Zombie Bankers

Recent reviews of the film Zombie Bankers

As someone who teaches Business Ethics at the University level, I must congratulate Zombie Bankers for beautifully relating how our system is ruining itself from within. As was stated so well in the film "Any system that feeds on itself has to be destroyed," our country is on a path that must be corrected or we run the risk of collapse. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, lots of fun and plenty of truth! I was delighted to see how Drew Snyder put on the screen what so many of us have believed has been happening for so many years...too many of our bankers and banks have become zombies.

Three cheers for Zombie Bankers. A must see for anyone who deals with banks and bankers and wants to see our country survive. Hmm...I guess that would be just about everybody.

Watching Zombie Bankers, I was ready to laugh and I did. I was ready to see some strange people and I did. The romp through the countryside was good, light-hearted fun, but at some point I was grabbed by a growing concern that the distinction between the Good Guys and the Zombies was becoming blurred. I was scared and with good reason. I was expecting a "them and us" situation, in which Carson, Crusher, and crew, carrying the banner for us Good Guys would vilify and destroy the Evil Banking Establishment.Suddenly I got the uncomfortable feeling that the film asks us to do more than that. At some point the Zombies are also us, caught in the quicksand of overspending and then struggling to get out, all the while sinking deeper and deeper. We see in the film that it is not just the banks but the malls that are filled with people who have had the life sucked out of them, not just by a raw deal, but by confusing wealth with self- worth. The seduction of the good life has expanded the Zombie ranks beyond those who control interest rates and mortgages.

The fight then, not just with the enemy but with ourselves, becomes an effort to overcome the human tendency to want just a little more than we can afford, then a little more than that and allowing that addiction to numb our ethics. To avoid becoming Zombies ourselves, we must take to heart the rallying cry of Carson Drew who tells us," If we let it be about things, they win." The fun of the film is that it does not preach but delivers its message amid guffaws about USDA prime meat,flatulence,and fire water.The tension and despair over a crisis that has plagued us all is mitigated somehow by school boy humor that knows no bounds.

Visually the vapidity of the Zombies strikes a strong contrast with the warmth displayed by the "man and his dog" affection of Carson and Rosie and the romantic duo of Claire and John. Another evident contrast is the natural beauty of the countryside juxtaposed with the sterility of the mall and other Zombie zones. Ironically neither love nor beauty as presented in the relationships or landscape has a price tag but elicits happiness and appreciation that is real. A final contrast offers the celebration of new life against a splendid natural backdrop, but it comes with a very unnatural price tag, an overbearing challenge for future generations, echoing Crusher's admonition, "We would not do this to our people."

The casting of Zombie Bankers is excellent, the acting too, highlighted but not limited to Drew Snyder's performance, keeps the film light, lively, and full of surprises with an underlying message that Wordsworth phrased so aptly," Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers."

Zombie Bankers is a dark and satirical glimpse into how the predatory lending practices of banking institutions dehumanize those who take part. While confusing at moments, at it's heart the film speaks to the deflated spirit of the survivors of the economic calamity that has befallen the united states economy. It attempts to dehumanize both the common man along with the banking executive in the statement the film makes that any and all who participate in the process of lending are zombies, or more appropriately, that they have been stripped of all the qualities that make them human. While the message is admirable, it is far from clear in that segments of the film seem charged and bitter, far more full of emotion than clarity of story telling. The humor was surprising and refreshing along with deceptively subdued performances from the leads in the cast. I really enjoy the concept of this movie, the idea of fighting back against a system that takes from us until all we are is a stumbling, fumbling blob of meat really revolutionizes the zombie genre.

"Zombie Bankers," directed by Drew Snyder, is not your typical movie. At the start of the film, Carson Drew (played by Drew Snyder) learns of a zombie pandemic slowly taking over the country. But these are not normal zombies. These are zombies that have become consumed by their debts and other frivolous things that were holding them down. They have been driven insane and it's up to Carson to stop them.

While on the road with his bloodhound Rosie, Carson runs into John (Patrick Cameron) a soldier discharged from the army for suffering from PTSD, after serving two tours in Iraq. He also meets Claire (Kristen Mandilas) a college student who has been forced out of school because of bad credit card debt. Claire and John quickly fall in love and join Carson in his fight against the zombies. Along the way the group also meets a giant, supernatural Native American man named Crusher (Brian Cooper). Crusher provides the group with weapons and helps teach them how to better fight the zombies.

Snyder makes for an often quirky but strong leader, relentless in his pursuit to defeat the zombies. Patrick Cameron and Kristen Mandilas have excellent chemistry and provide a very affectionate, playful romance to the film. And Brian Cooper, as the mysterious and seemingly unbeatable Native superhero, provides Carson the boost he needs when he at one point thinks that all hope is lost.

"Zombie Bankers" has a very naturalistic look to it; you feel like you're in the action right alongside the characters. And as bizarre as the character's circumstances may be, the scenario is not really so hard to fathom- and it leaves you with a gritty feeling over how much "control" we all have over our possessions. The zombies have been diminished to nothing because they let themselves be controlled by items that they thought they had under their control.