Juan of the Dead

The Cuban / Spanish production "Juan de los Muertos" is one of those pleasant surprises every day more difficult to find in the entertainment world. For those familiar with the Cuban regime and people, the movie is a very hard critic to both. In fact it seems the movie was only show on cinema festival but was never released in Cuba. For the rest, this is "SHAWN OF THE DEAD" style comedy / satire with some elaborated special effects and surprising production and technical values. Without any explanation Zombies appears in La Habana, Cuba and start eating people. Juan, a lazy fisherman; a "survivor" on his own words finds a way to make money, charging people to kill next of kin that became undead. With the help of his best friend and son, his daughter and a gay couple start a business called "JUAN DE LOS MUERTOS" or "JUAN OF THE DEAD". Obviously things get more complicated than them or the Cuban government expect. The language could be a limitation for not Spanish speakers; some puns are almost impossible to translate; even worse not knowing Cuban idiosyncrasy. In one of the most celebrated jokes, Juan is asked to kill a cow but he refuses because it is too dangerous. In Cuba killing a cow is worse crime than killing people. The other problem with the movie is that attempting to mock every dramatic cliché in movies (like daughter hating father, friend about to die, farewell , even MATRIX style fights) drags the pace down for some moments. Behind the comedy there is serious critic to the Cuban regime (the zombies are call "DISSIDENTS" , the news are always accusing USA of an attack and stating that everything is controlled even when nothing is being done). However the worst criticism goes to the Cuban society main defects; their selfishness (nobody helps anybody and less for free), their arrogance ("we are invincible" is stated many times), laziness and lack of interest in fighting (let's take a boat and move to Miami seems to be the only solution). In brief; if you are Cuban or with Latin roots; you must see it; if you are not, give it a try; will not be disappointed.

It is rare that a film combines, satire, parody, thrills, scary zombies, and deadpan humor. Such is the film Juan of the Dead.

Plot is simple. Zombies try to take over Cuba. But the government says they are "dissidents" created by the Americans to undermine Cuba. In a very clever film, the director, Alejandro Bruques, takes us on a fantasy ride of zombie threats and humor with many political points along the way.

Several island residents form a motley crew of a trans gurl, a muscle bound dude, a hot babe and a guy named "California", is just the beginning of zombie mayhem.

They even open a business, "we kill your loved one" to earn a few extra bucks off the zombies...Cuban style.

The budget is not mentioned in the film overview, but I bet they really made a very low budge stretch quite a bit. From the beginning to end credits it is a delight. Every film student should see this movie to see what you can do with imagination and not the fancy cameras profiled in American media.

Their first kill has a harpoon go through a zombie to kill an old lady standing right behind the zombie. Ooops! A wooden oar weapon is so decrepit that we would never use it as an oar.

There is also the famous car/boat that many refuges use to flee Cuba used to escape the onslaught of zombies. In one scene, an attack by numerous zombies is thwarted by a single harpoon and a "rally around the flag pole". Heh, heh.

A slow motion arrow is an tick toward Matrix.

The film introduces a stereo type American and since the crew does not speak English, Juan introduces himself by saying "My name is Juan". Get it. It beginning Spanish class the first thing you learn is "Yo me llamo Juan". Very funny.

They spoof Bruce Lee with a freeze frame at the end. Ending credits are terrific. There are subtitles so get ready and just read them.

The ending credits are really inventive as is the entire film. I have never seen it in a bargain bin, so I will try and make my own copy from a TV showing. I recommend this highly as a very funny, highly inventive, well shot film about the zombie Apocalypse.

I didn't know anything about this film going in to see it, and was very impressed! I'll hold my hand up to being very unfamiliar with Cuban cinema, but horror and zombies especially are my thing. However, in general, me and comedy-horror have had a somewhat checkered past. This film, however, works very well and on a few different levels: Being a ZomCom, the comedy violence works well and isn't overplayed; the characters are parodies of what you'd expect, but again only taken as far as the tone of the film would allow; and as for tone, its where this film really comes into its own and makes it well worth seeing, elevating it above the status of most mid-budget horror. The political overtones are just that, and are meant to be taken as very obvious and tongue-in-cheek, and play well with the general idea that the characters know they are being lied to by the government and just play along, and for the audience it's made quite clear that any political subtext is not meant to override the point of the film as mostly a bit of a laugh. The scatological humour is not frequent but is there and can be taken or left depending on your personal tastes, but some of the jokes are genuinely funny and work well, and the interplay of the two male leads is very similar to Frost/Pegg in it's chummy familiarity and is something that hangs the whole films together nicely. The feel of the movie is very interesting, with a good mix of a Dawn of the Dead (remake) apocalyptic desolation, with Spaghetti Western styling, against a backdrop of 50s styling in both scenery (as you'd expect in Cuba), but also 40s and 50s farce in several places. Alexis Díaz de Villegas plays the everyman hero excellently, and with a style that reminds me of some of the world-weary yet streetwise heroes you might have previously seen in older cinema. Think Charlie Croaker in Italian Job (the original, of course). I wouldn't be surprised to see him crop up again in Western-released films before too long! All in all, it mixes to make a very original-feeling zombie movie and totally worth watching.

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.

The movie tries to combine serious matters (of political nature and I'm guessing there are even more stabs at the current political situation hidden in the dialogue if you understand it), with some very silly antics (almost slapstick territory). The lead actor will not be to everyones taste and the obvious comparisons to Shaun (of the dead) might do the movie more harm than good. But this is still a very decent effort/stab at comedy zombie movie.

I liked the performances and quite a few of the bits (and pieces, if you'll excuse the pun) in the movie. One particular "dance" scene was quite nice. Also the very first encounter of Juan and ... the other "group" (as named in the title) is quite funny (at least I thought/felt so). It might be uneven at times, but it's a fun ride that you can enjoy