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Thanks for the memories!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Havana is infected by zombies! A group of unlikely heroes fights back. JUAN OF THE DEAD is a zombie flick with a distinctly Cuban twist, making fun of stereotypes surrounding the attitude of the country's people, as well as the political situation.The Cuban aspect is, to me, what makes this movie stand out from many other zombie comedies. Unfortunately, I have a problem with sluggish and lazy heroes... because they usually make for slow plots that just trod along without an inherent goal or a sense of conflict. Moreover, if your heroes don't seem to feel fear, then the audience doesn't usually feel it either. The movie's demise is its lack of purpose, with a story that only cares about creating opportunities for jokes.Lovers of the Z genre will like some of the depictions of the devastated streets, which are pretty darn cool. The gore factor is moderate with some CGI, as well some practical effects. A few deaths are hilarious but other than that the movie focuses on jokes and its (relatively lovable) characters. This movie has a heart, but it's bogged down by its lack of a good script and a genuine sense of suspense.

When a man notices that a zombie epidemic has overrun his Cuban home-town, he joins forces with his friends to start an eradication service to dispose of them only to realize the inevitable and tries to get them out of the country alive.This turned out to be one of the more flat-out enjoyable zombie efforts around in the last few years with some absolutely great work to this one when it came down to it. The comedy here is the biggest plus, as this seems to be done in the right way with a group of funny people at the center of the storyline rather than just trying to shoehorn the jokes and gags into the proceedings, and there's a lot of fun with the great comedy that comes from both the verbal and physical areas, yet is still smart enough to keep the creatures as true threats and something to be dealt with in a serious matter. This allows for a lot of great gore to come through with some pretty innovative kills and copious bloodletting during the zombie massacres, even though the low-budget shines through and it resorts to clever and ingenious but still cop-out methods of hiding the biggest gore scenes. As well, the fact that the scatter-shot story seems to go all over the place at times is a little problematic, but overall this was a pretty entertaining and enjoyable zombie epic.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity.

OK, first of all this isn't a rip off of Shaun of the Dead, so put that out of your mind. It does owe a little to Shaun, but it goes off on an original tangent. Like most zombie movies, the reason for the dead rising is obscured by government B.S. The Cuban government (which is hysterical) constantly claims that it's the U.S. Government, helping subversives. the main cast is very engaging and the main two are a pair of major slackers, Juan constantly referring to surviving Mariel, Angola and a host of other troubles. I'm actually amazed that the Cuban government allowed this to made, since it is a bit subversive and down on the communist regime. As usual, our heroes have to find a way to survive, which is all I'll say. Its way better than The Dead, which was a bit boring for the most part. Homages to other zombie films, including one to Lucio Fulci's Zombie (which is hysterical) abound. My only complaint was that the frakking subtitles were yellow and in parts were hard to read. Other than that, this is way better than anything that's been done on Chiller or the SF channel, as well as Romero's last, "Survival of the Dead", which was a terrible film. So if you get a chance, are a zombie fan, see Juan of the Dead. It'll be a fun time for all.

The only Cuban film I had seen was Fresa y Chocolate, which I liked very much mainly because of its screenplay and its interesting look to the society from that country, trapped (or protected, according points of view) into a "cultural bubble" imposed by its governors. Today, I could watch another Cuban film, Juan de los Muertos, which employed the unexpected resource of zombie cinema in order to tell a story which is simple in its shape, but deep in its comments about modern Cuba, the idiosyncrasy of its inhabitants and their possible future.The film with which Juan de los Muertos can be compared the best is the brilliant Shaun of the Dead, not only for the zombie subject, but also because it sets its emotional axis over the evolution of a main character who starts as a "loser" and ends up being an "accidental hero". Besides, Juan de los Muertos also bases its humor on the picturesque collective personality from a town, something which brings it a unique identity which transcends the clichés that necessarily integrate the story. In other words, Juan de los Muertos doesn't have to be seen as any other zombie movie, but as cultural artifact which employs the horror format as a vehicle of its interesting message. And the fact that it expresses that message with wide doses of humor only makes it more amusing and accessible, and as a consequence, it will be able to equally satisfy the "gorehounds" as well as the followers of art-house cinema searching for a very competent alternative to Hollywood cinema.As we can expect, some technical elements from Juan de los Muertos reflect its independent nature; the cinematography is good, but some digital effects have that artificial and "des-integrated" appearance we frequently find in low-budget cinema. On the positive side, the blood and prosthetic practical effects are very good, even though not as many as I would have preferred to see in a film with AS MANY zombies. And that's one of the things which surprised me the most...the scale of Juan de los Muertos and its audacious use of big multitudes (sure, some of them are digital) to show the urban chaos in Havana during the zombie epidemic. Speaking of which, you don't have to expect many explanations about the origins of the living dead...unless we consider the TV news which seem to aim the guilt to a certain imperialist country which insists on nosing foreign affairs as "explanation".Anyway, the most important things in Juan de los Muertos are the social commentary, the irreverent political critic and the excellent performances from the whole cast, highlighting Alejo Díaz de Villegas, Jorge Molina and Jazz Vilá. On the negative aspect, Juan de los Muertos looses some energy in the middle, and a few jokes feel excessively obvious and repetitive. Nevertheless, I recommend it as a very entertaining experience with many positive elements.