Zombies Anonymous or Last Rites of the Dead – Directed by Marc Fratto – 2006

For B Horror, this is really good!

Story: Quick synopsis since this is a lesser known movie: The dead in this world don't stay dead, they come back as zombies, but not zombies in the traditional sense that they are mindless corpses with only the drive to eat and a basic fight or flight response. These zombies retail all the intelligence and memories of the living. That said, they do eat raw meat. The can get by just eating raw ground chuck but they are stricken with headaches that only go away when they eat the still warm flesh of humans. The living aren't okay with this and zombies are treated as second class citizens who are usually fired from their jobs for being zombies and sometimes executed by humans who are afraid of them. This leads to an industry of cosmetic products designed to hide the fact that a person is a zombie.

So, it is in this world that we meet our main protagonist, Angie, who is killed by an abusive boyfriend. She then tries to go about her”life” as if nothing happened and tries to hide the fact that she's a zombie. It should come as no surprise that this turns into a metaphor for being different and encourages people to stop conforming and be themselves.

I was surprised that this was more serious than humorous, given the title, but it actually has some really strong themes and ideas presented. There are some laughs sprinkled throughout, but I don't think I'd call it a comedy. The first half of this movie was absolutely genius, but the second half faltered a little bit. I have to give it a B.

Acting: I have to give props to Gina Ramsden for playing a very effective girl next door sort of character. Christa McNamee plays an absolutely terrifying Commandant who leads death squads against zombies. Most of the rest of the cast does a pretty good job, and by pretty good I mean pretty good for a Hollywood movie. By B horror standards, they are phenomenal. B

Visuals: I watch a lot of bad horror movies and have a fairly strong stomach, but this one made me want to gag a few times. Granted, I think I was fighting a virus when I watched it, so it may have just been me instead of the movie. Anyhow, this is a gross movie. I wouldn't advise eating anything when you watch it. Also, the whole world looks dirty and depressingly gross. This was no doubt by design, so I have to give props. B

Sound: This was probably the weakest link in the chain. The sound was much better than some B horror movies, but there was almost constantly a hiss in the background that comes from poor sound equipment. The music also didn't leave a huge impression on me either. C

Overall: This may be one of the few B horror movies that I actually give a B to. It should have been shorter and losses steam in the second half, but it's still much, much better than the rest of the horror crap that's out there. I got my copy used from Blockbuster for about five bucks and I think it's worth paying up to twelve dollars for this movie (that includes shipping if you should decide to order it). If you're into indie horror, I have to believe you'll enjoy this movie. B


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