Graveyard Alive

I saw this at an all night horror marathon the other day where the director was present (I was the guy in the Godzilla T-Shirt), I wasn't sure what to make of it to start with, maybe it was because it was the first full length feature of the night and b&w with a strange style. But as the film went on I got more and more into it, although I couldn't decide if the lip syncing (or not) was intentional or not.

The plot is that there's a nurse in a hospital who is the dorky one who nobody likes and doesn't have a boyfriend, but when a patient (who happens to be a zombie) shows an interest she falls in love but gets bitten and turned into a horny zombie, and so the plot commences.

Anyway there's plenty of zombie related comedy and a good share of gore in here.

Overall I would watch it again, and would recommend people who like low-budget film-making, it kind of reminded me of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. 8/10

This is a true rarity in the genre, if only because it was written, directed, and produced by women. Horrors created exclusively by men are a dime a dozen, but women's involvement behind the scenes has been sadly lacking. This one took four years to get made, and then another four years (post-festival circuit) to finally get a DVD release this month. That's all very unfortunate, because this unique low-budget zomromcom is an overall success. It tells the story of frumpy Nurse Patsy, who isn't over her love for former beau Dr. Dox. Unfortunately, he's getting married to Nurse Goodie Teuscheuze, who taunts Patsy in the workplace like a little brat on a playground. While caring for a woodcutter with an ax in his head (!), Nurse Patsy gets bitten. She soon finds her appetite for sex increasing, her self-esteem raising, and her skin falling off. Unfortunately, a craving for human flesh comes with her new-found sex drive. This movie is a total hoot. It plays out like a 50s b-movie mixed with a "hospital soap opera." The lead actress plays it straight-faced, but all of the other actors ham it up like they're in a horror spoof of "General Hospital." It works better than it sounds. The dialogue is witty and the delivery is spot-on. The narrative feels a bit predictable at first, but it twists into unique and surprising territory. It's very funny in places, though feels a little thin in spots. Overall, it's better than most indie zombie movies. Thumbs up, though the amateur cast interviews in the special features are best left unwatched for various reasons...

This was one strange movie. It was in black and white, which is OK, but it really felt like a silent film from the 20s. There was very little dialog, and they could have skipped that entirely.

Nurse Patsy (Anne Day-Jones) is a wallflower that is in love with Dr. Dox (Karl Gerhardt), who just happened to be the guy who took her to the prom in high school. He lost his geekiness, but she stayed the same until she was bit by an infected woodsman.

She turns into a hottie that must eat flesh to stay beautiful. This is where the film gets really funny.

The fiancé of Dr. Dox, Nurse Goodie (Samantha Slan) is the only one who suspects the truth and ends up in a sanatorium after trying to expose Nurse Patsy.

The ending was hilarious.

By the title alone I knew I had to go see it. It played here in Winnipeg at NSI film exchange March 2004.

Basically very well done film especially because it was shot with the intent for it to be silent than all the sound and dialog was added well after the fact in post. This is amazing as I only noticed one or two places where the dialog seemed to be out of sync slightly. it has an interesting acting style throughout due to the fact it was suppose to be silent, a lot of physical expression of emotions and words. It is shot well on black and white, the B$W really builds into the character of the film.

Overall I would definitely recommend it. I can't wait to purchase a copy.

"Patsy Powers" (Anne Day-Jones) is a young but lonely nurse working at a hospital who is called upon to assist in a special case involving a patient with an axe buried into his head. The operation appears to be a success and as he is recovering he and Patsy begin to have feelings for one another. However, when they try to get intimate the patient bites Patsy--which results in her slowly becoming a zombie. Meanwhile, as this transformation is going on Patsy loses her shy inhibitions and begins to attract the other male doctors and staff who happen to work with her. Anyway, so much for the plot. As far as the movie itself is concerned I will just say that it definitely had some weaknesses. For example, if this ultra low-budget film was intended to be a comedy then it failed miserably as the humor just wasn't that sharp. Likewise, if the movie was meant to be a horror film then it wasn't very effective at that either. On the other hand, the director (Elza Kephart) was quite imaginative and used a number of tricks and gimmicks to keep this film somewhat interesting. But it just wasn't enough. Accordingly, I rate this film as below average.