HAVANA (AP) — What would you do if your entire city was taken over by flesh-eating zombies and communist leaders insisted it was nothing but a plot by U.S-backed dissidents to destabilize the government?
If you were the protagonist of Juan de los Muertos — “Juan of the Dead” — the first zombie flick ever shot in post-revolutionary Cuba, you’d figure out how to make some cash out of the carnage.
Part horror show, part social satire, the soon-to-be-shot movie has the backing of a Spanish production company, a green light from Cuban authorities and a budget that dwarfs most big-screen offerings from the island.
And its irreverent humor — one blurb for the film proclaims: “Fifty years later, a new Revolution has begun” — could make Juan of the Dead the next big thing in Cuban cinema, and give it a real chance at global success.
It is the second film by 34-year-old writer-director Alejandro Brugues, who says his idea was to tell a story that was authentically Cuban — but within the logic of a camp zombie flick. Closest to his heart, he said, is a quintessential island knack for making ends meet, whether by keeping a rusty ‘57 Chevy on the road for half a century, or finding a way to feed a family on a salary of $20 a month.
Locals even have a saying for how they will overcome the constant hurdles that are part of daily life on this cash-strapped, crumbling island: “I’ll invent something.”
“We Cubans have had to deal with a whole series of problems in the last 50 years,” Brugues told The Associated Press, an allusion to the decades of economic hardship and isolation that have followed Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, particularly since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“We have become accustomed to resolving problems on our own and finding a way to survive. So I was thinking, ‘How would a Cuban survive a zombie epidemic.”
As Brugues spoke, makeup artists in another room were transforming actors into blood-soaked zombies, a process that can take up to five hours. A gruesome zombie head lay on a table alongside multiple cups of coffee and cigarette butts, and a producer was testing out the believability of a detached, latex hand by sneaking up on unsuspecting production assistants and tapping them on the shoulder with it.
Preproduction got under way this week, with shooting slated to start in late October. the filmmakers hope to release the movie in the spring or summer of next year, and plan to role it out at several film festivals before showing it to a wider audience.
The movie’s plot is simple: A 40-year old layabout named Juan finds a zombie floating in the water while fishing off the coast of Havana. The zombie attacks but Juan makes a narrow escape, only to find that the undead are all over the city. State-run media blames the whole thing on government opponents backed by Cuba’s archenemies in Washington, but Juan knows better — and comes up with a plan.
Together with his sidekick, Lazaro — described by the filmmakers as “just as lazy, but twice as stupid” — Juan puts out the word that he is open for business.
Has your grandmother been turned into a zombie? Is your uncle stumbling about with blood coming out of his mouth?
Juan and Lazaro promise to get rid of your undead loved ones for just 15 Cuban convertible pesos ($16) a pop, and to clean up the mess for an extra 20 ($21).
The duo are making good money until they find themselves the only non-zombies left in the city, with the rest of the population having either fled or been infected.
The movie is backed by Spain’s La Zanfona Producciones, two Spanish television channels, the government of Spain’s Andalucia region and the state-run Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematography. It has a budget of $2.1 million, most of which is going to special effects that have to be added in Spain because the technology is not available in Cuba.
“Clearly, it is a very small budget for an international zombie movie,” said Claudia Calvino, the film’s 27-year-old Cuban co-producer. “But that’s a lot of money for a Cuban movie.”
Another co-producer, 34-year-old Inti Herrera, said most Cuban films are made for less than $300,000. He said that the makers of Juan of the Dead are hoping to produce something that has a professional feel to it which can be enjoyed by audiences everywhere — even the United States.
“We really hope it comes out and is shown widely in theaters there,” said Brugues. “That is definitely our idea.”
Brugues says part of the movie’s message deals with whether one should stay and face problems or get out of town when the going gets tough — a politically sensitive topic in a country divided between those who have lived through the revolution for better or worse, and those who have left for exile in South Florida and elsewhere.
But he insists the film is not political.
“I want people to have a good time at the theater,” Brugues says. “And I promise liters and liters of blood.”
___
Submitting your tip... please wait!
FoBoT
Posted on October 5, 2010 at 6:05pmi love zombie movies
Report Post »WVRob
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 11:23amI look forward to it! Love zombie films with humor.
Report Post »Skwerl
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 10:36amAnother addition to the Zomcom genre? Huzzah!
Report Post »GJPinks
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 9:29pmI am sorry that your heart is so full of hate and your head so empty of brain cells. I hope you will find a way to better yourself in some meaningful way.
Report Post »Sutter Buttes
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 3:51pmKnock it off, Axelrod. Everybody knows that your a biased hack.
