I was recently sent over a copy of Mimesis to review and it’s a film I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of for quite some time. It was written by Douglas Schulze and Joshua Wagner with Douglas directing. Neither of these two is a horror virgin though both are still a little green when it comes to putting a movie together. You’d never know it though by the quality of this film. The film itself is both an interesting take on horror films (in a style similar to the Scream sequels) as well as an absolutely amazing homage to George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
We start the movie at a barn where we watch a farmer and his family get taken down by what appears to be zombies. There isn’t a lot of focus here but it explains away the barn they are on later in the film. After the introduction the the real film opens with a horror director talking about the horrors of human life being blamed on horror films at a convention. Immediately after we meet most of the upcoming cast as 2 friends, Russel and Duane, are arguing over if it has any relevance in modern society as well as a few others in the crowd who are trying to get them to be quiet so they can enjoy the presentation.
Russel is a total horror geek and Duane is his friend that he talked into giving him a ride to the convention. While he likes horror films he thinks the true fanatics are more to be made fun of then associate with. After the presentation the two leads are invited to an after party by a horror hotty. One of the friends (Duane) is of course all set for going while the other wants to head home as he has work in the morning. Of course with a woman in question they end up going to the party.
The party itself has a bunch of horror fanatics drinking at a certain barn mentioned above. The party goers themselves all end up being knocked unconscious as the alcohol was spiked and when they come to appear to be stuck in the Night of the Living Dead. Seven people are stuck on a barn where they are being attacked by zombies. The first two to wake up are Russel and Karen and anyone out there who was thinking the horror geek is going to get the girl in the end will quickly be proven wrong. Russell makes it a whopping two minutes after waking up before having his neck brutally bitten into.
Most of the cast at least resemble members of Night of the Living Dead’s original cast. From there a lot of what happens in the movie ends up happening to these poor souls. There is enough difference to mix things up and enough the same to keep as a good tribute to the original film. The “twist” of the film has been part of the description as well as in a lot of the previews so it’s not too much of a surprise and not really a spoiler. (If you haven’t been paying attention though you may want to stop reading the review now.) What it boils down to is that this is all being setup by a bunch of horror fans who want to live out the original Night of the Living Dead.
Yes it’s people whoa re trying to live out a snuff film. It’s not super original and it’s VERY obvious but I have to say that’s OK. The killers believe it’s a ‘game’ and they are just living it out. One of them even tries to blame it on the movies to turn things back on the original director who they ended up killing. Yes as I mentioned above it’s very Scream meets Night of the Living Dead. If you are expecting a genre bending film that’s amazing don’t. The movie is great as an homage to Night and as a popcorn film. It really is enjoyable if you aren’t expecting something mind blowing.
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