PLAGA ZOMBIE: MUTANT ZONE

Argentina. The inhabitants of an unspecified small village are infected by an alien-origin virus and turn into zombies hungry for human flesh. The area is quarantined by the army and the few survivors are abandoned by the authorities to their fate. "Plaga Zombie" is a 1997 splatter movie born from the desire to make cinema by a group of young Argentinians and that quickly gained a good reputation worldwide among horror movie enthusiasts. "Plaga Zombie: Zona mutante" is its 2001 sequel that sees the same team from the first film reunited to delight us with new humorous adventures in a splatter demenial key. The lack of means that characterized the making of this film is immediately noticeable: amateur photography, almost improvised actors, and rough special effects. But it is precisely the roughness of the special effects (highly splatter), along with the irreverent amateur taste, one of the most fascinating things about the film in question: we will witness disembowelments, disembowelments (a zombie is tied to a pole with his own guts!), decapitations, amputations, and any other kind of atrocity; all made and shown with extreme irony. The sore point, however, is the makeup of the living dead: poorly done and undoubtedly ridiculous. The three protagonists of "Plaga Zombie: Zona mutante" are bizarre and comic-like as the rest of the film: John West, played by Berta Munóz, is a giant failed wrestler who lives in the memory of his past as a star; Bill, played by Pablo Parés, is a young, very aggressive medical student; Max, Hernán Sáez, is a strange boy with a protective helmet on his head and an unpredictable, almost schizophrenic character. The actors who play Bill and Max are also the directors and screenwriters of both "Plaga Zombie". In short, "Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante" is a fun splatter movie clearly inspired by the early works of Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson ("Bad Taste" above all), made in extreme poverty (and that is where its limit lies...), but surely worthy of at least one viewing. Recently available on DVD also in the Italian market thanks to the specialized company "Gargoyle video". Not recommended for the fine-palated viewer.