The ZombieTastic Review of:
Plaga Zombie: Mutant Zone
Plaga Zombie: Mutant Zone
Directors: Pablo Parés & Hernán Sáez
Year of Release: 2001
Country of Origin: Argentina
Type of Zombie Film: Comic Gore Mash-Up
Also Known as: Aside from translations, it has no alternate titles.
(Later in this review, though, I make the case that this film should
have been called IntestiNation. Keep reading to find out why. Or to
kill time. Either way, really.)
Part of a series?: Yes.
The Scoring
Plot: Plaga Zombie: Mutant Zone is a sequel to a movie named, appropriately enough,
Plaga Zombie. Here's the thing: as it's not available on DVD, I haven't actually seen Plaga
Zombie (the first one), so I'm a little confused as to what the "plot" of Plaga Zombie (the
second one) actually is. It seems to have something to do with people who may or may not
have been killed in the first movie being released in an isolated town to do battle with
humans that have been turned into zombies due to an alien virus--a virus which, after
making people zombies, causes alien embryos to erupt out of them. Don't ask me: even if
you haven't seen Plaga Zombie: Mutant Zone, you still know almost as much about it as I
do. At one point, one of the main characters says "The FBI is using us as guinea pigs," and
that's as much of a summation of what's happening in this film as we're going to get.
Score: 3
Year of Release: 2001
Country of Origin: Argentina
Type of Zombie Film: Comic Gore Mash-Up
Also Known as: Aside from translations, it has no alternate titles.
(Later in this review, though, I make the case that this film should
have been called IntestiNation. Keep reading to find out why. Or to
kill time. Either way, really.)
Part of a series?: Yes.
The Scoring
Plot: Plaga Zombie: Mutant Zone is a sequel to a movie named, appropriately enough,
Plaga Zombie. Here's the thing: as it's not available on DVD, I haven't actually seen Plaga
Zombie (the first one), so I'm a little confused as to what the "plot" of Plaga Zombie (the
second one) actually is. It seems to have something to do with people who may or may not
have been killed in the first movie being released in an isolated town to do battle with
humans that have been turned into zombies due to an alien virus--a virus which, after
making people zombies, causes alien embryos to erupt out of them. Don't ask me: even if
you haven't seen Plaga Zombie: Mutant Zone, you still know almost as much about it as I
do. At one point, one of the main characters says "The FBI is using us as guinea pigs," and
that's as much of a summation of what's happening in this film as we're going to get.
Score: 3
| Alien handshakes: always creepy, always baffling. |
| The 3.5" floppy disk: zombie-kind's oldest foe. |
Production Value: Make no mistake--Plaga Zombie's budget appears to be on the same
level as the IQ of your typical Limp Bizkit fan; i.e., it's pretty low. This is perfectly illustrated by
the matte painting of a ravine cutting off the town from the rest of the world--honestly I
haven't seen a drawing that sorry since I judged a finger-painting competition at the local
mental institution. Ultimately, though, the budget of this film doesn't matter--what Plaga
Zombie lacks financially it makes up for with sheer chutzpah, and the manic energy of the
film makes bigger zombie movies with actual budgets (e.g., Resident Evil: Apocalypse)
look like the festering piles of puke that they are. In a metaphorical sense, that is.
One quick note that's probably of interest to no one but me: whereas most of the zombies
seen in close-up in Plaga Zombie look convincing, many of the background zombies clearly
have had no zombie make-up applied to their faces--they just seem to be people who
showed up for filming in slightly ragged clothing. Seeing this reminded me of Beneath the
Planet of the Apes, specifically how due to budgetary constraints, any person playing a
background ape wore a lame-looking rubber ape mask instead of getting the full ape
makeup treatment. So, you have that connection, and then there's this: at one point in
Plaga Zombie, the character of Bill calls the character of John a "dirty ape" whilst telling to
unhand him. That, my friends, is synergy on a cosmic level. To sum up: zombies + aliens
+ memories of General Ursus = Plaga Zombie: Mutant Zone.
Score: 2
level as the IQ of your typical Limp Bizkit fan; i.e., it's pretty low. This is perfectly illustrated by
the matte painting of a ravine cutting off the town from the rest of the world--honestly I
haven't seen a drawing that sorry since I judged a finger-painting competition at the local
mental institution. Ultimately, though, the budget of this film doesn't matter--what Plaga
Zombie lacks financially it makes up for with sheer chutzpah, and the manic energy of the
film makes bigger zombie movies with actual budgets (e.g., Resident Evil: Apocalypse)
look like the festering piles of puke that they are. In a metaphorical sense, that is.
