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Cast: Sid Haig, Courtney Gains, Allen Maldonado, Taylor Piedmonte, David Schwager
A group of horror fans find themselves unwilling participants in a nightmarish role playing game that pays homage to a classic horror film. Seven complete strangers whose only common link is a love for classic era horror films are invited to attend an exclusive 'horror fan' party at a remote farm. But as the sun sets, these strangers soon find themselves living a real life version of the cult horror classic, Night of the Living Dead. The strangers all bare a striking resemblance to the cast members from the Romero classic and waiting just outside the boarded up farmhouses, a group of demented sociopaths eager to 'mimic' the flesh eating zombies. Why watch a horror film when you can live one?
I think most people are getting bored of all these zombie movies by now but "Mimesis" at least gives it an original twist. As the film opens you see Alphonze Betz who is speaking at a horror convention about the way the government and media blame movies, music and video games for violent crimes. In the audience, attending the convention are Russell and his buddy Duane. It's pretty clear why Russell is there, he has geek written all over him but Duane is there to pick up chicks. When a goth, Judith invites Duane to a party at a farmhouse he immediately says yes but it takes a bit of coaxing to get Russell to go and even after he agrees he is still not for the whole idea. Once they arrive it doesn't take Russell long to see that they are part of a someone's sick and twisted plan to remake "The Night of the Living Dead" movie.
Mimesis" does play homage to NOTLD in excellent detail but it also brings some of it's own ideas to the table as well plus it tosses in some extra characters and twists giving it a modern feel. I enjoyed the film and I thought the original take on everything was clever and entertaining but I wasn't blown away by the film. I think my expectations were a little high due to the hype the film got from the various festivals it played at and fan reaction there. I suppose fans of horror are so desperate for something new that anything a little different gets them excited. Now don't get me wrong I did enjoy the film like I already stated, I liked the whole story, the different twists and I even enjoyed the homage part since I haven't seen the original film in ages so I give Co-Writer/Director, Douglas Schulze credit for adding a little freshness to the genre.
The cast did a good job in the film including the two main leads, Allen Maldonado as Duane and Taylor Piedmonte as Russell. The supporting cast did a great job as well, two of which were Sid Haig (House of a Thousand Corpses) and Courtney Gaines (Children of The Corn). The make-up and gore effects were all done well and the production looked great over-all. So to me the film was a bit over-hyped but that doesn't mean it wasn't a fun film and I was entertained by it. I suppose others out there are going to find it to be better than I did so I recommend picking it up and judging for yourself. Available on DVD and Blu-ray, both come with Special Features that include:
Audio Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Douglas Schulze and Co-Writer Joshua Wagner
You can order the DVD HERE and the Blu-ray HERE.
Rleased by Anchor Bay Entertainment
*** 1/2 Out Of *****