Zombie Honeymoon

After getting married, Danny (Graham Sibley) and Denise (Tracy Coogan) travel for a honeymoon of one month long in a cottage of her uncle nearby the beach. Danny and Denise are in deep love, and while they are resting on the beach, Danny is attacked by a stumbled zombie that comes out of the sea and vomits into his mouth. Danny dies for ten minutes, and when the doctor declares him dead, he miraculously revives. Danny stays in observation in the hospital along the night, and on the next morning, they leave the place and he convinces Denise to travel to Portugal. However, the former vegetarian Danny, having an uncontrollable hunger for human flesh, attacks many people, while Denise cleans his bloody mess trying to help her beloved husband.

"Zombie Honeymoon" is a bizarre and gore love story, but unfortunately the confused screenplay fails, once mixes romance, drama, dark comedy and horror but in very wrong doses and the genre of the story is not well situated. This low budget movie is visually too heavy and gore for a romance, shallow for a drama, silly for a comedy and most of the tension of the horror scenes are broken by the dramatic love story of Denise and Danny. The make-up and effects are great for this type of B-movie, and with improvements in the screenplay it would certainly be a cult-movie since it has a great potential. I believe "Zombie Honeymoon" deserves to be watched with a few expectations, and maybe the viewer may be favorably surprised. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Lua-de-Mel Assombrada" ("Haunted Honeymoon")

I loved the storyline, but I'm not sure if I liked the movie. Maybe it was too emotional for me, maybe it was too serious, maybe it had too much drama and too little horror, I don't know what it was but I do know I was bored throughout most of it.

The movie starts off with an overly obnoxious couple who were way too giddy for me not to be annoyed. Ya, I get it, you just got married but they more acted like a ten year old who just got his first transformer, then an adult couple. Another thing that bothered me about this movie was in order to make the audience "get the picture" they would have scenes where nothing was going on, no sounds, no movement, just sad faces for what seemed like an eternity.

If you are looking for a sweet "love" story that more fits a horror movie rather then a drama with some blood I would recommended David Morlet's "Mutants" (2009). Now that was a good horror movie about a relationship trying to survive through the odds.

I was as surprised by the quality of this indie outing as I was by finding it in my public library in the first place. None of the principals involved seem to have gone much of anywhere in the past few years, but that's no slur on the integrity of this admirable little piece of cult film-making.

I suspect many of the negative commentaries posted here are from people who expected something more directly related to the Romero/Argento zombie mythos. That's not what this very personal story is concerned with, and more power to it. Instead, what we get is what we might expect given the title: a romantic tale of true love between a blushing new bride and her unfortunately zombified groom. Well actually, the groom doesn't do the undead two-step until after they're married, but who's to quibble? Well written and shot with only a few naff scenes, "Zombie Honeymoon" features very respectable performances from a cast of unknowns, especially Tracy Coogan as the young woman who has no trouble getting her husband to eat leftovers, particularly if they're human. Graham Sibley as the hubby turns in a good showing as well, although at times he seemed a bit too fey. The rest of the cast achieves various levels of believability, but overall the ensemble is far superior to that of, say, "Undead." I won't say this is as clever or engaging as "Shaun of the Dead," which plants itself firmly in Romeroland, but it's definitely worth a cheap rental or a lucky borrow at the library. I had to give it a "6" just for the quality that ended up on the screen.

Put it this way: with a little bit of script-tweaking and a higher production budget, along with the casting of marketable names, "Zombie Honeymoon" could have been a true classic. As it is, it's still a very watchable film and I hope that Mr. Gebroe is able to find further work in the industry. His talent and passion are more than evident. I also hope Ms. Coogan pops up again somewhere down the line, because she's not only a cutie, she's got some acting chops that aren't typically seen in indie films like this one. I'd say her greatest weakness is that she looks like too many other young actresses without having her own distinctive edge. Still, she's young, and with a little luck may well earn herself a worthy career. She has my best wishes, that's for sure.

And now it is time for something completely different. Writer/Director David Gebroe has managed to give us an old fashioned zombie movie with a twist that is unique.

We see Denise and Danny rushing from the church to enjoy a honeymoon. They are the happiest of couples. They are lying on the beach and something happens to shake their world. Soon, Denise will have to remember that line she said in church earlier that day - in sickness and in health.

Graham Sibley and Tracey Coogan give us very interesting performances as a couple with a special problem. Lots of zombie gore in an interesting twist to the genre.

Church bells ring morbidly, but New Jersey newlyweds Tracy Coogan and Graham Sibley (as Denise and Danny Zanders) are very happily married. Bounding out of the church, they take off in their "Just Married" car with Mr. Sibley at the wheel and Ms. Coogan bobbing her head in his lap. The honeymoon goes well, although one kiss does seem like a foreshadowing bite. With a little "Endless Summer" (1966) music, Sibley goes surfing. While the couple relaxes on the beach, an ugly zombie emerges from the ocean. He falls full front on Sibley and spews dark vomit down his throat. It appears like Sibley may die from the encounter. Coogan is happy when her husband miraculously recovers, but the couple faces a zombie challenge...

Neatly written and directed by David Gebroe, "Zombie Honeymoon" is essentially a love story. The horror and gore are present, but Mr. Gebroe does not focus on fright. This sort of monster drama recalls the supernatural characters explored by Dan Curtis on TV in "Dark Shadows" and Anne Rice in her "Vampire Lestat" novels. Explicitly, Mr. Gebroe's script identifies being a zombie as "an affliction." The couple must deal with the potentially monstrous condition and make it work in their marriage, or not...

Coogan and Sibley perform well and we understand their plight. Still, there is very an audience can invest in their characters. He likes to surf, she likes oral sex and they got married. They like Portugal, too. That's all great, for them. Generally, we are spectators and do not participate in their interests and activities. A couple of exceptions are among Mr. Gebroe's highlights. He intimately opens a scene by panning Coogan's legs as she dozes in her underwear, then discovers her groom sick in the bathroom. In this sequence, we are brought seductively and effectively into the drama. Lastly, near the end of the film, Coogan has a brief, dreamy vision of Sibley which shows a romanticism that should have been part of the story's opening.

***** Zombie Honeymoon (10/23/2004) David Gebroe ~ Tracy Coogan, Graham Sibley, Tonya Cornelisse, David M. Wallace