One quick note that's probably of interest to no one but me: whereas most of the zombies
seen in close-up in Plaga Zombie look convincing, many of the background zombies clearly
have had no zombie make-up applied to their faces--they just seem to be people who
showed up for filming in slightly ragged clothing. Seeing this reminded me of Beneath the
Planet of the Apes, specifically how due to budgetary constraints, any person playing a
background ape wore a lame-looking rubber ape mask instead of getting the full ape
makeup treatment. So, you have that connection, and then there's this: at one point in
Plaga Zombie, the character of Bill calls the character of John a "dirty ape" whilst telling to
unhand him. That, my friends, is synergy on a cosmic level. To sum up: zombies + aliens
+ memories of General Ursus = Plaga Zombie: Mutant Zone.
Score: 2
| Nice "ravine". |
| Man, the Insane Clown Posse have really let themselves go. |
Datedness: If you can get around the fact that it features a computer with an old-timey
modem, then you can pretty much accept that Plaga Zombie isn't from any specific era.
Unless you're a wrestling fan, that is, in which case you're screwed. This, because the
character of Bill looks a lot like a young Sean Michaels, and so every time you see him, you
think of wrestling in the 90s, and let's be honest: that's never a good thing.
Score: 4
Soundtrack: Plaga Zombie actually (gasp) uses music that isn't based around keyboard
noodling. In a stunning flaunting of zombie movie convention, the film utilizes a funk-ass
type soundtrack that underscores the on-screen action quite nicely. Not only that, but the
short, "generic whimsical" song (that's a term I just invented--jealous of my linguistic
skills?) used during the supermarket shopping scene is better than the entire soundtrack
of the average zombie movie. It just goes to show you: a little bit of jingle goes a long way.
Score: 4
modem, then you can pretty much accept that Plaga Zombie isn't from any specific era.
Unless you're a wrestling fan, that is, in which case you're screwed. This, because the
character of Bill looks a lot like a young Sean Michaels, and so every time you see him, you
think of wrestling in the 90s, and let's be honest: that's never a good thing.
Score: 4
Soundtrack: Plaga Zombie actually (gasp) uses music that isn't based around keyboard
noodling. In a stunning flaunting of zombie movie convention, the film utilizes a funk-ass
type soundtrack that underscores the on-screen action quite nicely. Not only that, but the
short, "generic whimsical" song (that's a term I just invented--jealous of my linguistic
skills?) used during the supermarket shopping scene is better than the entire soundtrack
of the average zombie movie. It just goes to show you: a little bit of jingle goes a long way.
Score: 4
| What do we call this maneuver? "De-torsoing"? |
| I'm going to go ahead and declare this to be the worst road trip ever. |
Token Scientist: There isn't officially a token scientist in Plaga Zombie; however, the entire
film's plot (or rather, what I understood of it) revolves around alien scientists unleashing a
zombie plague on an unsuspecting town. So, the results of science are here, just not the
practitioners. It's like karaoke science. Weird.
Score: 2
Token Fat Guy: Plaga Zombie's token fat guy is the character of John West, although it's
weird to include him here considering that he's also one of the film's characters. In theory, I
don't have a problem with someone pulling double lead/fat duty, it's just that if someone's
going to do it, he needs to be really fat, and John West is only slightly fat. It's like he's a
White Castle slider when what I wanted was a quarter pounder, you know? You don't?
Never mind, then.
Score: 3
film's plot (or rather, what I understood of it) revolves around alien scientists unleashing a
zombie plague on an unsuspecting town. So, the results of science are here, just not the
practitioners. It's like karaoke science. Weird.
Score: 2
Token Fat Guy: Plaga Zombie's token fat guy is the character of John West, although it's
weird to include him here considering that he's also one of the film's characters. In theory, I
don't have a problem with someone pulling double lead/fat duty, it's just that if someone's
going to do it, he needs to be really fat, and John West is only slightly fat. It's like he's a
White Castle slider when what I wanted was a quarter pounder, you know? You don't?
Never mind, then.
Score: 3
| Timex: it takes a licking and keeps on ticking. And by 'licking', I mean 'zombie bloodbath'. |
| A looser what? What's happening? Thanks for nothing, subtitles guy. |
Zombie Attack Scenes: Plaga Zombie doesn't waste much time in this department, as it
gets down to the zombie attack business in the second scene (the business of zombies is
zombie attacks, after all). From there, the film features a large number of attack
scenes--too many to list here, actually, which is sadly a rarity in zombie cinema. Along the
way, the film does some interesting things with its zombie attacks, including showing one
entirely from the perspective of a dude in a bathroom. I always wanted to know what it
would be like to overhear a zombie attack whilst taking a dump, and now I do.
