Mud Zombie

OPENING: 11/01/2008

STUDIO: One-Eyed Films

TRAILER: Trailer

ACCOMPLICES: Official Site

The Charge
The first Brazilian zombie movie.

Opening Statement
If this is a sign of what’s to come from the South American splatter industry, sign me up.

Facts of the Case
In a backwater village in Brazil, a pollution-produced disease is running wild, converting the local townsfolk into raging, near-indestructible zombies… who also happen to be covered in mud. The only survivors are a young, socially awkward man and a woman he’s been pining for. They’re plopped in the middle of the mud zombie horde with only a shotgun, an antiquated handgun, an axe, and a crazy medicine woman living in a hut, to save them from the cannibalistic infestation.

The Evidence
There is no denying the similarities between this and Peter Jackson’s Braindead. That’s entirely a compliment. Director Rodrigo Aragão has put together a gory, goopy, funny piece of international splatter that is absolutely worth tracking down, if you consider yourself even the slightest bit a gore-hound.

Again, back to the Braindead similarities: you’ve got your unlikely protagonist, a bumbling beta male forced into a disgusting situation; the skittish female counterpart who ultimately cowboys up; a strain of black humor that runs throughout the film; and, of course, fluids by the metric ton.

Oh the fluids! These guys spare no expense with their obviously limited budget, throwing as much blood-drenched mayhem onto the screen as possible. Decapitations, eyeball fork stabbings, a halved cranium (which spills out an exorbitant amount of slime on our hero), de-limbing, a forcibly removed jaw, through-the-mouth disemboweling, and that’s only the stuff I can remember. Mud Zombie is loaded with so many splatter gags, you’ll likely be desensitized at the 30-minute mark.

It’s all well-executed in that old-school practical effects way. There are only a few computer-enhanced bits; the rest is straight-up Karo syrup, food coloring, and what appears to be fondue. Plus, you get a few zombie puppets! Score!

The plot — something causes people to start going crazy with their eyes bugging out and, well, they’ve got to die — is of little consequence, existing solely to prop up the bodacious gore, while giving the two leads a series of ridiculous scenarios to overcome in a darkly comic manner. When you’re dealing with this kind of fun and high-caliber bloodshed, who gives a crap about the story. Just keep the mud zombies coming!

Closing Statement
If you’ve been craving an over-the-top splatter movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Mud Zombie is for you. Viva la zombolucion!

The Verdict
9/10