Fan of the Dead is an interesting and unique zombie film set in France. The movie follows a group of friends who are big fans of the zombie genre, and who decide to dress up as zombies and roam around Paris in search of fresh brains to eat.
The film is both funny and scary, and does a great job of satirizing the zombie genre. The acting is good, and the film’s overall atmosphere is creepy and believable.
This is a documentary style feature which takes Zombie fan and French filmmaker Nicolas Garreau to Pennsylvania to find memorable filming locations featured in George Romero’s classic Dead series. We get to see footage of encounters with famous stars such as Ken Foree, David Emge as well as some of the more famous zombies from throughout the trilogy. This feature whilst perhaps not the best docu-style production I’ve ever seen is actually filmed quite well. Don’t expect a National Geographic/Discovery channel style documentary, this is very much a low budget fly on the wall deal.
Clearly this is very much a personal endeavor for Nicolas and it shows through his enthusiasm whilst walking in the footsteps of where all the classic characters once took a stand against the zombie hordes. Nicolas provides continual narration as to the progress of his journey (pilgrimage) from one location to another. I found that a lot of the information provided to be quite interesting and found out some things about the Dead series that I never knew (me being a fan myself).
There are also some accidental comical moments, such as Nicolas’s friends attempting zombie impressions, (these are always done best after a bottle of whisky I find ;)) this brings a lot of good levity to the feature.
Let me say that if you are not interested in the Dead series then you will not enjoy Fan of the Dead what so ever. This flick is very much intended for fans of the trilogy. It was cool to see David Emge again (and man he looks different now from 30 years ago) as well as the words and opinions of the zombie extras. In the end I would say anyone wanting to hear and see a little bit more of the dead series could do a lot worse than checking this one out.
Note: Fan of the Dead can be found as a special feature on the UK 2010 Arrow release of Dawn of the Dead.
The biggest problem with Fan of the Dead is its pace. The film feels slow and plodding at times, and could have benefited from a tighter edit. However, this is a minor complaint, and overall, Fan of the Dead is a fun and entertaining zombie film.
Synopsis
The France movie Fan of the Dead (2007) is a horror movie about a group of young people who are fans of a horror movie director who go to his grave to pay their respects. However, when they get there, they find that the grave has been disturbed and the body is missing. They soon realize that they are not alone in the cemetery and that something evil is stalking them. The group must use their knowledge of the director’s films to survive the night and defeat the evil that is after them.
Movie Details
Director: Nicolas Garreau
Release Year: 2008