Score: 4
Zombie "Orgy" Scenes: With such a large amount of zombie attack scenes, you'd probably
assume that Plaga Zombie has a large amount of zombie orgy scenes as well. And you'd
be right. Again, there are too many to even list here. But, I should note this: even more
interesting than the zombie orgies is the fact that after a rather large one in which every
human and zombie involved gets annihilated, there's then an alien orgy scene. Enough
with the orgies, already!
Score: 4
Anti-Zombie Weaponry: While there are a lot of techniques used against zombies in this
film, there aren't a lot of weapons that are used. Mainly, zombies are neutralized with some
combination of screaming, karate, wrestling, sprinting, and of course, beating zombies to
re-death with their own severed body parts. Don't get me wrong--these are all fine ways to
destroy zombies, it's just that none of them involve weapons.
Score: 2
gets down to the zombie attack business in the second scene (the business of zombies is
zombie attacks, after all). From there, the film features a large number of attack
scenes--too many to list here, actually, which is sadly a rarity in zombie cinema. Along the
way, the film does some interesting things with its zombie attacks, including showing one
entirely from the perspective of a dude in a bathroom. I always wanted to know what it
would be like to overhear a zombie attack whilst taking a dump, and now I do.
Score: 4
Zombie "Orgy" Scenes: With such a large amount of zombie attack scenes, you'd probably
assume that Plaga Zombie has a large amount of zombie orgy scenes as well. And you'd
be right. Again, there are too many to even list here. But, I should note this: even more
interesting than the zombie orgies is the fact that after a rather large one in which every
human and zombie involved gets annihilated, there's then an alien orgy scene. Enough
with the orgies, already!
Score: 4
Anti-Zombie Weaponry: While there are a lot of techniques used against zombies in this
film, there aren't a lot of weapons that are used. Mainly, zombies are neutralized with some
combination of screaming, karate, wrestling, sprinting, and of course, beating zombies to
re-death with their own severed body parts. Don't get me wrong--these are all fine ways to
destroy zombies, it's just that none of them involve weapons.
Score: 2
Zombification Explanation: As mentioned previously, zombies are in effect in Plaga Zombie
because aliens have unleashed a virus that causes humans to turn into zombies and then
hatch alien babies. Apparently this was done under the guise of something called "Project
395/027", which is a pretty shitty project name, if you ask me. At any rate, not having seen
the first installment of Plaga Zombie, I'm not really sure why aliens are hatching babies
inside of zombies, nor am I sure why the government seems to be complicit in the
proceedings. All I know is this: aliens bursting out of zombies is pretty gross.
Score: 5
Zombie Uniqueness: If there's a more diverse, non-conformist group of zombies than the
ones in Plaga Zombie, I haven't seen them. Some of these zombies like to attack in
formation, some of them can laugh, some of them bleed green, some of them like to eat
lollipops, some of them like to listen to music and just, you know, hang out, some of them
use weapons, some of them are willing to negotiate with humans for peace while others
are interested in capturing humans rather than killing them, and apparently, if one of them
bites you, you don't automatically turn into a zombie. As John West put it, "These zombies
are not as stupid as we thought." Indeed.
Score: 5
Zombie Consistency: Alas, the uniqueness of the zombies in this film leads to a rather low
score in the consistency category, because the living dead in Plaga Zombie are all quite
distinct from one another. Not just behaviorally, either: practically every zombie in this film
has a different look from every other zombie, from the one covered in green face paint, to the
one who looks like his skin is made out of cookies. Pick a style and go with it, zombies.
Score: 1
because aliens have unleashed a virus that causes humans to turn into zombies and then
hatch alien babies. Apparently this was done under the guise of something called "Project
395/027", which is a pretty shitty project name, if you ask me. At any rate, not having seen
the first installment of Plaga Zombie, I'm not really sure why aliens are hatching babies
inside of zombies, nor am I sure why the government seems to be complicit in the
proceedings. All I know is this: aliens bursting out of zombies is pretty gross.
Score: 5
Zombie Uniqueness: If there's a more diverse, non-conformist group of zombies than the
ones in Plaga Zombie, I haven't seen them. Some of these zombies like to attack in
formation, some of them can laugh, some of them bleed green, some of them like to eat
lollipops, some of them like to listen to music and just, you know, hang out, some of them
use weapons, some of them are willing to negotiate with humans for peace while others
are interested in capturing humans rather than killing them, and apparently, if one of them
bites you, you don't automatically turn into a zombie. As John West put it, "These zombies
are not as stupid as we thought." Indeed.
