Mimesis

A disparate group of people including a young girl attend a lecture by a horror film-maker. Invited to a select after party, they wake up in bizarre surroundings. One of the first group - two buddies - are attacked by a zombie, and is very badly wounded. They are joined by a woman, and make it to the house where in the disjointed introduction the householder - a farmer - and his apparently disabled wife are murdered. All very confusing so far, and obviously supernatural, though it turns out these zombies are anything but. The clue to what is happening is in the film's title; mimesis refers to life imitating art, in this case a group of sickos have decided to recreate the classic 1968 horror film "Night Of The Living Dead".

Clearly "Mimesis..." scores for originality, but if zombies are beyond belief, so are the logistics and leaps of faith the viewer is supposed to make here. In the original film, everybody died. Does that happen here? If you stick around to find out you won't be disappointed, but you probably won't be enthralled either.

Just saw the premier showing of this last night at the McMorran Complex in Port Huron, Michigan. All (or most of) the actors and actresses were at the showing which made it all that much more interesting. I have to say that I enjoyed this movie very much, even if it were a little bit on the "campy" side. But perhaps that is because I am biased. I am also a big fan of the original Night of the Living Dead Romero Classic from the late 1960's. This movie was made on similar budget as that, albeit updated to the current price of movie making as compared to 40 or so years ago. The effects were good enough to grab most of the audiences attention as far as the reactions went, including myself! It was nearly a sold out movie theater, and I can tell you from the unemployment in this part of the world that is a rare thing in this town for sure! Let me say that it gave me a bit of the "Halloween Spirit" that I haven't had for a few years now. Dare I say it made me giddy? Anyways, I would definitely recommend this indie as a must see for the low(er) budget horror flick fan.

Well, to fully appreciate this movie for what it is, then you have to be an avid fan of the zombie genre, and especially of "Night of the Living Dead". I can say that I am both those things, but still I found this movie to be somewhat disappointing.

Sure there were some great moments here and there, and it was especially great to revisit the house and feel like being back at the location of "Night of the Living Dead". On that account, the movie makers managed to accomplish something great.

However, on the story part of the movie, then the movie makers didn't really fully deliver anything solid. The idea of re-inventing something from a movie into real life does seem interesting, yes I will admit to that, but ultimately this movie failed to leave a lasting impression. What turned out to be not so great was the way that it was executed and the way that these "zombies" looked. Not to mention the motive behind it all, it was just a little bit too campy.

I was initially lured in to watching this as it allegedly was a zombie movie, plus it had Sid Haig on the billing list. Yeah, he was in the movie around perhaps five minutes or so, so don't get suckered in to this with these factors as I was. You'll just end up sorely disappointed.

As for the acting, well people did good enough jobs with their given roles, it was just the script itself that didn't give the actors and actresses much to work with.

"Mimesis" is not really a good movie if you are looking for some zombie entertainment. The movie does, however, have some entertainment value if you are a hardcore fan of the "Night of the Living Dead" movie. But as for a regular zombie movie, then "Mimesis" failed on a grand scale. And you might just also find some enjoyment in "Mimesis" if you are the type that appreciate low-budget indie movies.

The best thing about this entire movie was the tribute it paid to "Night of the Living Dead" and the entire atmosphere they managed to build up, because it was really like re-visiting the classic movie (in either the original or re-make version).

Having seen it once, then I can honestly say that I will not be making a second watching out of this, because there simply isn't enough entertainment value in it.

Two positive reviews so far, and here's a third. Why it has a 2.4 rating? You got me. From start to finish this movie either had me laughing or jumping out of my seat. It blends the two nicely, but doesn't try and force anything. A big part of the laughs comes from the actors, who seem to get the scripts subtle hints at comedy, and the scares come from Douglas Schulze's direction; this being his fourth feature,(all horror) he seems to have grown into a master of the genre. There is little proof from watching this movie that it was made on a shoestring budget, much like "Night of the Living Dead" the movie that inspired the script for "Mimesis" a love letter to Romero. The script is very self aware, however much like today's horror fan, the characters in the movie are not familiar with the classic zombie film, except for one character who keeps everyone informed, audience included, on what might happen next. After watching this movie I immediately went out and rented "NOTLD" which I'm sure will be the reaction of a lot of other people, thus making "Mimesis" even more cinematically relevant than I'm sure it intended to be by re-introducing a classic in modern story telling. Did I mention that Sid Haig (House of a Thousand Corpses, Kill Bill 2), and Courtney Gaines (Children of The Corn, The Burbs) also appear in the film. Fun for all. I recommend.

A group of horror fans find themselves unwilling participants in a nightmarish role playing game that pays homage to a classic horror film.

I like the idea they were going for here -- a group of people recreating "Night of the Living Dead". With all the sequels, remakes, and ripoffs, I am a bit wary of anything related to NoTLD these days. But I really think this idea had merit.

However, I am not sure if it succeeded. At times, it seemed to drag, and I really disliked the role played by Sid Haig. Haig, being a well-known horror icon, should probably have played himself at the convention. In fact, for the film to make complete sense, the role would have had to be George Romero playing George Romero. I assume they know this and simply could not get him.