{"id":9470,"date":"2011-01-23T10:58:09","date_gmt":"2011-01-22T23:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/?p=9470"},"modified":"2011-01-23T21:03:11","modified_gmt":"2011-01-23T10:03:11","slug":"review-bringing-the-zombies-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/01\/23\/review-bringing-the-zombies-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Bringing the Zombies Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Home<\/strong> (Australia-2010; short [approx. 11 min.]; dir. Cameron McCulloch)<\/p>\n

Aussie filmmaker Cameron McCulloch has produced a damn fine short zombie film in Home<\/em>. Made for AUS$2,000, it is, as it were, but a moment in the Romeroesque, post-Night of the Living Dead<\/em> apocalypse, almost a vignette, though with the help of actress Jamie Mcdowell it achieves an emotionally epic quality.<\/p>\n

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With no dialogue (“apart from zombie moans”), but powerful imagery, beautiful cinematography, an evocative soundscape, effective music and leisurely pacing, it offers up a story that — like a breath of fresh air in a genre that is too often careless and derivative — takes its subject seriously, filling its meagre 11 minutes with enough atmospheric suspense, thrills and pathos to guarantee it will stay in the memory long after its wrenching final moments.<\/p>\n

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If you get a chance to see it when it comes to a festival near you, make sure you do.<\/p>\n

The Backbrain asked director McCulloch some questions about his work.<\/p>\n

Undead Backbrain<\/strong>: Have you had any previous experience with zombies?<\/em><\/p>\n

Cameron McCulloch<\/strong>: None with zombies, though I have had experience directing horror, action and comedy. This is my first zombie film, or as we dubbed it, a romzom.<\/p>\n

UB:<\/strong> Why this subject for a film?<\/em><\/p>\n

CM<\/strong>: I began writing the project as an exercise. I wanted to tell a story about isolation and loneliness with as much emotion as possible, but no dialogue. I began writing, showing the woman alone, the pulley system to warn that something is out there. When I got to the scene where we see the first zombie, I was trying to think what it could be and well zombies!<\/em> came to mind and I just ran with it. Being a genre fan and a zombie fan, I thought it was about time for a cool zombie short. Plus at the time of writing the film, zombies were not all that popular, unlike now.<\/p>\n

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UB:<\/strong> Your own background?<\/em><\/p>\n

CM<\/strong>: Since graduating film school, I have been working as a editor \/ director, mainly directing music videos and shorts and editing commercials. I have been making films since I was 13 so, for 20 years now. But good ones for only about 10!<\/p>\n

UB:<\/strong> What about this description you gave me of the filming: “It was shot under grueling fucked up conditions”?<\/em><\/p>\n

CM<\/strong>: We shot in the middle of winter over two weekends, We had a remote location for the first weekend. On our first day, which was one of the coldest winter days in 10 years, it rained constantly, our lead actress had a chest infection and because the film relies solely on her emotive performance it was really tough for her physically, particularly with a bastard like me pushing her to do more takes when she was sick as a dog. Jamie was great though — she never complained and was always ready to shoot.<\/p>\n

UB:<\/strong> Where can our readers get to see “Home”?<\/em><\/p>\n

CM<\/strong>: We have already screened twice in Melbourne [taking out first prize at the Made in Melbourne Film Festival in December, I might add — ed.<\/em>]. There will be some screenings soon in the near future. I am confirming some details on them very soon.<\/p>\n

UB<\/strong>: Ambitions for the future?<\/em><\/p>\n

CM<\/strong>: My next production will be a 12-part romantic\/comedy\/zombie web series (so a “romcomzom” — or maybe I’ll just stick with “romzom”), which I’m in the final stages of writing. It’s a blend of comedy and romance with some zombies in there as well, just for good measure. Unlike “Home”, this series will be dialogue-heavy and a lot less depressing, focusing on characters and the comedy of the situation. I like a bit of gore with my comedy and romance.<\/p>\n

Also I have just finished a script for a new short which I will shoot late in the year, and have some feature scripts ready to go.<\/p>\n