Score: 5
Zombie Consistency: Alas, the uniqueness of the zombies in this film leads to a rather low
score in the consistency category, because the living dead in Plaga Zombie are all quite
distinct from one another. Not just behaviorally, either: practically every zombie in this film
has a different look from every other zombie, from the one covered in green face paint, to the
one who looks like his skin is made out of cookies. Pick a style and go with it, zombies.
Score: 1
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Final Scene: As Plaga Zombie's three intrepid heroes, John, Max, and Bill, figure out that the
zombies they've been battling for the previous 100 minutes (minus a few spent booting up a
computer and looking at wrestling memorabilia) are actually alien hatcheries, they do the
honorable thing: they prepare to run. The film ends before they're actually able to run, mind
you, but I'm pretty sure it still happened. Where will they run to? Who knows? As the town
is completely isolated, there's not really anywhere for them to go. But, the thing is, the three
do a reasonably good job of kicking zombie ass and taking zombie names throughout the
entire film, so I'm confident that on a long enough timeline, eventually there won't be any
zombies and/or aliens left to kill, and John, Max, and Bill can rinse the blood off of their
faces and go back to their day jobs. I love happy non-ending endings, don't you?
Score: 4
Comedy: I mentioned earlier that Plaga Zombie fits into the horror comedy genre; what I
didn't mention was that, unlike a lot of other films in said genre, Plaga Zombie is actually
laugh-out-loud funny. Sure, there are some lame jokes to be had, like for example when a
zombie farts out of his own partially disemboweled intestines that he's holding (have I
pointed out yet that there are a lot of intestines in this movie?) and then sprays fecal matter
all over the character of Bill, but on the whole, the jokes are ample and used to great effect.
Comedy, carnage, and intestines: that's what you get with Plaga Zombie.
Score: 5
zombies they've been battling for the previous 100 minutes (minus a few spent booting up a
computer and looking at wrestling memorabilia) are actually alien hatcheries, they do the
honorable thing: they prepare to run. The film ends before they're actually able to run, mind
you, but I'm pretty sure it still happened. Where will they run to? Who knows? As the town
is completely isolated, there's not really anywhere for them to go. But, the thing is, the three
do a reasonably good job of kicking zombie ass and taking zombie names throughout the
entire film, so I'm confident that on a long enough timeline, eventually there won't be any
zombies and/or aliens left to kill, and John, Max, and Bill can rinse the blood off of their
faces and go back to their day jobs. I love happy non-ending endings, don't you?
Score: 4
Comedy: I mentioned earlier that Plaga Zombie fits into the horror comedy genre; what I
didn't mention was that, unlike a lot of other films in said genre, Plaga Zombie is actually
laugh-out-loud funny. Sure, there are some lame jokes to be had, like for example when a
zombie farts out of his own partially disemboweled intestines that he's holding (have I
pointed out yet that there are a lot of intestines in this movie?) and then sprays fecal matter
all over the character of Bill, but on the whole, the jokes are ample and used to great effect.
Comedy, carnage, and intestines: that's what you get with Plaga Zombie.
Score: 5
Best Line: I'm tempted to declare Plaga Zombie's best line to be Max Gigg's utterance,
"Zombies, I hate them!", but it's a sentiment that's expressed in a lot of zombie movies, and
we're looking for something unique here. As such, I'm going to give the best line nod to this
statement from John West: "Gentlemen, on the count of three, let's get out of here." Not only
does this line figure prominently in the film's opening and closing, and not only is it pretty
damn funny, but it also highlights an important point: there's nothing wrong with being
methodical and organized, even when retreating. Especially when retreating.
Score: 3
Intangibles: Plaga Zombie is, in my mind at least, a worthy addition to the canon of films in
the sadly underrepresented zombie comedy (aka "zombedy") tradition, easily standing
alongside such classics of the subgenre as The Return of the Living Dead and Dead Alive.
One reason for this is that Plaga Zombie has a lot of little things going for it. For example,
the film's makers aren't afraid to have their zombies kill kids. That might seem a little
perverse to you, but to me, it's a sign of excellence, because let's face it: if zombies took
over your town, you'd better believe they'd be munching on your local little league team.
Also, in a strange twist of fate, the main operation in Plaga Zombie is referred to as
"enduring freedom", and there are mentions of a "war against terror" in the film, and all this
before W's glorious never-ending war was even underway. That's what us dorks refer to as
'mainlining the collective unconscious'.
