The October Zombie-Thon! - Day 9: Graveyard Alive
Posted by Trevor Snyder on 10.09.2007
Estrogen and zombie movies...a much better mix than you might expect.
GRAVEYARD ALIVE: A ZOMBIE NURSE IN LOVE (2003)
Written & Directed by: Elza Kephart
Country: Canada
Quick, pop quiz: name that one classic zombie movie that was directed by a woman. I'll wait.
What's that? Yeah, I kinda figured you'd give up. As you might have guessed, this was something of a trick question. And while you might think that makes me a bastard, it was done to prove a point.
One of the all-time biggest criticisms against the horror genre is for its perceived misogynistic attitude, with many critics claiming that the genre as a whole is anti-woman, treating its female characters as little more than eye-candy and victims of violence. Personally, I've never really subscribed to this theory. While there's no doubt that some films go a little far in their exploitation of the fairer sex, I've always thought that, overall, horror is actually one of the more pro-women genres out there, given its propensity for focusing on strong, intelligent heroines as its main characters.
Still, there's little denying that when it comes to the filmmaking side of things, at least, the genre is very much male-dominated. Apart from some notable exceptions, the horror filmmaking community is pretty much a boy's club, and this is particularly true in the zombie-film sub-genre, where the number of female filmmakers can be counted on one hand and not just any hand; we're talking a hand after a horrific firecracker accident.
To be fair, this overabundance of male filmmakers certainly does go a long way towards explaining the genre's oft-criticized reliance on violence and female nudity. This puts a fan like me in a tough spot torn between my feminist ideals and my undeniable love of seeing boobs.
Still, it is nice to get a different perspective on things from time to time, which is why a film like Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love is quite the rare and welcome treat. We've all seen those t-shirts that read "anything boys can do, girls can do better." While this slogan is a bit too much of a generalization to be taken seriously, it does perhaps have a ring of truth to it when it comes to low-budget zombie movies, because Graveyard Alive, which is directed, written, and produced by women, is certainly a lot better than much of the male-created dreck I've watched this month.
A tribute to both overly-dramatic TV soap operas and the horror films of the 50s (it's filmed in glorious techniscope B&W) Graveyard Alive stars Anne Day-Jones as nurse Patsy Powers, the resident nerd at a city hospital. Of course, we can tell she's only a "movie nerd" (i.e. actually quite obviously attractive, but considered "ugly" because of her glasses and lack of make-up), but none of the film's other characters seem to have picked up on this. And so Patsy spends her days pining after Dr. Dox (Karl Gerhardt), her former high-school flame and now resident hospital hunk, and enduring the insults of her fellow nurses, particularly the ultra-bitchy Goodie Tueshuze (Samantha Slan), who just happens to also be engaged to Dox.
Things take a turn for the better for Patsy, however, when she falls for a nice woodsman brought into the hospital for a slight case of "axe to the head." This new relationship doesn't sit well with the hospitals mysterious Eastern European janitor, who suspects the woodsman's real affliction might just be "zombie-itis" (my term, not the movies). Sure enough, it isn't long before Patsy herself has joined the ranks of the undead. This might sound like a drag, but it actually does wonders for Patsy, transforming her into a sexy (and horny) babe who soon becomes the hospital's most sought-after hottie. The only problem? The only way to maintain her newfound beauty is a steady diet of flesh.
What a joy this movie is. Too often, these kind of films that satirize the melodrama of classic horror cinema end up trying too hard and, as a result, wind up being little more than a cute effort, at best. Graveyard Alive, on the other hand, hits all the right notes all the more impressive, given all the ground it is trying to cover. Although primarily a comedy, the film also effectively dabbles in honest-to-goodness drama and even old-fashioned spookiness (check out Patsy's post-biting nightmares, which are very creepy and wouldn't feel out of place in a David Lynch film).
That this merging of styles (and admittedly ludicrous story) works so well can be attributed to the bizarre, surreal world that writer/director Elza Kephart has created. The beautiful black & white cinematography is only part of it the film also benefits from its strange sound. Graveyard Alive was originally to be a silent film, and it shows in the actors' performances, as everyone's movements and facial expressions are often cartoonishly over-exaggerated. At some point after the film's completion, though, Kephart decided the movie needed sound after all, and so the dialogue was all dubbed in after the fact. The strange effect this creates with the characters wildly gesticulating while their voices don't quite match the movement of their lips takes a little while to get used to, but it eventually adds to the film's kooky charm.
Still, the film's biggest strength is its entertainingly original story, and the unexpected directions it goes off in. Once again, credit must go to Kephart, who avoids the "usual" route that most filmmakers would have settled for, and instead delivers a nifty shift in the storytelling. Most (male) directors would have been happy to simply sell this as a female empowerment story, and kept Patsy heroic in her quest to get revenge on those who have teased and tormented her. It wouldn't be that simple in real life, however, and so neither is it in the eyes of Kephart, who instead allows Patsy to be consumed by her newfound status. Eventually, Patsy has unwittingly become more of a monster than her bullies ever were, and it rests on her nemesis, Goodie Tueshuze the only person who can tell Patsy is up to no good to try to stop her. It's a testament to the performances of both actors Day-Jones and Slan that this shift works so well, especially considering how subtle it is. Minutes go by before you even realize that Goodie has suddenly become the protagonist and, as much as we hated her before, we are firmly on her side by film's end.
Too bad, then, that the film's end is also the movie's only real disappointment. I won't go so far as to say it's a terrible ending it actually works within the overall context of the story. But even so, it does feel like something of a letdown, as if Kephart couldn't think of a more exciting way to wrap everything up, and so we are denied the climax, and closure, we have been waiting for.
Oh well. It can be forgiven, in this case, because by that point Graveyard Alive had already completely won me over, anyway. This film is a high-point in low-budget, do-it-yourself zombie cinema (and an even higher-point in zombie comedies, given that the jokes here are actually funny), with an original story, fun characters, and a unique and appealing visual style. If this is what women filmmakers have to offer the genre, then we really have been missing out on their touch.
FINAL SCORE: 3.5 out of 4 Bubs (Highly Recommended)
