Many years ago, while aimlessly surfing through the offerings of dubious quality on OnDemand, I ran across a little movie called Hide and Creep. It's about a little town in Alabama called Thorsby, and how the zombie apocalypse begins there. It's clearly a very VERY indie production--the special effects were...not great, the cinematography was pretty amateur, and it was quite obvious that the majority of the cast were likely friends/family of the filmmakers. However, the script was funny, the main characters were pretty likable, and I admired the clear DIY spirit and enthusiasm. You could say it reminded me very strongly of Clerks, but with zombies, right down to the slacker video store owner and pop culture rants. On the whole, I liked it.
And then, as they say, some things that should not have been forgotten were lost.
It didn't take me two thousand years, but the other day the movie popped into my head for whatever reason. I thought I should look it up and rewatch it, just for old time's sake.
To my great delight, it turned out the movie had a SEQUEL!
Hide and Creep was released in 2004, and in 2015, the same writer and director (and star, and producer...it's a very small company) released a sequel called For a Few Zombies More.
For a Few Zombies More takes place ten years after the events of the original film. Video store owner Chuck has adapted the slacker life to zombie times, spending his days roaming the countryside trying to track down movies, as part of a "preservation project." While out one day, he meets a mysterious young woman, who's on a mission to rescue a scientist who might have the secret to creating a zombie vaccine. Soon, they run into other characters with other missions, and eventually wind up returning to Thorsby for a climactic showdown with a shadowy figure called "The Chief." Along the way, they make some allies and some enemies, fight some zombies, and debate the nature of society and what the zombie plague says about humans (a debate Chuck very firmly does NOT wish to engage in.)
I saw some of the twists coming, but that could be because I watched Hide and Creep immediately before. In general, though, I enjoyed it a lot. I still am very fond of Chuck's character (he's like a southern Randal) and also enjoyed The Woman With No Name. The plot moved along, and there was enough tension to keep me on the edge of my seat most of the time. The villains were appropriately unpleasant, though I thought maybe there was a little more gratuitous toplessness than really necessary. They also clearly had a much larger budget for special effects, since the zombies were much more impressive this time around. I did think the tone was darker than the first movie--while there were funny parts, I felt that this had a more cynical attitude. It also had a banging punk soundtrack, which I appreciated.
On the whole, while I'd say these movies are probably not going to push George Romero off his throne as the king of zombies, they were a lot of fun, and obviously a passion project for the cast and crew. Both are currently available free on Amazon Prime, and are a fun way to spend a humid afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment