A little boy’s experience with his parents’ decision to divorce leads to his suspicion that a zombie is living in his closet in this drama.

CRITIQUE

Every child experiences trauma growing up and every child’s active imagination has gotten the best of them, but for Jake (Anthony De Marco – of the forthcoming Clint Eastwood film CHANGELING - who resembles Henry Thomas circa 1982) the combination may prove deadly. 

A lonely six year old  whose imagination kicks into high gear when he is crestfallen to  learn his quarrelling parents Peter (Sean Bridgers, late of “DEADWOOD”) and Jules (Brooke Bloom, “CSI: MIAMI”) suddenly decide to divorce, leaving him to his own devices and unleashing a new tenant – a zombie in his  closet.

Jake actually gets this seed planted while playing with neighborhood friend Dillon (Matthew Josten) who provides him with a print out off the internet of FAQ re: zombies.  Jake is so convinced that one is out to get him – and his family – he begins to hatch a plan of action to protect them before it’s too late.

Indie newcomer Shelli Ryan – who wrote and directed – blends domestic drama with underlings of horror but the former (smartly) outweighs the latter, with a decent story buoyed by fine acting (De Marco is the rare breed of child actor where he is a CHILD and not ‘acting’  - all  his nuances are very evident of the awkward, shy, introverted  child that many can relate too (I certainly can). 

Bridgers makes his cheating husband empathetic in the realization he really loves his son while Bloom has the more difficult job of building sympathy as the somewhat lackadaisical mother who is quick to emotions over rationality – it doesn’t help when Dillon’s mother Ruth (Monette Magrath, who resembles Laura Dern) is constantly feeding her implied information driving a wedge between Jake and his dad. 

Magrath also has a tough task to make her manipulative character relatively likable but she proves to in a revealing scene that I won’t go into detail but shows why she is the way she is (and more importantly how she has also affected her own child).

The fillmmaker’s subjective camera is also well employed (many angles shown form Jake’s POV at waist-level or somewhat  skewed; i.e. the upside down shot of Peter carrying his son in the same position while having some fun in the backyard), and the editing is relatively flawless.

Ryan based the screenplay on personal experiences growing up and also witnessing first hand account of a friend going through the same situation and how the affects of adult relationships can be harmful if inflicting their fears, anger and stress onto their children.  Here the film is very successful in getting its theme across.

However the horror underpinnings are a little disjointed to say the least but the homage to George A. Romero’s zombie films are shown lovingly by Ryan (Jake’s mom is asleep in front of the TV as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD unspools, causing his own belief of the undead to be in their home).   The metaphor of a monster acting as surrogate to domestic abuse may be a bit heavy-handed but again, the child’s fear of a thing under his bed is universal.

THE VIDEO

The film was shot on HD and although I don’t care for the format in general the film looks fine with its suggested fable atmosphere.

THE AUDIO

In English featured in both 5.1 and 2.0, the sound is well mixed and clear.

THE EXTRAS

Audio Commentary:  Along with Ryan are producers Joel Watson  (who served as one of 3 editors credited) and Lance W. Lanfear, the chatting is amiable but  not too involved in revelatory info, however some tidbits of the production (i.e. Jake scurrying under the house’s crawlspace zombie-hunting, was actually on a stage with a lot of dirt and some expert lighting thanks to the remarkable cinematography by Tom Hejda and the CGI of the dragonfly; wouldn’t have known  that!) and the handling of her crew and talent is commendable overall for a first effort.

Make a Masterpiece in Your Own Home: Behind the Scenes: On set footage of production including interviews with the filmmakers and cast and crew.

Trailer: The film’s trailer, I must admit, is rather misleading as it is depicted as a straight chiller.

Deleted Scenes: A few  scenes omitted that could have used commentary especially an excised fantasy sequence only alluded to in the audio commentary featuring the zombie doing a soft-shoe in formal wear (!)

Monster Make-Up School: Make-up artist Michael Dinetz shows how he applied the ghastly make-up to the zombie (Emmerson David)

Bonus Features for Parents:

Parenting Through Divorce: A  short piece  about how to cope with divorce  between parents and child relationship as explained by an expert.

Dealing With Childhood Grief:  Companion piece to the aforementioned.

Parent Web Resources: Links provided to websites specializing in the domestic dilemmas including divorce and relationships between parents and children in general.

FINAL THOUGHT