouble reading a file explaining the experiment. The characters are very basic, but as stated given the fact that the film is very much a parody, it makes sense for the characters to be arctypes the nice guy and girl, the bitchy girl, the bad-ass, the mysterious soldier, and so on. I think this works for the best, as any further development would take away from the film's greatest strength- playing with conventions. We don't really need to know much more about any of them because who they are isn't important, what matters is how they perceive the situation they are in and how they treat it.
As the film is a low budget independent one, much of the cast are no-names, however a number of recognizable faces pop up in supporting roles, which gives the film some credibility- always fun to play the 'I know that actor' game in movies like this. The lack of budget doesn't really matter though, as the zombie make up, while not top notch, it's pretty good, and given that we only see them in black and white, whatever flaws they may have are well hidden. The writing also helps, as the writers obviously knew the genre they were working with enough to put in the right cliches at the right times. Likewise, there are a few great lines, mostly from Mike, who while is the one to show the most zombie characteristics, remains likeable and actually quite noble by the film's end. One such line and the one that stuck me the most occurs early on, when the five break into a restaurant in which the scientist and general involved in the experiment are meeting. They kill the cook, and Mike, while examining him, says
"Think Mexican brains are spicy?
It's a stupid line of course, but what makes it work is the fact that we have already seen Mike eating brains, so his asking isn't much of a stretch, but the fact that no one questions it nor sees much problem with it shows how completely out of the loop they all are. Mike does not wonder why he enjoys eating or thinking of eating the brains, and his friends just shrug it off. It's a big warning sign that they are the ones infected but they all seem to miss it, along with the many others along the way.
The movie is, as stated, far from perfect. There are plot holes, the script drags at times, and the characters are simple and quite dumb, but that's kind of the point- they are zombies brain dead hunks of flesh that likely wouldn't realize they were dead unless someone proved it. Still, the writing and the acting save the film, and allow us to forgive some other discrepancies.
Conclusion
A few reviews back, I knocked Uncertainty for having an original idea that was poorly executed. This film does not fall into that same trap. The idea of a zombie movie, with all the usual cliches and expectations, but from the zombie's point of view, could have failed easily but does not. The writers, actors and director knew what they were doing, and did not take themselves too seriously, which helps the film as even with it's issues, it's a comedy, and in comedies, absurd elements can be forgiven. It's not perfect, but it's entertaining, and sometimes that's all a film needs to be. If you like zombie movies but are sick of the same old undead shlock, give it a shot, you just might enjoy it.
3 Zombie Outbreak Causing Chemicals out of 5
That's all out of me, until next time I'm the Drew and I Be Awesome.
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