Desperate to end her husband's domestic abuse, a young woman seeks asylum fro ma local voodoo priestess. When warned that her husband may "change" if given a special potion, the abused wife is relieved. But waking up in bed next to a zombie isn't exactly the transformation she was hoping for!
The film opens panning over the waters of Louisiana with some light guitar playing in a Spanish style. The film is definitely of a Hispanic or Latino flavor, with the cast and crew being of that background. And I hate to lump Latino films into one group, but they have not fared well -- even the ones that featured known actors, like "Day of the Dead", were pretty awful. I have not seen a good film from the Hispanic community since the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Perhaps you're wondering why the film took two years to be released? Or why it is named the same as a 2007 film, which was also overlooked by most people. I do not have those answers... you would have to ask the writer and director, Ricardo Islas.
I am not going to lie. I opened my mail, found this film, and immediately groaned. One, zombies are overdone. I do not need more zombie films. Two, I have not heard of a single cast or crew member associated with this film, so I had no base to work from. And three, it came from Maya Entertainment, which I have no idea what that is. So my expectations were about as low as they could possible be. And, luckily, it was better than those expectations.
The film tries to make social commentary by mentioning pedophile priests and Homeland Security tearing families apart (their words, not mine). There is talk of Marines invading Panama and raping the women, and how those babies (brown with blue eyes) are an improvement of the race. What the heck? These commentaries are just so haphazard, thrown in without cause. Maybe to stir people up, but for no reason I can tell.
As for the zombies, well, they come from a voodoo priestess (who is Hispanic, not Caribbean, but does live in Louisiana). And they do not show up until a good while into the film. This is a family drama about domestic abuse... the zombie aspect of the story is just sort of thrown in, and I am not sure why. If there is supposed to be a subtle satire, they lost it on me.
It sounds like I am bashing the film, and I am. Yet, you will see I gave it a decent rating. Here is why: although it is not really a horror film, but a drama about race and abuse with some horror elements, it is decent, and probably a good film if you go in with the right mindset. I think horror fans will be mislead and disappointed, but the Latino community may identify with it... I, unfortunately, am not part of that community and can only speculate.
