ZOMBIE HONEYMOON

Newlyweds Danny and Denise set off for their honeymoon; their destination: the beach house that Denise's uncle left them for a few weeks. One morning, while the young newlyweds are relaxing on the beach, a man emerges from the sea and slowly walks towards the couple; Danny is attacked by the man who, before falling to the ground lifeless, vomits bloody clots onto the boy's face. Danny is taken to the hospital and immediately pronounced dead, but after ten minutes of cardiac arrest, the boy wakes up and appears in full health. From that moment on, however, the young groom begins to change: his physique undergoes a slow process of decay, his character becomes more aggressive, and he begins to feel the need to feed on human flesh. Yet another Gargoyle video distribution that, as usual, draws from the cauldron of independent or low-budget productions. "Zombie Honeymoon", far from being a perfect film, nevertheless proves to be a successful and well-made sentimental drama filled with semi-splatter sequences, to the point of being defined "a love story with a bit of blood; a horror with a touch of romance". The story presents itself as an original variant of the classic zombie theme, now so popular in international genre cinema after the relaunch with "Dawn of the Dead", although one cannot help but notice some analogies with the independent "I, Zombie". In "Zombie Honeymoon", however, the aspect that is most explored is the relationship that develops between the two young spouses, a relationship so deep and based on mutual complicity, capable of going beyond any institutional formula: the "until death do us part" here has no validity! Danny, a vegetarian in life, begins to kill and feed on humans in a progression of lucid madness capable of making the viewer even feel pity and empathy for this "monster"; Denise, although disgusted and frightened by what her husband has become, supports him and continues to love him, even becoming an accomplice to his crimes, while hoping that the situation is just a bad dream and that one day her desire to leave with her husband for Portugal will come true. Although in the first minutes "Zombie Honeymoon" may seem like a raucous comedy, its true dramatic identity is soon revealed, with splatter peaks concentrated in the frequent scenes of cannibalism and in the final massacre, where the skilful use of off-screen sound effects succeeds in inspiring disgust and fear more than any image. The director and screenwriter David Gebroe (here in his second feature film after his debut with the comedy "The Homeboy"), with his passion for local splatter cinema (in an ironic sequence in a video rental store, "Zombi 2" is cited), thus crafts a good horror that, despite the intentions of combining the genre with a comedy component, proves to be of singular dramatic and crude intensity. Good the two actors involved and in particular the convincing Tracy Coogan in the role of Denise. Worthy of viewing. Curiosity. The director, for the plot writing, was inspired by a real event that occurred in his family, in fact Denise and Danny are his sister and her late husband. Just like in "Zombie Honeymoon" Danny, shortly after getting married, died on the beach after surfing. The director dedicates the film to him.