• Submitted by: manso
• Arts and Culture
• 08 / 04 / 2011

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By L. Vincent Poupard. Yahoo! Contributor Network. It is with great surprise that I say that the next great zombie movie might be coming out of Cuba. While Cuba has not been known for horror in the past, the first zombie movie to come out of the island nation looks impressive. "Juan de los Muertos," or "Juan of the Dead," looks like a good mix of horror and comedy.

The storyline puts some interesting twists in the zombie story. When the zombie outbreak happens in Cuba, some believe this is a new stage of the revolution. When it is realized that people are being killed left and right by the zombies, it is believed that the walking dead are actually dissidents paid off by the United States to tear the country apart.

Juan is the main character and is a lazy bum. He decides that he needs to fight to bring his life back to the leisure trip that it was. He gets some others together and they decide to charge others in the area for defense against the zombie menace. From the trailer, it appears that a balance is attempted between the horror of a zombie movie and a comedy.

When "Juan of the Dead" came out, many of us who follow zombie movies were happy that a smart comedy had come out to poke fun at our favorite genre. I have to say that I like the idea of another zombie comedy, but just hope that the puns do not appear to be stolen off of the first movie. Originality is something that drives a genre forward. Repetition can keep a genre stagnant.

From the trailer, I am amazed by the number of zombies that appear in some of the wide shots. After watching it a few times, it does not appear that the footage has been multiplied by a computer. It appears that tons of people came out to act like zombies. That should make George Romero press his crow's feet under those giant glasses of his.

The other worry that I have about "Juan de los Muertos" is how distribution will happen in the United States. Through my research, I am unable to find a U.S. distributor. I would hope that we have the opportunity to see this movie in the United States. Once the film comes out, I would hope that there would not be any issue due to our strained relations with Cuba.

Source: http://movies.yahoo.com/news/next-great-zombie-movie-coming-cuba-2147000...