It’s the survivor’s greatest fear: Those moments when he knows he’s infected, and no amount of cleaning or medical treatment will prevent him from becoming a zombie. Those are the moments explored in Side Films‘ super short film “Too Late” — but there’s a twist. I didn’t see it coming! Directed and edited by Rani Naamani, with terrific makeup by Nedy Acet, FX by Carlos Puertolas and performance by Nelson Brown.

Quite possibly the cutest zombie film ever, “Zombie Blues” is a short made by 2nd and 3rd graders at PS 48Q in Jamaica, New York, for the 2011 Urban Arts Festival. It’s the story of a sad, lonely zombie who walks the earth — and even the moon — to find a friend. Needless to say, you won’t find violence and gore in this elementary school project, just a sweet zombie story created by kids. The film was made with the help of Urban Arts Partnership, an organization that brings arts instruction, including filmmaking, to NYC public schools. In addition to the story, the film includes the song “Zombie Blues,” performed by students in their zombie makeup. Who knows, maybe one of these kids will grow up to make their generation’s great zombie feature!

Everybody’s afraid of zombies… But try to imagine your self waking up from the dead… How would you feel?

In a Québec town, a beloved clown (buried in full costume) is awakened from death by a Mentos-based chemical reaction. And so begins the journey of Patrick Biovin’s “Le Queloune” (The Clown). The unlikely protagonist is a fully self-aware zombie — he doesn’t even realize what he is until he catches a glimpse of himself in a mirror. Lucid undead are tricky, but in this comic tale, it works. The short isn’t particularly scary, unless of course you have a fear of clowns. I imagine, in that case, it would be pretty horrifying… but the zombie clown is pretty likable, even as it discovers its taste for human flesh. As with many short films, there is a nice punch at the end (I won’t give it away). Definitely worth checking out — high production values, good acting, a great original score and beautifully done credits. The 2009 film is in French, but there is so little talking in it that the only thing subtitled is the gravestone.

Based on the title, you might expect Chris Russell’s Zombie in a Penguin Suit to be a comedy. And, at first glance, it’s darkly humorous to see a zombie wearing a penguin suit, the trappings of his “before” job as an aquarium employee. In fact, Penguin Suit is a sad, beautifully made story about an undead man, based on the short story “What’s Black and White and Red All Over?” by Hugo Garza. Not quite self-aware, the penguin-clad zombie appears to feel fear enough for you to feel sympathy for him (it?), but not enough that you don’t know that he’s a monster. There are no words in this film, just the hauntingly lovely music of Marc Mellits.

Take seven and a half minutes out of your day and check this out if you haven’t yet. It’s nearly flawless zombie art. If you want to throw the film some support, “Like” it on Facebook: Facebook.com/ZombieinaPenguinSuit or on Zombie in a Penguin Suit’s homepage

Zombie in a Penguin Suit is a short movie by Chris Russell. It is about a guy who becomes a zombie while wearing a giant penguin suit. Hilarity and sadness ensue.

When the zombie apocalypse hits, what will be your weapon of choice? A baseball bat? A rifle? Or will it be… your smart phone? Joe Nicolosi’s short film (very short, clocking in at under four minutes) *#Zombies: Followers of the Dead* explores Twitter as a vital tool for zombie survivalism through a series of improvised interviews. You may ask, how does everyone still have access to the internet? *#Zombies* doesn’t explain that, but the concept is believable: Survivors tweet news (and unsubstantiated rumors) to each other, helping each other fight zombies, find food and shelter, and, of course, become Twitter celebrities. As one survivor ominously puts it, “Followers are power.”

*#Zombies** *(pronounced “Hashtag Zombies”) is more than worth four minutes of your time. Check it out, and find Joe Nicolosi on (where else?) Twitter, at twitter.com/#!/tehpwnshop

Six months after a zombie apocalypse nearly destroyed the world, the remaining survivors talk about twitter…

This was unscripted, totally improvised.