Lastly: Plaga Zombie features a Mexican standoff with fists that results in a super-rare triple
punch out. Honestly, I haven't been this excited by hand-to-hand combat since I finally
scored a knockout against Soda Popinski. Yes.
Score: 5
Zombie Believability: Some of the zombies in Plaga Zombie are believable in the traditional
shuffling/grunting/decaying zombie way. Others...well, that's a little trickier. There are
zombies in this movie that talk, there are zombies in this movie that dance, there are
zombies in this movie that flash the peace sign, there's all that and more. In short, there
are zombies in this movie that do pretty much everything but act like zombies. It's kind of
confusing when you think about it. So let's not!
Score: 2
"Zombies, I hate them!", but it's a sentiment that's expressed in a lot of zombie movies, and
we're looking for something unique here. As such, I'm going to give the best line nod to this
statement from John West: "Gentlemen, on the count of three, let's get out of here." Not only
does this line figure prominently in the film's opening and closing, and not only is it pretty
damn funny, but it also highlights an important point: there's nothing wrong with being
methodical and organized, even when retreating. Especially when retreating.
Score: 3
Intangibles: Plaga Zombie is, in my mind at least, a worthy addition to the canon of films in
the sadly underrepresented zombie comedy (aka "zombedy") tradition, easily standing
alongside such classics of the subgenre as The Return of the Living Dead and Dead Alive.
One reason for this is that Plaga Zombie has a lot of little things going for it. For example,
the film's makers aren't afraid to have their zombies kill kids. That might seem a little
perverse to you, but to me, it's a sign of excellence, because let's face it: if zombies took
over your town, you'd better believe they'd be munching on your local little league team.
Also, in a strange twist of fate, the main operation in Plaga Zombie is referred to as
"enduring freedom", and there are mentions of a "war against terror" in the film, and all this
before W's glorious never-ending war was even underway. That's what us dorks refer to as
'mainlining the collective unconscious'.
Lastly: Plaga Zombie features a Mexican standoff with fists that results in a super-rare triple
punch out. Honestly, I haven't been this excited by hand-to-hand combat since I finally
scored a knockout against Soda Popinski. Yes.
Score: 5
Zombie Believability: Some of the zombies in Plaga Zombie are believable in the traditional
shuffling/grunting/decaying zombie way. Others...well, that's a little trickier. There are
zombies in this movie that talk, there are zombies in this movie that dance, there are
zombies in this movie that flash the peace sign, there's all that and more. In short, there
are zombies in this movie that do pretty much everything but act like zombies. It's kind of
confusing when you think about it. So let's not!
Score: 2
Special Effects: Plaga Zombie uses a shaky camera effect during a scene in which a
zombie is clubbed to death or to, uh, undeath death, I guess to emphasize the attack's
brutality. Later, the same effect is used on a bunch of dishes sitting on a table, I guess to
emphasize their overall dishness. Other than that, the bulk of Plaga Zombie's effects
budget seems to have been spent on fake intestines, as it feels like every other scene in
this movie features people being either disemboweled or re-emboweled, or intestines
involved in more general activities, from being used to strangle people to being use to tie
people up. If it had been up to me, I would have called this film IntestiNation. And that, right
there, is a perfect illustration of why such things are never up to me.
Score: 2
Makeup: I have to give the makeup in Plaga Zombie high marks, considering that (a) its
main characters are covered in blood for almost the entire film and (b) all of the zombies in
the film that are shown in close-up have unique, interesting looks. Plus, the alien hatching
scene is top notch. To put this another way: of all of the films that have characters covered
in blood and which feature aliens hatching out of the insides of zombies, Plaga Zombie
easily has the best makeup of any of them.
Score: 5
zombie is clubbed to death or to, uh, undeath death, I guess to emphasize the attack's
brutality. Later, the same effect is used on a bunch of dishes sitting on a table, I guess to
emphasize their overall dishness. Other than that, the bulk of Plaga Zombie's effects
budget seems to have been spent on fake intestines, as it feels like every other scene in
this movie features people being either disemboweled or re-emboweled, or intestines
involved in more general activities, from being used to strangle people to being use to tie
people up. If it had been up to me, I would have called this film IntestiNation. And that, right
there, is a perfect illustration of why such things are never up to me.
Score: 2
Makeup: I have to give the makeup in Plaga Zombie high marks, considering that (a) its
main characters are covered in blood for almost the entire film and (b) all of the zombies in
the film that are shown in close-up have unique, interesting looks. Plus, the alien hatching
scene is top notch. To put this another way: of all of the films that have characters covered
in blood and which feature aliens hatching out of the insides of zombies, Plaga Zombie
easily has the best makeup of any of them.
