Una de Zombis (Spain, 2003)
The plot of Una de Zombies, to abbreviate the description on the back DVD cover, concerns two "losers", Aijón and Caspas, who decide to make a zombie film but slowly find their film coming to life around them. In itself, the movie does sort of follow that basic premise, but the filmmakers are much too convinced of their cleverness and as a result regurgitate one hell of a train wreck of a cinematic accident. A low budget horror comedy with splatter elements, Una de Zombies not only verges on being laughless, but the dramaturgical confusion of the flick is also almost headache inducing and the gore interludes, though bloody, are relatively sparse. But then, the flick is actually less a zombie movie than a long-winded and confusing rumination on inspiration and the creative process couched within the framework of a zombie film. Regrettably, neither the director (Miguel Ángel Lamata) nor his co-scriptwriter Miguel Ángel Aijón – who plays the geeky Aijón – have a solid grasp of either filmmaking nor scriptwriting, which are two fatal mangles to have if one wants to attempt a low-budget, Tarantinoesque narrative that interweaves and moves across time frames and realities. That this film tied with Dead & Breakfast at the 2004 Weekend of Fear Nuremburg in Germany for the "Audience Award" can only indicate that the jury was rigged or a Butterfly Ballot was used, for Una de Zombies is probably one of the least satisfying efforts to come out of Spain in a long time, light-years from being anywhere as good as, say, 1993's Acción Mutante (which, by the way, had a substantially lower budget).
Actually, there are some nice jokes in the film – for example, the extent to which Carla (Mayte Navales) is willing to drop everything whenever she hears the script is almost finished or virtually every scene involving Aijón's interaction with his father and/or mother – but such scenes are padded by so much extraneously and strenuously narrative confusion and patently unfunny "funny" stuff that even the stuff that works almost fails. Other plus points of the film include one nude short nude scene that reveals Carla's natural charms, a secondary hot babe (who, regrettably, doesn't get naked), a blond zombie killer that deserves to be in a good film, and... and... Well, actually, that's about it when it comes to plus points.
Una de Zombies is not a film worth watching and, in turn, is not really a film worth writing about. End of review.
The plot of Una de Zombies, to abbreviate the description on the back DVD cover, concerns two "losers", Aijón and Caspas, who decide to make a zombie film but slowly find their film coming to life around them. In itself, the movie does sort of follow that basic premise, but the filmmakers are much too convinced of their cleverness and as a result regurgitate one hell of a train wreck of a cinematic accident. A low budget horror comedy with splatter elements, Una de Zombies not only verges on being laughless, but the dramaturgical confusion of the flick is also almost headache inducing and the gore interludes, though bloody, are relatively sparse. But then, the flick is actually less a zombie movie than a long-winded and confusing rumination on inspiration and the creative process couched within the framework of a zombie film. Regrettably, neither the director (Miguel Ángel Lamata) nor his co-scriptwriter Miguel Ángel Aijón – who plays the geeky Aijón – have a solid grasp of either filmmaking nor scriptwriting, which are two fatal mangles to have if one wants to attempt a low-budget, Tarantinoesque narrative that interweaves and moves across time frames and realities. That this film tied with Dead & Breakfast at the 2004 Weekend of Fear Nuremburg in Germany for the "Audience Award" can only indicate that the jury was rigged or a Butterfly Ballot was used, for Una de Zombies is probably one of the least satisfying efforts to come out of Spain in a long time, light-years from being anywhere as good as, say, 1993's Acción Mutante (which, by the way, had a substantially lower budget).
Actually, there are some nice jokes in the film – for example, the extent to which Carla (Mayte Navales) is willing to drop everything whenever she hears the script is almost finished or virtually every scene involving Aijón's interaction with his father and/or mother – but such scenes are padded by so much extraneously and strenuously narrative confusion and patently unfunny "funny" stuff that even the stuff that works almost fails. Other plus points of the film include one nude short nude scene that reveals Carla's natural charms, a secondary hot babe (who, regrettably, doesn't get naked), a blond zombie killer that deserves to be in a good film, and... and... Well, actually, that's about it when it comes to plus points. 
Una de Zombies is not a film worth watching and, in turn, is not really a film worth writing about. End of review.
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