There is nothin’ yours cruelly enjoys more than sittin’ down to some previously unseen, S.O.V. horror… and that is precisely what I have here with Intervision’s release of The Plaga Zombie Trilogy, a series of Argentinian gut-munchers of the zero budget kind!
Things kick of with 1997’s Plaga Zombie:
Ex-med student Bill (Pablo Parés, who also co-directed the film) trims his bush one night oblivious to the fact that his roommate is abducted (and experimented on) by aliens. Meanwhile, Bill’s old friend, John West (Berta Muñiz, who co-wrote the film along with Parés, and Hernán Sáez… who also co-directed… and let me just say; this dude is comedy dynamite), is longing to revive his cowboy-themed wrestling career, but his manager/tag-team partner has a case of the “feel like shit”s.
Thankfully for none of them, (not really a) Doctor Bill is on the case, so soon those two are toast and soon become members of the alien plague-ridden shambling dead that have started stalking the city (accompanied by some hard-drivin’ punk rock), vomiting on everyone, as one does…
Can Bill and his pal West, along with nerds/nerd cum complete psycho Max (the aforementioned Hernán Sáez) put an end to the munching menaces or will the town become a hell on Earth (orchestrated by those not of this Earth at all)?!!
Filled with (intentionally) over-dramatic line readings, unbelievable amounts of spraying bodily fluids (in a variety of hues), and some truly jaw-dropping moments, Plaga Zombie is S.O.V. madness done right! Created by some inventive teens, this fright flick has it all; odd ball characters, ridiculous (and often genuinely hilarious) humor, gross-out goodness, and more “Geez Mom, we are so sorry we totally fucked up the house” home-made gore sprayed around than seemingly possible.
It’s also fitting that the film features punk music prominently as it perfectly represents the same “get it done yourself, by any means necessary… ” aesthetic of creativity that these filmmakers definitely exhibit.
Speaking of “exhibiting”, the living dead as presented here are a Looney Tunes style menace who are as preoccupied with drinking, smoking, and playing cards as they are at menacing the populace, and their cartoonish antics are always on display which definitely gives off early Raimi and Jackson vibes (with visual callbacks to the former’s Evil Dead series… especially in the manic camera-work… as well as the latter’s Bad Taste and Dead Alive).
Moving onward we come to 2001’s follow up to Plaga Zombie, Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante:
Bill is back in his mother fucking disco-boogie tight ass Ohsh Kosh B’Fucking Goshs, and so is J. West, and Max (I’m just going to call this as I see it performance here… either this dude is an actual, raving lunatic, or he’s the ultimate Method actor)… and they are still balls-deep in zombies deep within the quarantine zone.
Can or heroes survive the machinations of aliens and governmental officials alike, dissention in their ranks, and post-apocalyptic vigilantes… all while keeping their assorted body-parts out of the drooling maws of the ravenous infected dead?!!
It immediately becomes apparent that when bringing Plaga Zombie, Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante to life, our intrepid filmmakers didn’t give a singular damn who’s house they fucked up, and just tore loose like no body’s business!
This go-around features even more zombies (with more intricate make-up), and gore (ditto)… still created with good ol’ hand-made craftsmanship that shows that talent and ambition are more important than budget any and every time!
Also on point is the absolutely maniacal humor on display, with highlights being John West’s absolute ear-worm of a ridiculous theme song, and a zombie seemingly discovering his colon for the first time… as he holds his intestines in his hands and sprays diarrhea everywhere!
Additionally, Sáez has a surprising character twist that manages to take him from screaming, unhinged zombie-killer, to comic book super-villain… all to outrageous and hilarious effect, though it has to be said that all of the leads are excellent here, and show real growth as actors… and while we are talking growth, the cinematography here is much improved from it’s predecessor as well; with great angles, fluid movement and artistic dissolves all on display!
Along with all of the above, Disc One also contains trailers for both films… well, two for Plaga Zombie, Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante if you want to be precise…
Moving on to Disc Two we get 2011’s Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante: Revolución Tóxica:
Bill et. al. are still running for their lives within the infected area of the city, and although the film was released 10 years after the previous installment, it’s only been a day in “movie time”… good thing our leads still look almost exactly the same, minus Muñiz who lost a dramatic amount of weight… but fret not, the movie explains it in suitably nonsensical fashion.
The gang soon decides to split up to better deal with the dire situation at hand during which John has a crisis of faith regarding his prized strength, Bill has his endurance tested to the max while discovering shocking secrets of the alien’s plans, and Max… well Max adopts a surprisingly chill zombie named Junior (Paulo Soria) who he feeds gunpowder hoping to turn him into a bomb… as is the way.
Will our heroes get their respective shit together and save the day, or should we start warming up to our alien overlords?
Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante: Revolución Tóxica is pretty damn incredible if you ask me… and you kinda did since you’re reading these wicked words and all…
Why is it so damn incredible you may ask? Well, for starters this is a much larger production than the previous entries with everything suitably ratcheted up as a result. There’s more of absolutely everything you by this time doubtless love about the series; larger action/gore set-pieces, increased numbers of glorious Day-Glo hued zombies and sinister aliens, a bigger musical number (which steals the entire show)… but, no matter how large-scale things get, everything is still presented with an astounding amount of heart and handmade craftsmanship, which are the series signature.
And let me just say, there’s a zombie stampede sequence present here that is the stuff of legends… completely over-the-top, and completely fuckin’ capital “A” Awesome!
Disc Two is where the meat n’ potatoes of the special features in this collection are to be found… and the whole shebang kicks off with a feature length retrospective that takes us through not only the creation of the Plaga Zombie series, but fills us in on how the friendship of Parés, Muñiz, and Sáez (and those that joined their immediate circle) has evolved over the years to bittersweet effect.
Following that, we get animated adventures of our heroes (presented in a style reminiscent of Adult Swim’s 12oz. Mouse), and a collection of short films that showcase the techniques utilized to bring the Plaga Zombie series in their formative stages.
Bringing up the rear we get a trailer for Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante: Revolución Tóxica.
Filled to bursting with loveable heroes, indominable independent spirit, and a literal fuck-ton of spraying bodily fluids, The Plaga Zombie Trilogy is a must-own for lovers of D.I.Y. horror-flick awesomeness, and I urge you lacivious lot to check it out post fuckin’ haste!
