Juan of the Dead

Burdened only by a cheesy name, Juan of the Dead is zombiepocalpyse gold. When zombies infest Cuba, Juan, Lazaro, and company see a business opportunity. To give you an idea, Juan answers the phone, "Juan of the dead, we kill your loved ones." For squeamish people like me, rest assured that the zombie violence is comically creative instead of gruesome. Two words: flatbed truck. If for no other reason, see the movie for that HILARIOUS scene. The legitimately funny, light social commentary of Cuban lifestyle is unexpected and makes this movie special. Zombie-run public transportation is "no different than usual," and there are constant cracks about rafting to Miami, but "only as a last resort." The lead actor Alexis Diaz de Villegas oozes charisma and charmed me in the first five minutes. If you're a fan of how Dawn of the Dead mixes zombies and politics, definitely check out this movie.

Juan of the Dead is the first Cuban Zombie movie ever made. Juan and his friend, Lazaro, wake up one morning to a Zombie invasion in Havana. The Cuban government is reporting that the Zombie outbreak is "Americans trying to undermine the Cuban government". Obviously poking fun at the Cuban's political propaganda.

Juan and his friends decide that they can make a successful small business by killing and disposing of Zombies. For a small fee Juan can dispose of your unwanted loved ones for you. So an unlikely bunch of heroes come together and arm themselves to rid the city of Zombies for a profit.

What makes this movie special is that you get a real up close and personal view of what it is like to live in Havana under the Communist Regime. The scenery is beautiful and sad at the same time. Havana is depicted as a place where Elevators don't work, Medicine is outdated, and things just generally look run down. Zombies are merely thrown into the mix. What comes across loud and clear is how proud the Cuban people are. Even when facing the end of life as he knows it, Juan does not want to leave his homeland.

I saw this movie at the World Premiere in Toronto at TIFF, so I had the pleasure of hearing the Q&A after the film. The Director, Alejandro Brugues, and his crew were excited to be in Canada for the first time and mentioned that they were going to a Jay's game before flying back to Cuba…LOL He seemed surprised that the film comes across with a political message, because it was not his intention to do so.

In this terror/comedy picture there is action , tongue-in-cheek , irony , creepy atmosphere as well as gore , guts and blood . 50 years after the Cuban Revolution, a new Revolution is about to begin , then a bunch of slackers take on an army of zombies . Juan (Alexis Díaz de Villegas) is a botcher vagrant as well as womanizer attempting to reconnect with his daughter (Andrea Duro) , who schemes to rejoin her mummy in Miami . Meanwhile , Lazaro (Jorge Molina) , Juan's friend , is wishing to connect with his own son . They start to notice that citizens are "going crazy" , attacking locals and eating their flesh , and the recently deceased are going back to life . Juan tries to take of advantage of terror created by Zombies , as starts a business to profit off of killing the zombies . Juan forms a misfit squad , as they confront several Zombies starving of human meat and may soon find their own lives at risk .

Funny and refreshing Cuban/Spanish picture including lots of blood and gore . It's a fun and amusing Zombie movie filled with action , thrills , chills , humor and Zombie attacks . It results to be an outstanding horror/comedy movie , it's realized in fast moving and neither boring , nor tiring , but entertaining . From start to finish the action pace is nonstop , including a lot of fights , attacks and twisted situations . Spectacular frames when takes place a creepy head decapitating scene , it was not filmed in Revolution Square as filming there was impossible, so, the Square was digitally added after the sequence had been shot . There some brief critiques to Cuban government , as the media claim that the zombies are dissidents revolting against the government . It was submitted a certain censorship , as freedom of expression remains under siege in Cuba despite the reopening of diplomatic relations .

