Portrait of a Zombie

An American film maker documents the daily life of Billy the zombie and his family in working class Dublin during a zombie outbreak. For a start these zombie apocalypse movies have been done to death - and then some! It became boring years ago for me. But at least here there is a slightly new spin on the sub-genre. This is a very low budget movie so obviously this must be taken into account when reviewing. The acting varies from acceptable (Billy's parents) to dire (female character known as AD, I think she is meant to be an American but clearly is incapable of hiding her Irish accent!). Despite being in the midst of an apocalypse the budget obviously did not stretch to any military or police presence, it is down to local gangsters played by bad actors to save the non-infected!! The gory make-up was pretty decent and the film has an effective musical score, how many movies can boast musicians "Slow News Day in the Vampire World" on their credits?? Don't get me wrong, the film makers did a reasonable job considering the low budget and obviously lack of talent, but these rave reviews should be taken with a large dose of salt! I certainly could not give this a repeat viewing.

It should be said that the approach to the zombie genre seen in "Portrait of a Zombie" is indeed new and innovative. However, that doesn't necessarily make it great.

The movie had potential, and if it had a bigger budget the movie would indeed have been so much more than it was. I must say that "Portrait of a Zombie" turned out to be a rather ambitious amateurish project. But it was still enjoyable enough for what it was - and for what it turned out to be.

The storyline in "Portrait of a Zombie" is about a family that have a zombie at home, their son Billy. The neighborhood is in uproar and the family still treats him as being alive and still being their son.

Story-wise, then there were aspects to the story that were alright, but in overall, it wasn't memorable.

What really needed more detail, work and better execution was the make-up and effects of the zombies. It was basically just make-up added to people's faces, and of course they committed the ultimate flaw here; forgetting about the neck and ears. So the face had make-up and special effects applied, while the neck and ears were left in proper skin tones. It is just such a bad mistake to make.

The gun effects in the movie were just atrocious, and the movie would have fared so much better if they had opted not to have guns in the movie at all. If you are going to do guns, at least have them done right.

And the way that Billy was moving just didn't go well with me, it looked like a crippled duck trying to dance break-dance. It was just awful.

The acting in the movie was actually good, given what the actors and actresses had to work with.

But for a movie of this production value, I will still applaud director Bing Bailey for managing to get this on its feet and turn it into what it was. If you enjoy zombie movies, then "Portrait of a Zombie" is definitely worth watching a single time, because of its unique approach to the zombie genre. However, just don't get your hopes up for a next Romero movie in the making.

Portrait of a Zombie is a witty re-imagining of the well worked undead theme. In this feature, an ordinary, working class family must deal with the fall out from their son's transformation to a zombie. What sets this piece apart from others is the down-to- earth feel, as if zombification were just another in a long line of working class problems. It is pretty difficult not to sympathise and empathise with Billy, the zombie son and his family and friends as they try to come to terms with the new situation. Billy's parents are central, unifying characters in the movie and the superb acting of Geraldine MacAlinden in particular brings a touch of humanity to tale. The sombre theme is elevated to pure black magic by the inclusion of witty, biting dialogue. POAZ will not disappoint hardcore horror fan. There is plenty of blood, goo and brain eating. However, some of the gore is strictly for those with an iron stomach. If you want a taste (sic!) of the real Ireland , infused with zombie apocalypse, Portrait is the one for you.

I seen this at the opening of the Underground Cinema film festival last week – I believe it won and I am not surprised. It's a mock documentary with a twisted sense of humor about a film crew from the US documenting the day to day life of a family in Dublin whose eldest son is a zombie. Its like Shaun of the Dead meets Spinal Tap only a whole lot grittier (is that a word?).

Some of the scenes take the zombie theme to a whole new level – for me anyway. Although its an independent movie the characters are very well developed especially the father – when he speaks his heart to the camera – the mother (mothers believe in their children but not usually to this extent – you have to see this) & the American in charge of the film crew – excellent. I also liked the Zombie's younger brother and how his issues were almost like that standard older brother/younger brother dynamic.

Very creative & enjoyable and I would guess a cert 15 if not 18… enjoy.

I am not usually a big fan of zombie movies. I did, however, really like this one, which I saw at the Newport Beach Film Festival. This is not your traditional zombie movie. It is intelligent, well-acted, has depth and just a bit of satire and the undercurrent of social commentary. This is mainly due to the excellent script, the wonderful Irish actors and the deft direction/editing by Bing Bailey (and his wife Laura, who co-wrote the script). I met Bing at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, but wasn't able to see it there, so I traveled down to the Newport Festival and was really glad I did. Can't wait for Bing's next film.