Report Post »Have-Gun-Will-Travel
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 2:26pmdanglingbags
This is why I am looking forward to people like you turning into a Zombie, by your post I will say your 75% there.
Report Post »And when you do you know what I have to do to bring you down
INFIDEL
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 12:44pmZOMBUNISTAS!! Fly me to Cooba. I’ll write the English subtitles – for free! Are you listening, Fidel?
Report Post »Large Eagle
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 12:35pmYou the all knowing Danglingbags – Your magnificent thoughts – they put me in awe. By the way did your nickname originate from the gay strip bars in New York City. I also did not see you response to Michelle’s BMI comments on all of us fat American’s – You’re my Doctor Joel, go get’m
Report Post »JakeA
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 11:36amCuba doesn’t need zombies to destabilize the government the commies already did that.
Report Post »Dame commies
JakeA
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 11:33amCuba doesn’t need zombies to destabilize the government the commies already did that. Dame commies.
Report Post »FoxRules
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 9:49amAnd tis relates to ‘Obama of The Dead’ how again? :)
Report Post »Joseph
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 9:18amGee kiddies, I find it interesting how Cuba has always attacked the U.S. as morally corrupt and they used our films as an example for their people. Now they have this. Maybe a film about faith, hope, and charity may serve their perfect society better.
Report Post »Hugh Williams
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 8:40amThis person is a liberal plant paid to stir up a negative reaction, ignore him.
Report Post »Pocono Countryboy
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 7:56amInternet 101 for those that need a refresher…
Please don’t feed the TROLLS!
Have a blessed day.
Report Post »tepartyblogdotinfo
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 3:36amI think its interesting that the only person not turned into a zombie in this film takes an entrepreneurial approach to the problem. I don’t know if it was the artistic influence of the director but did you notice the city they made that in just seems to be rotting. Is this the change we should hope for in our own county?
Report Post »tepartyblogdotinfo
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 3:22am@ladyliberty21stcentury
Report Post »He doesn’t have to be getting paid there are plenty of people that do stupid thing for free. Although he is probably on some sort of aid. If you believe in it pray for him and his ilk. Don’t them drag you into some sort of posting feud.
FreeWilly
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 1:05amHey Danglingbags……isn’t it time for you to go cash your welfare check? We sure could use a break from your idiocy!!
Report Post »Pocono Countryboy
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 7:56amPlease don’t feed the trolls. That’s exactly what they are looking for,
Report Post »Hugh Williams
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 8:46amThis person is a paid plant trying to create negative responses. If he is successful we will soon see reports on MSNBC and the rest about the hate on The Blaze. Don’t give them what they want.
Report Post »FreeWilly
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 10:34amSorry guys….lost my mind for a moment! It is really hard to keep your mouth shut when you are forced to read the words of ignorant people.
Report Post »LEGION
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 12:28amI love Zombie movies- but won’t pay a dime to see this. If I wanted anti-American rants I can watch MSLSD or any other ******* one world eggheaded show.
Report Post »Suzee
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 8:10pmHas Michael Moore been back to Cuba, again?
Report Post »Skwerl
Posted on September 7, 2010 at 10:41amMichael Moore could feed a Zombie family of 4 for 7 months.
Report Post »ladyliberty21stcentury
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 4:31pmYour posts are extremely entertaining in a “sad I feel sorry for your stupidity and blindness way”. And not because you have a different opinion, but because you cannot seem to have an intelligent conversation without resorting to calling names, slinging mud, or offensive rants. Seriously, how old ARE you? No self-respecting adult would make those posts unless they were planted or getting paid to do so…. so which are you? An infantile acting person that needs to learn how to converse and debate in adult and polite society or are you a paid Liberal blogger or a blind Liberal blogger that really is as stupid as you sound? Grow up and learn how to debate and disagree in an adult and intelligent manner or get off. And if you aren’t intelligent or an adult, you can at least be polite to other human beings who may have a different opinion than you.
Report Post »Boose
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 4:20pmI think it has the potential to be a pretty funny movie. I want to thank dangling bags for letting everyone know what an ignorant hate filled tool he is :)
Report Post »Selfreliance
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 3:43pmI love a good zombie flick, and Juan looks fabulous! Much better than the one they repeat daily on MSNBC,
Bags, do you think for some reason that Cubans can’t form sentences better than cartoon cavemen? Racist muich? I suppose you must think that’s funny, but it’s quite sad and pathetic.
Report Post »tepartyblogdotinfo
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 3:28amI thinks those are supposed to be the zombie’s lines as in teaparty supporters are zombies. That just means that they are waking up to the fact that it is not the republicans or democrats that are going to restore our country.
Report Post »elura dollface
Posted on September 4, 2010 at 2:34pmhahaha that actually looks very entertaining.
Report Post »