In a time when even the stand-out new zombie movies (like DIARY OF THE DEAD) are treading on familiar ground both stylistically and thematically, it’s rare to find an entry in the genre that demonstrates both originality and wit. WASTING AWAY does just that in its attempt to tell an undead tale from the sympathetic perspective of a bunch of zombies unaware of their new found zombie-ness. This ultra low budget production can’t hide its limited production values (“crowd” scenes consist of a dozen or so extras) and its over length sometimes makes you consider it might have made a more dynamic short film. Nonetheless, dead-on performances and an often funny script make it worthy of attention for any jaded zombie film fan.
The military have been dabbling with weird science, and specifically, a batch of miraculous bright green goop (a la RE-ANIMATOR) stored in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD-style barrels, in a misguided bid to create a race of super-soldiers. Their experiments to date have only succeeded in creating super-strong zombie-like creatures with unhealthy appetites and limited controllability in battle. When a barrel of said goop ends up mistakenly delivered to a small town bowling alley, the aimless twenty something employees (“wasting away” in terms of career and ambitions) consume it in an ice-cream form. It turns them into zombies but the movie cannily splits itself between their newly Technicolor world (where they are unaware of their own monstrousness) and black and white P.O.V. scenes depicting how others view them (as traditional, staggering, groaning shambling creatures).
An army guy shows up, himself apparently turning into a super soldier, and explains the plot while the former decay in various ways just as, ironically, their lives (and unfulfilled loves) finally come to fruition more than they ever did when they were alive.
For once, a zombie movie defies expectation. From this premise, you would expect a lot of knockabout slapstick splatter and a spoofy tone. Instead, although it has fun with gags about skin and dicks falling off at inappropriate moments, the movie is less interested in gore than it is in sustaining warm, believable characters who interact in an engaging and credible fashion even when pieces of their anatomy are falling to the ground. And, while it certainly has a rich sense of humor, with inevitable references to Romero’s “holy trilogy” (LAND OF THE DEAD is roundly dissed) and a dialogue nod to the “fast zombie” trend post-28 DAYS LATER, the movie refuses to ever turn into an outright parody.
The likeable leads offer commendably sincere performances in roles the script never patronizes, even when it openly pokes fun at just how ridiculous traditional movie zombies are. These appealing young actors would seem to have assured futures in the movie biz, though stealing the show is Colby French in a deadpan performance as an exposition-spouting character with many silly but deftly delivered speeches.
WASTING AWAY doesn’t always hit the bulls eye and the punch line could have been sharper, but at its best its take on the sub-genre is disarmingly effective. There have been earlier movies that strive to present a humanistic portrait of a zombie (notably Andrew Parkinson’s memorable I, ZOMBIE : CHRONICLES OF PAIN), but this one does it with its own unique stamp and cute new spins on familiar concepts. It is also endearingly playful in its use of crawling severed hands, talking severed heads used as bowling balls and a key character who, in his undead form, constantly has the munchies. And kudos to everyone involved for the moment in which one of our zombie heroes beats up a bully with his own severed hand, yelling “Stop hitting yourself!”.
– Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