REVIEW: 8 Days Later

8 Days Later is a short film made by Trevor Wild and Daniel Smith. And when I say short, I mean short. It’s less than eight minutes long. It is obviously inspired by 28 Days Later, in terms of its name, berzerker-style zombies, and the tone of the story. The film follows a lone, nameless U.S. soldier as he wanders around in a zombie-infested world. When he isn’t running from zombies he’s either killing zombies, or scavenging for supplies. There’s not much more to the story than that. Fortunately, the bare-bones story is as much an excuse to play the accompanying music as it is anything else.

The music is pretty good, too. Most of it isn’t the kind of stuff I’d go out of my way to listen to, but it fits the movie and none of it is bad. When there isn’t action, there are narrations from the point of view of the soldier. The narrations give you a sense of the futility that the soldier feels, despite his conviction to keep surviving. But none of it prepares you for the ending. Trust me when I say it’s going to hurt.

And, that’s it. The movie is divided into four chapters, called “sessions,” which consist of the three elements “run,” “shoot,” and “narrate.” It would get to be an old formula after a while, but the film is just short enough that it ends before that happens.

Bottom Line: 8 Days Later isn’t anything you’ll be adding to your DVD collection, but it’s definitely a must-see for any zombie fan, especially fans of 28 Days Later.

REVIEW: Just A Car Crash Away

This short zombie flick is brought to you buy DeusExMachina Studio. After a terrible car crash leaving one girl dead (she seems to have flown through the windshield), the lone survivor is desperately trying to hide from the hoard of zombies on the other side of the car. Luckily, it’s the car that is protecting her… for now. I liked this short; it has beautiful photography that gave it this otherworldly experimental feel to it. The description says that the makeup took 3 hours to do, and if that’s true… it shows. The zombies felt real; they had flesh peeling off of their cheeks and solid white eyes. But perhaps the greatest feat this movie accomplishes is the performances, not only by the zombies, but buy the one girl who is trying to hide from them. She has no lines (there is no dialogue at all in the movie) so she is tasked with conveying emotion through facial and body language, and she did a wonderful job. If you are in the mood for a quick zombie short, I recommend this.

Shot on the Canon 7D & 5D mkII

Lenses: Canon 50mm f1.8 Canon 135mm f2.8 Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 macro

ISO speed: from 100 to 400

Burns and scratches: artbeats

3 hour for makeUp and 5 hour of shooting in a cold winter day…..Bring on the Zombie Apocalypse!!!

Short Film: Drag

So when Mark Pavia was able to get the director’s chair for The Night Flier it was due to Stephen King seeing this film. Drag was a short film shot in 1993 that stars Ellie Cahill, Jack O’Donnell, and Marty Sanderson. It’s honestly something that could (and SHOULD) be made into a full length film with a proper budget. While right now he’s working on Sick Nick (Nick’s coming home from Christmas) we can only hope his next film will contain the undead and not have a 10+ year wait.

The world is dead. A lone woman, Victoria, struggles valiantly to stay alive on this desolate planet once known as Earth. But Victoria is not alone here. She shares her horrifying new world with beings of a different kind … the living dead, ferocious beasts hungrily searching for human flesh. With a sawed-off shotgun strapped to her back, Victoria drags a dead body through this horrifying new world in a desperate attempt to hold on to her humanity.

[via: Dread Central.]

TRAILER: Fear Of The Living Dead

This ones the trailer for a short zombie film that we’ll be doing a review for you all sometime in the near future. From the look of it – it should be good! At any rate for now here’s the trailer. Hope you enjoy!

A lone survivor struggles to stay alive in a nightmarish world consumed by the undead. But what happens when she finds out she’s not the only one left alive?

From a group of long-time fans and first-time film makers comes Fear of the Living Dead. Zombie and horror lovers will love this gore-filled thrill ride of a short film.

Watch the short Rise of the Living Corpse for Free!

It’s a short one but a great onea s you really need to watch all 30 seconds of it straight through. Make sure if you miss even a second to re-watch it to fully enjoy the film entirely!

You can find out more at the the creator, Chris Walsh’s Website!