Score: 5
Scariness: More a part of the "horror comedy" genre than anything else, Plaga Zombie
doesn't really go for full-on zombie terror. As such, the only thing that's really scary in this
film is the close-up the audience is treated to of a fat guy's butt right before he takes a
dump. Chilling, indeed!
Score: 1
Goriness: As I noted previously, the main characters in Plaga Zombie spend the majority of
the film covered in blood. And when it comes to the film's gore, that's just for starters. The
movie is filled with various zombie body parts being removed as gruesomely as possible--
there are de-armings, de-leggings, de-spinings, and decapitations. There are also bodies
sawed in half and, as mentioned, a lot of intestines put to a lot of different uses. Next to
Dead Alive, I'm hard pressed to think of a gorier zombie flick. To sum things up: even
though it's not listed in the credits, I'm pretty sure that Plaga Zombie was filmed in stunning
Chum-Vision™.
Score: 5
doesn't really go for full-on zombie terror. As such, the only thing that's really scary in this
film is the close-up the audience is treated to of a fat guy's butt right before he takes a
dump. Chilling, indeed!
Score: 1
Goriness: As I noted previously, the main characters in Plaga Zombie spend the majority of
the film covered in blood. And when it comes to the film's gore, that's just for starters. The
movie is filled with various zombie body parts being removed as gruesomely as possible--
there are de-armings, de-leggings, de-spinings, and decapitations. There are also bodies
sawed in half and, as mentioned, a lot of intestines put to a lot of different uses. Next to
Dead Alive, I'm hard pressed to think of a gorier zombie flick. To sum things up: even
though it's not listed in the credits, I'm pretty sure that Plaga Zombie was filmed in stunning
Chum-Vision™.
Score: 5
Originality: In Plaga Zombie a character punches out a body that's in a body bag. Have you
ever seen that before? Me neither. Sure, I could sit here and tell you about how this film is
incredibly unique, mainly because it doesn't rely on most, if any, of the clichés typically
found in zombie movies, but what's the point? If that body bag thing doesn't convince you of
this, nothing will.
Score: 4
Rewatchability: Plaga Zombie is one of those movies that you could watch thousands of
times without ever becoming bored. Alright, maybe 'thousands of times' is a bit of a stretch.
I'm pretty sure anything would get boring if you did it a thousand times. Except for maybe
winning a hot dog eating contest--I imagine that the physical, intellectual, and moral
superiority that one feels after winning such a contest would never get old. If only I wasn't
allergic to sausage. Now, where was I? Oh yeah: the overall re-watchableness of this here
zombie movie. Sure I'd watch it again, why the heck not?
Score: 4
ever seen that before? Me neither. Sure, I could sit here and tell you about how this film is
incredibly unique, mainly because it doesn't rely on most, if any, of the clichés typically
found in zombie movies, but what's the point? If that body bag thing doesn't convince you of
this, nothing will.
Score: 4
Rewatchability: Plaga Zombie is one of those movies that you could watch thousands of
times without ever becoming bored. Alright, maybe 'thousands of times' is a bit of a stretch.
I'm pretty sure anything would get boring if you did it a thousand times. Except for maybe
winning a hot dog eating contest--I imagine that the physical, intellectual, and moral
superiority that one feels after winning such a contest would never get old. If only I wasn't
allergic to sausage. Now, where was I? Oh yeah: the overall re-watchableness of this here
zombie movie. Sure I'd watch it again, why the heck not?
Score: 4
Sidekick(s)/Love Interest: While there are no love interests for our leads per se, there is a
weird character named Max that shows up halfway through the movie who is a big fan of the
John West character (he was apparently a famous wrestler at some point), and being a big
fan of someone is kind of like being his/her love interest (just ask that poster of Cheryl
Tiegs that I have hanging in my bathroom). But, the Max super-fan character is murdered by
the other Max character quite soon after he shows up, thus depriving me of the opportunity
to form an opinion about him. This does at least highlight one of the silver linings of a
full-scale zombie invasion: it seems like it would be pretty easy to murder someone and
then get away with it by pretending that that person had been killed by zombies. You might
have to stoop to a little cannibalism to cover your tracks thoroughly, but that's a small price
to pay for free murder, yes? Yes!
Score: 1
Overall Cast: While the cast of Plaga Zombie is primarily composed of amateurs, everyone
seems to really give it their all, and considering that most of the characters are zombies
who are on screen for about five seconds before being hacked into little bits, acting chops
aren't really the order of the day, anyway.
