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Saturday, May 23, 2009

Could This Zero-Budget UK Flick "Revolutionize Zombie Cinema"?

Rumor has it that a British zombie flick wowing industry big-wigs at Cannes is set to do big things. And the best part is, it cost less to make than the cost of the deluxe DVD edition of Dawn of the Dead...

For a grand total of 70 bucks American, Englishman Marc Price has directed a movie that is now being eyed for worldwide distribution. It's called Colin, and hinges on the ingenious concept of telling the story from the zombie's perspective.

"When we say it's a low budget film, people presume a couple of hundred thousand [dollars]," said publicist Helen Grace to CNN. "People can't figure out how it's possible. What Marc's achieved has left people astonished."

The astonished people Ms. Grace is referring to are the representatives from major Japanese and Hollywood distributors who packed the market screenings at the French film festival. Going on the mega-positive buzz the down-and-dirty flick has been generating, several of those distributors are now in serious negotiations to pick it up.

In what has to be an encouraging sign for amateur filmmakers the world over, Price explains how he recruited a horde of zombie extras on Facebook and MySpace, and recycled special effects from used materials cribbed from other movies. He also fesses up to learning everything he knows from watching DVD commentaries and special features.

The idea to make the film came from a late-night screening of Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead with a bunch of friends, which led them to lament how they'd never be able to make their own zombie film because they had no budget. That's when Price got the epiphany that making a movie from the perspective of the undead would seriously minimize those budget concerns. But even he has to be surprised at the mere SEVENTY-DOLLAR price-tag (Price reports the money went to the purchase of a crowbar, a few tapes, and tea and coffee for his zombie extras).

Included in the positive buzz that carried the flick to Cannes is a review from the zombie social networking site zombiefriends.com that says it's "as original, compelling and thought provoking as [George] Romero's 'Night of the Living Dead,'" as well as SCARS magazine's brash prediction that Colin will "revolutionize zombie cinema".

I've seen enough of these no-budget amateur zombie flicks to realize that most of them are godawful crap, but it would appear that Colin is that one needle in the haystack that may actually be worth catching. So keep your eye out for it, I'm sure it'll be headed our way pretty soon.

13 comments:

RayRay said...

Look, at worst this is going to be a fan movie, which is almost always something to laugh at. I recently saw a fan movie as a sequel to The Thing, and aside from the bad acting, lack of a story, and terrible audio production, the special effects - creative paper mache - were surprisingly good.

KT Grant said...

A movie made for $75 dollars? How did they do that? And to think I was in awe that Kevin Smith made Clerks with his credit card.

B-Sol said...

Basically it sounds like no one got paid, and they stole a bunch of stuff...

KT Grant said...

$70 will equal to $70 million!

I really need a camcorder a shoot something scary. Worked for Blair Witch and now this!

B-Sol said...

Oh, I know--this thing is gonna be 100% pure profit. On the down side, it'll probably inspire a lot of untalented people to make some really unwatchable turds...

KT Grant said...

Seriously, we should get on top of this before all those untalented turds do. I could write the script! Make a movie about a guy who vlogs about the end of the world or the zombie outbreaks.

LOL my word verification is brains!!

B-Sol said...

That's hilarious, must be a sign!

Alright, then, get to work on that script--the vlog idea will certainly keep the budget low lol.

KT Grant said...

just enough money to pay for blood and guts. More gore the better!

B-Sol said...

As we used to say in the wrestling business, red equals green!

Mykal Banta said...

Hell, if he hadn't sprung for the tea and coffee he could have brought the thing in for $50.00. If it is successful, as it seems destined to be, get ready for a tidal of home video starring friends slathered in congealed ketchup and pig innards donated by the local butcher. -- Mykal

Jonathan said...

I think the $70 thing is a bit of a stretch for marketing purposes. Maybe the creator only spent that much, but each person playing a zombie probably paid for their own makeup, etc.

That said, we should wrangle up some of the local zombie-holics and make a movie! We could be the untalented people to making some really unwatchable turds you mentioned!

Jonathan said...

I meant "We could be the untalented people making some really unwatchable turds you mentioned!"

Please ignore the stray "to."

B-Sol said...

Hey, how about I ignore the whole hair-brained scheme, and we call it a day! I kid man, I kid! Hey, were you planning to hit the Alien screening in Stamford tomorrow night?

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