Juan de los Muertos (2011)

nTitle: Juannde los Muertos, a.k.a. Juan of the Dead (2011)

nDirected: AlejandronBrugues

nCast: AlexisnDíaz de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andrea Duro, Andros Perugorria, Jazz Vila

nReview:

nA couple of years ago, a friend of mine made a trip to Cuba fornscholastic reasons. She lived and went to school there; so she had thenwhole ‘Cuban Experience’. According to the stories she brought back from her trip, going to Cuba can be a cultural shock for anyone accustomed to the comforts that capitalism hasnto offer. But the best part of the wholenordeal was that she came back with these beautiful pictures of streets fillednwith cars from the 1950’s, huge cemeteries filled with these awesome looking tombstonesnand the city, which is made up of old buildings that looked like somethingnstraight out of a post apocalyptic film. The first thought that popped into mynhead? Cubanwould make a great setting for a zombie flick! Well, low and behold a couple ofnmonths later I heard they were shooting ‘Juan de los Muertos’ there. I wasnexcited to see the film because I’ve made two DIY zombie films myself CannabisnCannibal (2008) and Cannabis Cannibal Exodus (2009), two very low budget ‘guerrillanstyle’ films that people have grown to love. So the prospect of making a fullnblown zombie movie (read: a film with a real budget) that takes place in the Caribbeannis something that I’ve always wanted to do myself; but alas, director AlejandronBrugues went ahead and did it before me. The question remained in my mind: Wouldnit have the necessary production values to be a good zombie flick? Could theynpull off a zombie apocalypse convincingly and would it be a memorable film?

nJuan de los Muertos tells the story of a pair of slackers,nJuan and his best buddy Lazaro. They like living in Cuba because their life is a verynlaid back one, all they’ve chosen to worry about is fishing and stealing innorder to survive. They get by through life looking for the next hustle, simplynput, they are used to living in a constant struggle, but with little worriesnabout being successful or achieving anything. Problem is that life has othernplans for them, like making them face a zombie apocalypse head on! One day asnJuan and Lazaro are fishing, they catch a zombie instead of a fish! Suddenlyneveryone in Cubanis turning into zombies! Juan being a survivor and an opportunist, dreams up anway of capitalizing on the whole thing: he will kill your zombified loved onesnfor you. Kind of like The Ghostbusters, but for zombies! How long will thenbusiness go on?

nChilling Out During The end of the World

nSo first things first, I loved this freaking movie! It hasnall the things you want and need in a zombie movie, like gore and cool lookingnzombies, but above all things what I loved most about Juan de los Muertos wasnhow mordantly funny it was! And here’s what I love about seeing horror filmsnfrom other parts of the world: they bring a fresh new element to a genre that’snotherwise worn. I mean, seriously, how many zombie movies have you seen wherenthey simply go through the same types of conversations and situations? Juan denlos Muertos offers this up: a fresh new take on the zombie genre. The simplenfact that the film takes place entirely in Cuba and the way Cuban people actnand talk is what made it such a refreshing watch for me. Unfortunately, maybe somenof the humor will be lost on American audiences, because some of the jokes arenvery, very Cuban. The kind of jokes you’d only understand if you’ve livednthere, or understand what Cubanis all about. But fear not, for the most part I think anyone can find humor onnthis one. The motley crew of zombie killers is really what makes it so funny. Takenfor example Juan, the protagonist of the film. He’s a slacker, he’s got a girlfriendnhe visits sometimes for sex, but she’s married! He’s not a very good father. Hisndaughter hates him; she doesn’t even call him dad because he steals from her, hisnown daughter! His best friend sticks to Juan like glue and has no problemsnkicking the living daylights out of some dude that owes him money. Another membernof the group is a transvestite who goes around stealing radios from carsnbecause as she says “I have to survive somehow”. Another one kills zombiesnwhile smoking weed! So we got this really crazy group of individuals whom wenfollow through out the whole film, the cast made things livelier and funniernthan they could have been.

