Day 165 - Juan of the Dead



Day 165          Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead) [2011]
                          
Screenplay                    Alejandro Brugués
Director                         Alejandro Brugués
Cinematography            Carles Gusi
Music                            Sergio Valdés
Leads                            Alexis Díaz de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andrea Duro, Andros Perugorría, Jazz Vilá, Eliecer Ramírez
Production                     La Zanfoña Producciones, Producciones de la 5ta Avenida, ICAIC Canal Sur, Televisión Española


IMDb                                 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes                80%

Disclaimer: I most likely didn’t understand a few of the references in this film and I imagine it is funnier if you understand Spanish and said references.

If you’re watching in English though you may struggle to get through it. It was the product of a late night with friends. You know – stick something random on so that we can mutually laugh at how bad it is. However, we didn’t finish it on the night and being the trooper that I am I finished it off so that it would make the blog. It was certainly less enjoyable watching it alone. As you can probably tell from the title, it is a zombie-filled horror-comedy based in Havana, Cuba. Juan is our lovable anti-hero who starts a company of his own killing zombies for money. It’s full of incredibly dry humour as well as some crude jokes, backed by a lot of gore. Zombie killing is fun to watch in any language, so I’d have to say those are the best scenes, but the film was let down by its low budget special effects. Some of the punchlines really didn’t work for me either and I wonder whether it is perhaps meant for people a few years my junior. In the end, I actually didn’t mind it that much, but I also would never recommend this to a friend. I would recommend it to a group of stoned teenagers. Que más da. The title is the best thing about the film. Top marks there despite the lack of originality.

Acting                            2 / 4
Writing                           2 / 4
Cinematography             3 / 4
Music                             3 / 4
HWF rating                2 / 4

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