Score: 4
weird character named Max that shows up halfway through the movie who is a big fan of the
John West character (he was apparently a famous wrestler at some point), and being a big
fan of someone is kind of like being his/her love interest (just ask that poster of Cheryl
Tiegs that I have hanging in my bathroom). But, the Max super-fan character is murdered by
the other Max character quite soon after he shows up, thus depriving me of the opportunity
to form an opinion about him. This does at least highlight one of the silver linings of a
full-scale zombie invasion: it seems like it would be pretty easy to murder someone and
then get away with it by pretending that that person had been killed by zombies. You might
have to stoop to a little cannibalism to cover your tracks thoroughly, but that's a small price
to pay for free murder, yes? Yes!
Score: 1
Overall Cast: While the cast of Plaga Zombie is primarily composed of amateurs, everyone
seems to really give it their all, and considering that most of the characters are zombies
who are on screen for about five seconds before being hacked into little bits, acting chops
aren't really the order of the day, anyway.
Score: 4
| Max, John, and Bill, doing what they do best: standing around covered in blood. Well, Max and Bill, anyways. |
| Um, can someone please tell me what Allen Ginsberg is doing here? |
| If ever there were a zombie that deserved to die, it's hippy zombie. |
| This is definitely not what you want to see right before you black out at a frat party. Believe me. |
Signature Zombie: Again, as the zombies are unique, there isn't one of them who is willing
to step forward and claim the signature zombie crown. Can I give the title to every single
zombie in the film? I didn't think so.
Score: 1
Total Points: 97
Verdict: There has been a spate of low budget, semi-amateur zombie movies released in
recent years (e.g., Meat Market and The Stink of Flesh), and while there are things about
these titles to recommend, ultimately, Plaga Zombie leaves them all in the dust, showing
that budget really has nothing to do with making a good zombie movie. What it takes is
energy, creativity, and about 7,000,000 gallons of fake blood. The film just misses being
ZombieTastic, but there's no shame in that, because it still comes highly recommended.
To put it simply: watching Plaga Zombie was the most fun I've had with a zombie movie in a
long while, and it makes the fact that I now have to go and watch the shit pile that is Lucio
Fulci's Zombi 3 all the more depressing. Thanks for nothing, Plaga Zombie!
Next Time: Zombi 3
to step forward and claim the signature zombie crown. Can I give the title to every single
zombie in the film? I didn't think so.
Score: 1
Total Points: 97
Verdict: There has been a spate of low budget, semi-amateur zombie movies released in
recent years (e.g., Meat Market and The Stink of Flesh), and while there are things about
these titles to recommend, ultimately, Plaga Zombie leaves them all in the dust, showing
that budget really has nothing to do with making a good zombie movie. What it takes is
energy, creativity, and about 7,000,000 gallons of fake blood. The film just misses being
ZombieTastic, but there's no shame in that, because it still comes highly recommended.
To put it simply: watching Plaga Zombie was the most fun I've had with a zombie movie in a
long while, and it makes the fact that I now have to go and watch the shit pile that is Lucio
Fulci's Zombi 3 all the more depressing. Thanks for nothing, Plaga Zombie!
Next Time: Zombi 3
Exposition: While there is exposition in Plaga Zombie, there's not too much, which is kind
of unfortunate for those of us who missed the first film. There's an opening military briefing
which makes quite effective use of a slideshow (an under-appreciated, under-utilized
zombie movie technique), and a short, vague speech from a soldier who subsequently
finds himself the main course at a zombie dinner party; that about does it for exposition in
this film--things are kept to a minimum in order to maximize full-on zombie mayhem and/or
slapstick. For the film itself, this is a good thing; for lazy, ill-informed people like me, it's a
bad thing, as it prevents full understanding of what's happening in this movie. But I
shouldn't make my problem everyone's problem, right?
Score: 3
Plausibility: Whereas I don't have an issue with the notion that aliens would turn humans
into zombies and then grow alien babies inside of them, I do have an issue with the idea
that government agents, in an abandoned town completely overrun by hordes of the living
dead, would turn on their hazard lights when dumping dead bodies out of the back of their
van. Have you seen these official government cars driving around town? They're a
menace. There's NO WAY such people would use their hazard lights or their turn signals
under such circumstances.
