2. Juan De Los Muertos (Juan Of the Dead)
The twist: Zombie as metaphor for Cuba's social ills! Every generation imposes its fears onto its movie monsters, but the inspiration for Cuba's first ever independent horror film hits a little closer to home than most. Fifty years after the Cuban Revolution, a new wave of rebels has risen. Loud, growing and suddenly empowered; they are, of course, zombies. Director Alejandro Brugués is certainly doing no favours for the Havana tourist board here. Our titular hero (Alexis Diaz de Villegas) is a desperate opportunist who cashes in on the zombie apocalypse by starting an extermination company. Albeit the thinnest of excuses to portray all manner of gruesome deaths, the plot delivers precisely the cheap thrills you'd expect- even if the social commentary does become overbearing at times. The sight gag of mistaking your typical apathetic Cuban for a member of the undead, combined with the news reports downplaying the attack as the work of 'dissidents', causes much of the political humour to lose its edge through repetition. Curiously, Brugués gives us few characters to root for; with Juan and his cronies portrayed as largely amoral, their lack of a collective conscience barely lifts them above their victims. Such misanthropy staggers alongside the infection through the streets. Yet the comedy is never too far behind. The link to Romero is plain to see but the debt to our
Shaun is greater still.