A lumberjack turns up at the hospital with an axe lodged in his head and a casual attitude about the situation. He is taken in to the care of the handsome Dr. Dox and the unpopular and plain nurse Patsy. To complicate matters, Dr. Dox is Patsy's ex whom she has never managed to get over. His fiancée, nurse Goodie Tueschuze also works at the hospital and regularly leads the other nurses in ridiculing and bullying poor Patsy.
But Patsy and the patient quickly take a liking for each other. Little does she realize that he's a lumberjack and he's not "OK"; he's a zombie. After a little love nibble Patsy starts to succumb slowly to the zombie contagion as well, and it starts to spread.
But Patsy's transformation comes with unexpected features. The contagion not only turns its victims in to human flesh eaters, but also drastically changes their attitudes. Patsy transforms from the shy, nervous, and introverted outcast and becomes forward, extroverted, and sexy. Now she is the centre of attention, and an object of desire for the sought after Dr. Dox. Meanwhile Patsy is overtaken by two interests; human flesh, and sex.
Driven by jealously, nurse Goodie grows suspicious of her former victim turned rival, but who will believe her jealous accusations? Perhaps the whole hospital will soon be a zombie playground.
Graveyard Alive is a much vaunted, yet difficult to come by, zombie comedy. It comes from director/writer Elza Kephart, and writer Patricia Gomez and was produced in Montreal. As an artsy, black and white, indie film with a feminist message it isn't too hard to grasp why the film is difficult to come by in the prevailing film market. But if you can get a hold of a copy it will be worth your time and money.
The films message seems to be, as the famous quote goes, the radical notion that woman are people. All Patsy wants is to be loved and respected, even as a zombie. At the same time, the film should not be entered in to without a sense of humour. It has been put together as to look and feel like an old school horror show from the costumes, to the script, to the sound track, to the effects. This makes for a fun watching experience, and it also covers the films relatively small budget (the downfall of many a zombie flick) with complete success. By embracing their limitations, the film makers produced a film with multiple artistic and humorous layers that I suspect will become even more appreciated on a second or third viewing.
4.5 meat grinders out of 5
Unrated: contains violence, sexuality.
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