Emesis

In 1968, George A. Romero recreated the "Zombie genre" and since then many others have copied his template of the living dead. Some of these directors both American as well as European have diversified the mythos, "Frankensteining" their own zombies and dare I say, creating a more frightening genre in itself.

A few of these movies have now reached cult status, which include: Cemetary Man, Zombie, Dod Snow, Dead Alive, 28 Days Later, Shock Waves, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, & PontyPool to name a few. Since the birth of the zombie, its become the easiest and the sadly the most over played of all horror films in the genre especially in the U. S. When it comes to Horror and originality, the european market is more accomplished and skillful when it comes to practical effects, jump scares, humour and most importantly storyline (sadly alot are subtitled which deters many Americans).

That being said, 'Pussy Cake' aka 'Emesis' a Argentine horror film directed by Pablo Parés is one of those films. Its not your typical zombie film. Its a hybrid of sorts which makes it a true original in every aspect of the word. Its a amalgamation of science fiction, horror, musical, with a hint of grrl power thrown in for good measure but it works and its truly a awesome viewing horror experience. I'm telling you this is gonna be the craziest review I have ever written but it'll be the most fun I've had writing one.

I will say this, fans of the "gross out" genre will have a field day, so bring a bucket if you get sick easily. But damn if it isn't a fun ride!!!

The film opens up with a young hacker typing away on the keyboard, he seems to be looking into parallel universes, dimensions looking for his scientist father. In doing so, he opens up a portal unleashing a army of the undead on the small town.

In another city, a underground all female rock band "Pussy Cake" is playing live hoping to rekindle their popularity. Heading off for one last gig for a possible headliner, things are off to a bad start, when they show up to find the town deserted...

But this is when things really kick off, one of the girls gets sicks with a virus, and the zombies finally come out of hiding. The kicker about the zombies is they don't bite their means of transferring is much more disturbing and gross but they do run and they love the beach...crazy right!?? Not only that, but there is also a Alien almost "Predator-like" hunter following the girls or is it following the zombies?

I'm telling you this is one movie you don't wanna miss, It has it all!!

I love this film!!!

The acting from the zombie actors, the heads (you'll see), and the girls themselves all do a great job and really keep you in the moment of every scene. The death sequences and the visuals and pure gross out and beautifully gory and practical.

This is a zombie films so you kinda know what you are walking into but this one has a bit of a cool sci-fi 'Night of the Creeps' vibe. But I promise, this underrated Argentinian horror film will not disappoint!!

For those interested in renting or purchasing (like I did) you can on Vudu.

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 2021 Argentinean horror movie "Emesis: El Amor Mata" here in 2022. I had never heard about the movie, so I didn't know what I was in for, aside from it being a horror movie. And with it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to watch what writers Maxi Ferzzola, Hernán Moyano, Pablo Parés and Hernán Sáez had to offer.

Now I am really amazed that four writers could collectively manage to botch a script and storyline so profoundly. I baffled me how it was possible to collectively put together such a heap of rubbish that "Emesis: El Amor Mata" turned out to be.

The storyline in the movie was rubbish, pure and simple. It started out adequately enough, but quickly turned sour, especially since nothing made sense in the storyline, as in virtually and literally nothing. And when suddenly a rip-off character of the Darth Malgus character from "Star Wars: The Old Republic" showed up, then I was good and ready to turn off the movie, yet I managed to hang in there until there was just 21 minutes left of runtime. But they I just couldn't take any more of the pointless storyline, and I tossed the towel in the ring and gave up. And believe you me, this is not a movie that I will ever return to watch the rest.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Emesis: El Amor Mata", but the actresses literally had nothing worthwhile to work with, and it was showing on the screen.

Something that does speak well for the movie was the special effects. They definitely had a good special effects team working on "Emesis: El Amor Mata". But it was a shame that the special effects could do only so little to salvage the dumpster fire that was the storyline and script.

If you enjoy horror movies, then do yourself a favor and stay clear of "Emesis: El Amor Mata".

I am rating director Pablo Parés's 2021 horror movie a generous two out of ten stars. This movie simple wasn't worth the time, effort or money.

I loved this movie. It has gore, excellent special effects, good sequences and lots of references. It is true that the story is simple, but it is carried in a completely different way and that is where its originality lies.

In fact, I think the main problem with PussyCake is that it overestimated the intelligence of its audience, hence the rating it has. Either that or a lot of people watched it while looking at their cell phones or something.

Because there is no character exposition here, what happens can be inferred by visual and audio clues. There is no character that appears only to explain the plot, as the industry is used to do. But everything is there, explained for those who are paying attention.

I also loved that the girls never find out what the hell was going on in the town, they are just trying to survive. Totally subversive. Totally punk.

This is a movie for genre lovers who are tired of being treated like fools and want to see something familiar but told in a different way.

I loved it.

Doesn't this sound like an absolute must-see experience? A festival-circuit horror flick from Argentina, about an all-girls rock band that encounters a peculiar zombie-outbreak at the forsaken beach town where their last gig supposedly should take place!

Hell yeah, sounds terrific... but in reality, it's a big mess! Zombie movies usually make the mistake of being overly simplistic and derivative, but "Pussycake" does the opposite, and the result is even worse. The zombie virus originates from a teenage genius who attempts to bring his missing scientist father back from a parallel universe, but accidentally causes a zombie invasion. Not the regular type of undead corpses, mind you, but zombies that bury their preys up to the necks in sand and a barf white goo all over defenseless human targets. Oh yes, and there also a sort of Predator that hunts for an alien kind of parasite. I didn't really capture the added value of that.

It's all very confusing and not the least bit coherent, but what's even worse is that it also isn't very entertaining or exciting. Apart from a couple of well-handed gory sequences and admirable make-up effects, "Pussycake" is dull and annoying. The female lead stars, although being good actresses and having rockstar charisma (most of them, at least) are totally lost in the hectic screenplay. Huge misfire.

Heading out for a headlining show, a rock group told that the upcoming showcase will be a career-making gig instead find the area deserted and populated by a race of parasite-controlled beings that threaten to overrun the world, forcing them to stop the dangerous creatures.

Overall, this was a rather fun and enjoyable effort. What really works so well here is the film's high-energy setup and propensity for delivering a bucketload of blood, gore, and other bodily fluids. As this kicks into the series of encounters through the town with the deformed creatures unleashing all manner of spit and bile that carries on through the rest of the film, the encounters generate all kinds of over-the-top moments that are incredibly silly in concept but given a vicious enough tone to make for a rather impressive setup at play here. Given that there's always the threat of them being turned into one of the creatures and looking to take over the world that comes about due to the impressive setup involving the girls' relationship with each other which comes together quite nicely. They're all quite likable and develop into a highly effective portrait of friendship and being able to overcome the odds which are factors that give the film a lot to enjoy. There are some flaws to be had with this one. Among the biggest drawbacks here is the highly uninvolved storyline that doesn't have much in the way of depth here. This takes the simplified route of putting together a reason for the group to visit the town, encounter some adversity and then it's a non-stop ride from that point on which serves this well enough to keep the interest moving but fails to set any kind of definitive conclusions about anything. There's nothing about what's affecting the citizens due to their possessed-like state but zombie-like behavior that's never resolved. Further issues, including the origins of the fabled gig that gets them there in the first place or what the actual threat really is and where it came from. That also speaks to a strange figure following them around which is never explained, and the whole thing is undone somewhat slightly in that regard.

Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.