nThematically speaking, the film touches upon many politicalnissues, one of them being the never ending struggle between capitalism vs.nsocialism. Which is the best? Which has proven to be most successful in thenworld? I like the fact that the film does not idealize the way socialism hasntreated Cuba.nThere is an idealized form of socialism, one in which we are all equal, andnthen there’s the form of socialism currently existent in Cuba, where everyone exceptnthe government is the same: the people are extremely poor while the governmentngets the best of everything. To me that’s just another form of dictatorship,nand of course living in a country like that must be a real struggle. I’ve nevernpersonally been to Cuba,nbut I have family members and friends who have traveled there, and the storiesnthey bring back are of really good, kind people living in the middle of chaoticnsocio-political situation. Politics reigns supreme over peoples lives, and bignbrother is most certainly watching you. It’s the kind of town were freedom ofnspeech is none existent and speaking against the government will get you intonserious amounts of trouble. People have to really hustle to get by, which isnexactly the kind of character Juan is. Many Cubans are tired of living on thatnconstant struggle and for many, leaving the island is the solution to all theirnproblems, which is a theme reflected on Juan de los Muertos. Consequently, mynown film Cannabis Cannibal Exodus speaks of the same theme; it’s why it’sncalled EXODUS, which refers to leaving. It’s the idea that things are so messednup in your country, that you have no choice but to leave it all behind andnsearch for new horizons elsewhere. I also thought it was interesting how thenfilm isn’t one sided with these themes, while some want to leave and see thatnas the solution to their problems, others will want to stay in Cuba and try andnimprove it, change it. So the film isn’t’ preachy or one sided, its pretty evennhanded with the political themes it touches upon.

nAnd how is Juan de los Muertos as a zombie flick? Well, Inhave to say I was extremely pleased with it, in fact is surpassed mynexpectations. While at first it is obviously similar to Shaun of the Dead (2004)nin certain scenes, specifically when the humans see zombies on the streets andnto them it’s the same as seeing regular people on the streets everyday, I’d saynthat’s about as close as it gets in terms of similarities with that film. Juannof the Dead is its own creature. It has more then one memorable zombiensequence, but one really blew me away. The good guys kill hundreds of zombiesnin one swoop, not gonna spoil it but that scene was ultra cool. The film pays itsnrespects to the king of zombie movies, George Romero, by having an Americanzombie killer introduced into the story who looks exactly like George Romero,nright down to the huge glasses and the wide eyed look. One scene blew me away,nwhere we literally see thousands of zombies walking beneath the ocean…I mean,nthe zombie gags on this movie just kept coming and coming.

nTechnically, the film looks beautiful. I think this is onenof the films greatest strengths. It was very well shot. Same as with thenBrazilian zombie flick Porto Dos Mortos (2010), which to me was that much morenspecial simply because we get to see these awesome vistas of Brazil, the factnthat Juan de los Muertos was shot entirely in Cuba offers us some beautifulnvistas of Cuba, a city in decay. Cuba is a really beautiful island with many beautifulnplaces in which one could shoot a film, but this film focused mostly on the urbannlandscape of Cubanrather then the mountains and the more nature oriented vistas that the islandnhas to offer; which in the other hand is what sets it apart. Cuba is made upnof crumbling buildings which the government doesn’t care to fix up. A buildingnmight be literally falling apart on people, and no one will do anything to fixnit! On the other hand government buildings are impressive looking and thendirector took advantage of these as well. So we got a good looking movie shotnin some very unique locations. All this adds up to a very unique and incrediblynfunny zombie flick that I highly recommend. I think the only downside to thenfilm is that sometimes, the visual effects aren’t all that great, but these occurrencesnare few. Juan de los Muertros is special in many ways, but chief amongst themnis the fact that this is the first Cuban zombie film! Check it out if you wantnto see something different and if you want to laugh, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

n Rating: 4 out of 5