The Undead Rise and Keep on Rising with ZOMBIE FARM!

by Gordon Shelly, special to Influx Magazine

Read the Review here

The undead have risen in the new millennium with a relentless attack of zombie movies – but this is nothing new.  Zombie movies have been and always will be.

But why are these movies so popular and why does their popularity keep rising?  My theory is this – we, as viewers, have simple expectations for zombie movies. 

Primarily, we want to be entertained.  And whether they are a blockbuster budget or a micro-budget, zombie movies entertain.

It doesn’t matter what kind of zombie movie it is, whether it’s funny, or gross, or scary, or campy.  It doesn’t matter what kind of zombies there are –a fast, slow, both, dead, slightly dead, or actually alive, just infected.  As long as we’re entertained.

While the dead movies of the 70s and 80s have had their time, this new wave of zombie movies doesn’t follow any traditional rules or formats.  For example: 28 Days Later didn’t really have zombies; they were just infected and hungry.  And, they ran really fast.  The Dawn of the Dead remake took the traditional rules and tweaked them, adding a few more scares with a mix of laughs and violence.  Low budget gems like The Stink of Flesh focus on the entertainment and unique stories.

Zombie Farm looks to take all these ideas and throw them into one big pot. 

It definitely looks like it will play up the camp, with plenty of laughs and tons of gore. 

This movie actually looks like the mess of blood and guts is going to be really good, using a combination of computer effects and live action blood.

The zombies appear to be a slower moving species, and not all too bright.  The original tagline for this movie was, They’re not quite dead, just brain dead.  Now, the tag is, The harvest has begun.

The story sounds like fun.  Inbred cannibal farmers are turned into zombies when Taliban warriors poison the local water supply.  The only hope for humanity are two FBI agents and four party-crazed college students.

Zombie Farm promises a relentless flow of blood and non-stop gore.  It also has a mix of seasoned actors with names and faces you know, as well as B-movie and horror genre journeymen.

“It’s a fast-paced movie,” admits Barsuglia.  “I wanted to make a blood-soaked zombie movie, but I didn’t realize that it was as much of an action movie as it is until we watched the first cut.  Man, does this movie move.”

“When I was writing the screenplay, I modeled the pacing after the Italian westerns of the late ‘60s and early 70s,” adds Barsuglia.  “In those westerns, the concept was that something had to happen – action had to happen about every ten minutes.  With Zombie Farm, we took that notion a little further.  I think the longest stretch without blood is something like six and a half minutes.”

Gone are the days of low-budget being synonymous with low quality.  Zombie Farm is a high definition feature that combines action, gore and comedy to splatter entertainment across the screen. 

“The technology available to independent filmmakers is amazing,” says Barsuglia.  “The things we are able to do with Zombie Farm were unfathomable just a few years ago.”

Barsuglia is referring to not just the accessibility of high definition video, but the accessibility of digital effects, and recognizable actors.

“We wanted a lot of gore,” says Barsuglia.  “We wanted it however we could get it, and we wanted it to look great.”

Producer Vince Lara took on the duties of gore master, overseeing more than a dozen onset makeup and effect artists over the course of production.  In addition, Lara, the guru of effects took on the task of mastering the digital domain of computer generated effects.  As a graphics artist by trade, Lara found the transition to be a natural one and easier than expected.

All zombies must eat!

Zombie Farm boasts fifty-plus gallons of blood spilled on set, more than sixty CG effects, and over 200 zombie extras.  Additionally, it has a lot of recognizable names and faces.  Among them are Christine Cowden (Witch’s Sabbath), Jed Rowen (Black Dahlia), Joe Estevez (Werewolf), Javier Morga (One Life to Live), Bobby Field (Guy in Row Five), Danielle De Luca (The Curse of Lizzie Borden) and D.T. Carney (Dead Things).

“It wasn't much,” says Barsuglia when asked about the budget.  “But if I told you what it actually was, you wouldn't believe me.  We had an incredibly dedicated group of contributors, crew members and cast members.

Well, that begs the question, how could a movie like Zombie Farm have such a high level of special effects?

“Accessibility,” reveals Barsuglia.  “Three years ago, when we made Dementia: An Experiment in Terror, these things weren't accessible to us in terms of cost.  Now they are.  We can shoot on HD.  We can edit HD.  We can output HD.  And, we can now create digital effects that had been previously reserved for studios and big budgets.”

Then of course, we want to know, how did a low budget movie get together so many professional actors?

“We worked with SAG Indie,” notes Barsuglia.  “The Screen Actor’s Guild has a division just for independent movies.  With a modified contract, we were able to work with both union and non-union actors.  This allowed us to bring together a great mix of talent without any real limitations.”

But in Zombie Farm the gore’s the thing …

“I expect to be looking extremely attractive in my blood soaked blouse … [there’s] nothing more glamorous than gasping for air with blood everywhere.” says Christine Cowden, who plays the trigger happy FBI Agent Spaulding. 

“I get my insides ravished by zombies and I expect the gore to be off the charts,” says Rachel Balzer, who has the small but pivotal role of Sweet Thing.  “I was certainly bloody enough afterwards to warrant it.  It was gross, but worth it.”

It’s “just plain old, bucket of blood, splashing, gut-chewing fun,” adds Jeff Bilbo, who plays the doomed Postmaster Walt.♦

To learn more about the movie visit: www.zombiefarmmovie.com