Eaters
Alternative Titles: Eaters: Rise of the Dead
Director: Luca Boni, Marco Ristori
Year: 2011
Starring: Alex Lucchesi, Guglielmo Favilla, Rosella Elmi, Elisa Ferretti, Claudio Marmugi
Context:
The film was shot in Tuscany on an estimated budget of around $100,000 and featured a key marketing point of being presented by the infamous Uwe Boll (HOUSE OF THE DEAD, SEED, POSTAL) but his involvement apparently only extended to helping the debut directors secure a distribution deal.
EATERS: RISE OF THE DEAD would mark the directorial debut for both Luca Boni and Marco Ristori who would go on to direct fellow zombie flicks APOCALYPSE Z aka ZOMBIE MASSACRE, and its sequel ZOMBIE MASSACRE 2: REICH OF THE DEAD as well as MORNING STAR
Synopsis:
The world - devastated by the Great Epidemic - is governed by hordes of living dead. A group of hunters must find the answer to this catastrophe, whilst trying to stay alive amidst the growing number of ferocious Zombies.
Review:
Eaters: Rise of the Dead is an Italian zombie flick presented by Uwe Boll, although his actual input extends only to promoting and distributing the film, with his headline feature more likely to be an attempt to sale more copies and gain more publicity. Made for an estimated $100k the film looks better than the budget would suggest with the subtle CGI, gore fx and cinematography coming out particularly well and the use of limited character numbers keeps the demands down, and one could even potentially see this loosely as a road movie, suiting the budget and restrictions placed on the filmmakers.
Based on an older short film by Marco Ristori, this fully developed project is set in a world where a man-made zombie virus has seemingly been unleashed by someone known only as the plague spreader, has coincided with the elimination of fertility, leaving only a handful of men left who are now split seemingly into two small factions, and even if a cure to the zombie virus could be found it is highly likely that the human race will die out anyway.
The film itself follows zombie hunters-come-survivor finders Igor (Alex Lucchesi) and Alen (Guglielmo Favilla), as they go out to wrangle some more living undead at the request of the Dr Frankenstein-
-esque Gyno, doing his best attempt to channel Logan from Day of the Dead, as he experiments to solve the virus and restore some normality. On their search, Igor and Alen must pass through neo-Nazi territory, who are led by a midget-Fuehrer as they seek to not only wrangle a few zombies but also decide to investigate the mysterious plague spreader. The style may be different but the throw it all in Italian sensibility from the eighties certainly remains.
As the film spends so long with Igor and Alen, it is imperative that the audience can understand and like them, and thankfully the scriptwriters lend the characters an air of charm and likability. In Igor’s case this grows throughout the film while the acting performances really do the film justice as you get a true sense of camaraderie between the two adding that extra layer of belief to the film.
Meanwhile the undead in this film are generally a combination of sunken facial features, wrinkly rotting skin and bloody mouths with, as expected, some fantastic lead feature zombies and bloody make up really making its mark. It has to be said the make-up guy deserves credit for his work, and I would suggest watching the making-of feature on the extra’s for a true and clearer shot of the brilliance extraordinary talent involved as these subtleties can often get lost in fast cuts, CGI and watching in real time.
In line with many modern films, and indeed even fellow Italian Umberto Lenzi’s NIGHTMARE CITY, the zombies in this film are capable of running and later on we discover some are even capable of basic speech and the handling of melee weapons. Thankfully, as more a fan of the Romero-style zombie, this doesn’t detract from the film and the script helps explain these points quite satisfactorily. However, while the script is decent (particularly by budget zombie film standards) it is also very derivative and as a result at no point does the film ever feel frantic or tense and this is such a shame during the more action based sequences.
The other main criticism of this film is that it does not feel like an Italian film, it has no identity as such aside from the language and it could simply be another Eastern-European shot low budget American zombie film, thus reducing either its novelty factor to many, or better yet its key point of differentiation.
Overall this is a mediocre film, the story is very good on paper and the acting is more than adequate overall however the execution leaves a little to be desired and its lack of a defining personality hinders it. Even so, there are enough positives for a zombie fan to enjoy this film and if found cheap enough it is worth picking up. However this rare, contemporary Italian zombie film does eschews its cultural heritage in favour of a much more modern, clinical look and feel and as such may find a slightly different audience than those yearning for a return to the days of the eighties heyday.
Version Reviewed:
The film has Italian audio with English subtitles and looks modern but gritty thanks to a darker, more grimy colour palette. A few extras are included such as a 30 minute behind the scenes feature and a VFX reel which are both worth checking out.
