We commented previously on the trailer for ‘Rigamortis: A Zombie Love Story’ here on the ZRC blog and were subsequently informed via the comments that the movie had gone up for free on Youtube for a limited time.

Having watched the movie in its entirety now, I can safely say that The Zombie Rights Campaign has never seen anything quite like it, and we heartily approve, while simultaneously cautioning our viewers: while this is a musical film with comedic elements, it is also a very tragic story of the awful and entirely avoidable conflict between the Living and Differently Animated communities stoked by radical ideologues like George Romero, Max Brooks and Robert Kirkman. Do not go into watching ‘Rigamortis’ lightly; it deals with serious issues and conflicts present in our contemporary Anti-Zombie culture.

The film opens in the aftermath of a brutal and thorough pogrom conducted against a spontaneous Undead Block Party here in Wisconsin; a single man by the name of Brock has emerged as the white knight of the victorious Anti-Zombie faction and the musical’s opening number deals with his purge of what he thinks are the last remaining Differently Animated in the area, perhaps on Earth.

It’s not every film that *opens* with an attempted genocide.

Brock even goes so far as to savagely kill a ‘Mombie’ in front of her Living son, who, under the sway of this charismatic Totalitarian figure, is all-too-easily convinced of the rightness of this massacre.

Like I said, it’s an ugly and difficult scenario for any movie to cover.

Unbeknownst to Brock, however, two Zombies have survived the genocide, the film’s protagonists Parker and Zoey; Parker watches silently as Brock and his angry mob burn the bodies of their victims in the town square, while Zoey narrowly escapes a smaller mob with Parker’s help. Unsurprisingly, the two Zombies turn to each other for comfort and support in this trying time, and quickly fall in love. Zoey even convinces Parker to follow the path of non-violence, turning the other cheek on the Living masses in order to avoid becoming cruel and heartless like they have.

Meanwhile, Brock finds out that there are two remaining Zombies, and is shocked to discover one is Zoey – his apparently lost love from before the Undead began to rise. He also learns that he can neither escape nor live without the fame he’s grown accustomed to as ‘humanity’s greatest defender/killer, and struggles with what to do about Zoey, Parker, and his growing sense of shame and doubt.

I won’t spoil the thrilling climax or harrowing conclusion of ‘Rigamortis: A Zombie Love Story’, but it’s not a great leap to say that it was never likely that a story such as this could end well for all concerned. This is a musical, and very funny at times, but let’s not forget that any war between the Living and the Undead is by definition a bloody waste and a tragedy. Think of this as the independent, Zombie ‘Apocalypse’ version of ‘Les Miserables’ if that helps.

From a Zombie Rights perspective, ‘Rigamortis’ is a rousing success, noteworthy for its insight and sympathy for not just Zombies but the misguided Living Supremacist fools who seek the destruction of the Undead out of prejudice. The Zombies within the film aren’t perfect individuals or poster children for Zombie Rights, but they are real, flesh and blood people, people who lack, as we say, pulses but not hearts.

The ZRC therefore awards ‘Rigamortis: A Zombie Love Story’ our coveted ‘Zombie Friendly’ award.

We’ve embedded all three sections of the film below; they’re only available for a limited time so eventually these links will break, folks! Get watching, ZRC orders.

Tags: Movies, ZRC Reviews

This entry was posted by John Sears on Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.