Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead

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Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead
Starring Allen Maldonado, Sid Haig, Lauren Mae Shafer, David Brown
Directed by Douglas Schulze

While attending a horror convention, friends Russell (Taylor Piedmonte) and Duane (Allen Maldonado) are invited by Judith (Lauren Mae Shafer) to a secret underground party. 

Both of the men are drugged, and when they come to they're in different clothes and in different places.  Russell and another girl at the party, Karen (Jana Thompson) are at a cemetery and are being chased by what appears to be a zombie.  Duane wakes up in a truck in front of a farmhouse, and soon discovers that there's other people from the party in the house.  Trapped in the farmhouse, the survivors see the zombies standing outside, and it appears to be an oddly familiar situation.

Keith (David Brown) comes to the realization that this is a re-enactment of the movie "Night of the Living Dead," and it seems that the "zombies" aren't as dead as they first appeared, but rather a bunch of horror enthusiasts who desire to make the ultimate horror movie - one that is real life.

George A. Romero brought zombies to the current generation, but his biggest error is in not patenting his original classic, so it became public domain for everyone to rip off of, and rip off they have.  There's been several cheap imitations of the classic, but this one takes it a step further.  It throws ordinary people into a real life horror remake, and I found that refreshing. 

Unfortunately, the issue with this film is that it seems it could've been done better with a better director.  There was something missing in the film that I was waiting to see - could it all have been one big stunt?  Maybe there would be real zombies mixed in that no one expected?  No, instead it was pretty cut-and-dry: a bunch of freaks wanting to re-make a horror film by creating a snuff film.  A waste of a possibly exciting movie, yet still somewhat watchable.

My Rating: C+

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