Juan De Los Muertos was made with the support of the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficas - Icaic, Canal Sur, Televisión Española and the collaboration of Junta de Andalucía, Ibermedia, Cinergia and Universidad De Guadalajara . Thrilling and atmospheric soundtrack by Julio De La Rosa , a notorious composer who has composed successes such as ¨Isla Minima¨ , ¨Primos¨ , ¨Grupo 7¨ , ¨Siete Virgenes¨ and ¨Carne De Neon . ¨Appropriate cinematography by Carlos Gusi -¨Torrente¨ , ¨Box 507¨ , ¨El Niño¨, ¨Take my eyes¨ , ¨Sexykiller¨ , ¨Cell 211¨ - who photographs splendidly the colorful exteriors from La Habana . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Alejandro Bruges and it achieved Goya Award to best Iberoamerican film . Alejandro is a writer and director, known for 2011 Fabula , 2006 Personal Belongings , 2005 Frutas en el café, 2005 Bailando Chachacha , 2004 Tres Veces Dos , 2000 Candela and he has been hired by Hollywood where directed The ABCs of Death 2 and is set to direct the third episode of season two of Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn : The Series .

It probably helps to have a degree of familiarity with the troubled socio-political landscape of Cuba to fully appreciate certain aspects of zombie comedy Juan of the Dead, but even if, like me, you don't know your Castro from your Che Guevara, this neat little flick still packs enough decent laughs and scares to make it a fun time for fans of the living dead.

Juan of the Dead's strongest suit is its disparate cast of somewhat shady characters who still manage to be an extremely amiable bunch despite their dubious morality and, in some cases, a general lack of compassion for fellow human beings. The film also benefits greatly from lots of frenetic zombie killing (enhanced by impressive practical and CGI special effects), several outstandingly funny moments that thankfully require no knowledge of Cuba's complex history (the funniest being a 'touching' rooftop scene between Juan and and his 'dying' friend Lazaro), some cool visuals (an underwater shot of zombies on the seabed being my favourite) and a hot heroine in the form of Juan's sexy daughter Camila (Andrea Duro).

The plot might not be anything particularly memorable, offering up the usual gruesome encounters between the living and the flesh-eaters, with the survivors' number steadily dwindling as a result, but it is refreshing enough in its execution to definitely warrant a watch.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for the awesome harpoon and cable mass zombie slaughter scene.

Alright, well this is the first Cuban movie I have ever seen, so it being a zombie movie just made it all the more glorious to watch. I had some initial doubts about this movie, but being a zombie movie, I just couldn't let the opportunity pass me by. And now that I have seen it, I must admit that I am more than pleasantly surprised. This movie was really great.

I assume that it would be the Cuban equivalent to "Shaun of the Dead", probably there the name came from as well. This movie combines humor, political satire and zombies in a very nice mixture, and it just worked out nicely.

The story is about Juan (played by Alexis Díaz de Villegas) and his friend Lazaro (played by Jorge Molina) who get on day by day in a not all that glamorous life, when the living dead start to overrun the city, sending the entire island into chaos and destruction. The story was actually quite good, and it was nice to see this approach to the zombie genre.

The characters in the movie were really nice, and they had very distinct and unique characteristics and personalities, which were nicely portrayed on the screen. So aside from being a zombie movie, the director gave the actors great chances to let the characters grow and develop on the screen. The group of survivors was made up of very different people, each with their own unique characteristics, which was really great, because there was something for almost everyone's liking here; heroic leader, funny sidekick, tough woman, muscular man who is scared of blood, über-gay guy, and much more.

"Juan of the Dead" was actually nicely made. There was a very nice sense of authenticity to the movie, as if you were there in Cuban with the people in the movie. And the zombies were actually quite nicely made as well, in regards to make-up and prosthetics. However, what really made this movie work was the humor, and the way it was used. I was thoroughly amused throughout the movie, and I loved the sense of humor that Lazaro had, he was just beyond cool.

There were some nice new ideas introduced in the movie as well, stuff that haven't been seen in zombie movies before. I especially liked the scene with the pickup truck with the harpoon and the tow cable. That was awesome. I will not give away the detail here, just watch it for yourself.

If you like zombie movies, then you definitely do not want to miss out on "Juan of the Dead", because it is indeed great fun, and with "Juan of the Dead" director Alejandro Brugués has put Cuba on the world map of the zombie outbreak. This movie was even far better than so many of the American produced low budget zombie movies out on the market. So "Juan of the Dead" is really a zombie movie to take notice of. Even if you are reluctant to foreign language movies, then you should sit down to watch "Juan of the Dead" if you like zombie movies, trust me!

Two rotten thumbs up for this movie.