Secondly, there's this: at one point, the protagonists in Plaga Zombie recover a disc from an
FBI agent which supposedly contains a map that they need to get out of town. When they
look at the disc, the file in question has an extension of 'fbi'. Huh? The Internets have told
me that there is an actual fbi file extension, but in this film's case I think the file is simply
named that because it came from the FBI. Does mean that in the world of Plaga Zombie,
every file created by the FBI has an extension of 'fbi'? That just seems confusing. Your
eyes seem to be glazing over. Oh, I'm the dork for bringing this stuff up? WHATEVER. Let
me just sum things up: I pretty much buy everything that happens in Plaga Zombie aside
from the hazard light and file extension chicanery.
Score: 3
of unfortunate for those of us who missed the first film. There's an opening military briefing
which makes quite effective use of a slideshow (an under-appreciated, under-utilized
zombie movie technique), and a short, vague speech from a soldier who subsequently
finds himself the main course at a zombie dinner party; that about does it for exposition in
this film--things are kept to a minimum in order to maximize full-on zombie mayhem and/or
slapstick. For the film itself, this is a good thing; for lazy, ill-informed people like me, it's a
bad thing, as it prevents full understanding of what's happening in this movie. But I
shouldn't make my problem everyone's problem, right?
Score: 3
Plausibility: Whereas I don't have an issue with the notion that aliens would turn humans
into zombies and then grow alien babies inside of them, I do have an issue with the idea
that government agents, in an abandoned town completely overrun by hordes of the living
dead, would turn on their hazard lights when dumping dead bodies out of the back of their
van. Have you seen these official government cars driving around town? They're a
menace. There's NO WAY such people would use their hazard lights or their turn signals
under such circumstances.
Secondly, there's this: at one point, the protagonists in Plaga Zombie recover a disc from an
FBI agent which supposedly contains a map that they need to get out of town. When they
look at the disc, the file in question has an extension of 'fbi'. Huh? The Internets have told
me that there is an actual fbi file extension, but in this film's case I think the file is simply
named that because it came from the FBI. Does mean that in the world of Plaga Zombie,
every file created by the FBI has an extension of 'fbi'? That just seems confusing. Your
eyes seem to be glazing over. Oh, I'm the dork for bringing this stuff up? WHATEVER. Let
me just sum things up: I pretty much buy everything that happens in Plaga Zombie aside
from the hazard light and file extension chicanery.
Score: 3
Breast Factor/Nudity: As near as I can tell there's only one woman in this movie who's not a
zombie, and she remains clothed during the few seconds that she's on screen. But, don't
despair: though there's no nudity in this film, there are zombies listening to a boombox, and
that's a pretty nice consolation prize.
Score: 1
Lead Actor: Rather than go the traditional route, Plaga Zombie breaks the mold with a bold
Lead Actor Hat Trick. That's right: this film features not one, not two, but three lead actors:
Berta Muñiz as John West, Pablo Parés as Bill Johnson, and Hernán Sáez as Max Giggs.
That is CRAZINESS personified, my friends. Alright, it's really not that crazy, but I was
looking for an excuse to use my Caps Lock key, so here we are. Anyways, additionally, two
of the three lead actors were also this film's writers and directors. That's even crazier than
the earlier craziness that I mentioned (no caps this time). The point: the film does a good
job slicing up the action amongst the three leads, and they themselves (the leads that is)
(I'm trying to be as confusing as I possibly can, here) do so as well acting underneath all of
the fake blood that they're covered in. Sure, Meryl Streep's been nominated for 14 Oscars,
but has she ever gotten a nomination for a role in which she was covered in blood? I didn't
think so.
Score: 5
zombie, and she remains clothed during the few seconds that she's on screen. But, don't
despair: though there's no nudity in this film, there are zombies listening to a boombox, and
that's a pretty nice consolation prize.
Score: 1
Lead Actor: Rather than go the traditional route, Plaga Zombie breaks the mold with a bold
Lead Actor Hat Trick. That's right: this film features not one, not two, but three lead actors:
Berta Muñiz as John West, Pablo Parés as Bill Johnson, and Hernán Sáez as Max Giggs.
That is CRAZINESS personified, my friends. Alright, it's really not that crazy, but I was
looking for an excuse to use my Caps Lock key, so here we are. Anyways, additionally, two
of the three lead actors were also this film's writers and directors. That's even crazier than
the earlier craziness that I mentioned (no caps this time). The point: the film does a good
job slicing up the action amongst the three leads, and they themselves (the leads that is)
(I'm trying to be as confusing as I possibly can, here) do so as well acting underneath all of
the fake blood that they're covered in. Sure, Meryl Streep's been nominated for 14 Oscars,
but has she ever gotten a nomination for a role in which she was covered in blood? I didn't
think so.
Score: 5
| Hmmm, which of these would make a better birthday present? |
| Is it just me, or does this zombie look like he's covered in Oreos? |
