Morbido ’17: I Am a Hero

Hideo Suzuki has been a loser all his life, but he stands a better than average chance of surviving the zombie apocalypse. That is because in heavily gun-regulated Japan, he owns one of the few fully licensed hunting rifles. His survival and that of a teenage girl will depend on whether he has the wherewithal to live up to the heroic meaning of his name in Shinsuke Sato’s I Am a Hero (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 Morbido Film Fest, in CDMX.

Suzuki was once a runner-up in a promising manga artist contest, but he now toils as an assistant in another artist’s manga sweatshop. Even his long indulgent girlfriend gives him the boot, but she invites him back shortly after being infected with the ZQN. Instead of a reunion, Suzuki will be forced to break-up with her permanently.

About this time, Tokyo is over-run by ZQN zombies, but Suzuki manages to get to the outskirts of town with the distressed Hiromi Hayakari. Waking the next morning, he discovers she was bitten days ago by an infected infant, but has yet to feel the effects. Appointing himself her protector, Suzuki pledges to take her to Mt. Fuji, where the altitude will dispel the effects of the virus, as per the internet, which could never be wrong.

Unfortunately, as she starts to fade physically (still without turning), Suzuki is forced to take shelter with a Walking Dead group of survivors encamped on the roofs of an upscale shopping plaza. There he meets the former nurse Yabu Oda who tends to the still human Hayakari. Of course, their self-appointed leader Iura, covets Suzuki’s firearm, as do those who covet Iura’s position.

If ever there was a film 2nd Amendment activists should embrace, this is it. Not to be spoilery, but it spectacularly illustrates the difference an equalizer can make between survival and having your brains eaten before your very eyes. In some ways, IAAH follows a conventional Living Dead/Walking Dead template, but the third act is such an adrenaline-charged jaw-dropper, it could easily become a breakout hit with the Train to Busan audience. Seriously, this is the best zombie film we have seen since Busan, even though IAAH technically predates it.

Yô Ôizumi is pitch-perfect as the nebbish Suzuki reeling from one existential crisis to another. Once again, Masami Nagasawa is terrific as Nurse Yabu. It is a forceful, complex genre performance, just like her work in Kurosawa’s Before We Vanish. Kasumi Arimura is also quite poignant as Hayakari. Indeed, their humanizing relationships will leave viewers eager to revisit these characters, something that screenwriter Akiko Nogi’s adaptation of Kengo Hanazawa’s manga leaves plenty of space for. After all, manga can go on forever.

Granted, the shopping plaza setting might remind fans of Dawn of the Dead, but the tech team can boast of some distinctively disgusting new zombie make-up and effects all their own. Plus, the lock-and-load go-for-broke extended climax is sheer movie magic. Very highly recommended, I Am a Hero screens Halloween Tuesday (10/31), as part of this year’s Morbido in Mexico City.

Morbido ’17: Dhogs

Forget about Mars and Venus, Red and Blue, or any other social dichotomies. According to this film, humanity is really made up of dogs and hogs. The former are loyal and obedient, whereas the latter are dirty, self-indulgent, and perverse. Either way, man remains inherently animalistic. Andrés Goteira invites us to take a good hard look at human nature and then shows us up for being voyeuristic in Dhogs (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 Morbido Film Fest, in CDMX.

Essentially, Dhogs is a Galician language serial killer movie (explaining its presence at Morbido), except it actually gets worse than that for one prospective victim. The narrative is sort of a triptych, but the interconnecting links are especially random for this sort of post-Tarantino movie. Perhaps the weirdest thing going on is Goteira’s explicit homages to Léos Carax’s Holy Motors, of all films.

The unnamed cabbie is sort of Monsieur Oscar figure, but before proceeding with his head-scratching business, he will drop off a middle-aged businessman, who will subsequently pick up a younger woman in the bar of his hotel. Their illicit courtship will be closely watched by the bartender, another patron, and what appears to be a theater audience, in a recurring bit of meta fourth wall-breaking gamesmanship.

Unfortunately, “Álex” as she calls herself, will be abducted by a serial killer during her walk-of-shame from the hotel. From here on out, the film gets drastically darker and dramatically more violent. Frankly, her initial abductor will not even be the worst of her problems, but he is still pretty damn bad.

The second and third acts have some tough stuff that is truly punishing to watch. To cap it all off, the big concluding revelation manages to be both disappointing and disturbing. It is true Goteira is trying to say something the dehumanizing influences of our hedonistic contemporary culture, but he really flogs the viewer with his depictions of man’s bestial treatment of his fellow man.

Still, Melania Cruz is utterly riveting and absolutely harrowing as the horribly unfortunate Álex. It is a great performance, but it is still just as hard to watch as everything else in the film. Respected for the ensemble work, but not recommended for mortal human consumption, Dhogs screens tomorrow (10/28) as part of this year’s Morbido in Mexico City. Those in attendance should definitely make a higher priority of 78/52, Trench 11, Sequence Break, and The Endless.

Morbido ’17: Nightworld

This stately downtown Sofia apartment building is a lot like Sigourney Weaver’s complex in the original Ghostbusters. It has some strange design elements that could only serve an uncanny function. At least it’s quiet—usually. When former LA cop Brett Anderson accepts the position of live-in security guard, he assumes it will the cushy gig his employers promised. Alas, whatever the heck he is supposed to be guarding will ruin his nice, peaceful evenings in Patricio Vallardes’ Nightworld (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 Morbido Film Fest, south of the border.

Anderson has been plagued by nightmares featuring his late wife, so he moves from the Bulgarian provinces to Sofia, accepting the ridiculously easy job his pal lined up. He doesn’t even have to spend his time watching the security CCTV. They have software that flags any anomalies for his daily review. Frankly, the basement “hanger” they are monitoring is so dark, there is really nothing for him to see anyway. It is low stress work that comes with a well-appointed flat, but his nightmares become even more violent after moving in. On the plus side, the inviting café across the street employs an attractive barista named Zara. She is friendly too. She will be the one who finally informs Anderson of the building’s infamous history.

So, when Anderson sees some kind of something move across the monitor, who’s he gonna call? That’s right, Robert Englund. He would be our first choice too. In this case, he is playing Jacob Keaton, a rather eccentric and completely blind security consultant. Keaton might be blind, but he is still a natty dresser. Englund plays it to the hilt, practically giggling with mischievous glee—and his enthusiasm is contagious. Whenever he is on-screen, he kicks up the energy level several notches.

Gianni Capaldi is also quite a pleasant surprise, displaying Hammer-worthy scenery-chewing chops as Anderson’s weirdly vague boss Martin. Lorina Kamburova is indeed quite charming as Zara. Granted, it is hard to believe Anderson and Keaton would let her tag along when they start investigating the cosmic evil-doing in the basement. On the other hand, it wouldn’t make much sense to push her off screen.  This is a horror movie, just deal with it. Everymanish Jason London gets upstaged left and right, but he is a reasonably solid and credibly incredulous presence.

Even in broad daylight, Sofia looks a film noir. Vallardes and cinematographer Pau Mirabet take full advantage of the cinematic setting, infusing the film with ominous style. You can glean hints of a giallo influence, but they scrupulously avoid slavish pastiches. Altogether, it is quite distinctive visually and a good deal of fun. Recommended for fans of Euro horror with relatively little gore, Nightworld screens tomorrow (10/28) as part of this year’s Morbido in Mexico City—and it is currently on VOD platforms in the USA.