PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Fast zombies. Slow zombies. Trains headed to Busan. Remakes. Talking zombies. Zombie romance. Zom-Coms. Aussie films. The Walking Dead. Zombie musicals. The zombie renaissance started in the early 2000s and it’s never really let up. You have to admit, zombies have been done to death (no pun intended) in recent years. I’m a zombie fan from way back and I’ve been watching them all, so you can imagine my surprise when I learned the genre still had some life left in it (pun maybe intended). I’m talking about Steven LaMorte’s BURY ME TWICE (2022). Zombie noir? Now there’s something I haven’t seen before!
LaMorte touched on the project briefly when we talked to him about The Mean One a while back:
“It’s basically a live-action comic book that’s set in the 1950s, and it’s about a hardboiled detective and his motley cast of friends who are trying to solve the mystery of the zombie apocalypse in 1950s Los Angeles. So it’s a genre mashup of zombies and film noir, and the whole thing is shot green screen kind of like Sin City.”
When I first heard about the project, I was intrigued. I knew I had to check it out.
BURY ME TWICE (2022) Synopsis
Los Angeles, 1954. When a washed up detective takes a case searching for a reporter’s missing sister, he discovers solving the mystery of her disappearance is the key to uncovering the source of the zombie outbreak – and saving the city.
Steven LaMorte (The Mean One) directed the film from a screenplay by Flip Kobler and Cincy Marcus. It stars Danny Hansen, Lelia Symington, Chase Mullins, Theodus Crane, and Dina Cataldi.
Here’s a look at the poster art!
The Setup
Jack McGregor (Danny Hansen) is a disgraced ex-cop scratching out a meager living as a private investigator in 1950s Los Angeles. Enter one Miss Casey Potts (Lelia Symington), a distressed damsel looking for help locating her sister. Of all the P.I. offices in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into his. McGregor reluctantly takes the case, and before long, a simple missing person search spins an increasingly tangled web of trouble for the duo.
Things go from bad to worse when the city is besieged by flesh-eating ghouls, and McGregor and Ms. Potts find themselves partnered and on the run with newfound allies Officer Flynn (Chase Mullins) and ex-Baseball player Earl Deveroux (Theodus Crane). Can this unlikely crime-solving cadre survive the night and unravel the mystery behind the missing girl and the zombie outbreak before it’s too late?
I’m not going so spoil it for you here, but is this a journey worth taking? Let’s examine.
What Works
From the start, this is a cool little indie film. The opening sequence lets you know right away what you’re in for: stylish, comic-book-inspired pulp. It feels very Sin City (2005) to me, and that’s a good thing. The bulk of the picture is presented in black and white, but LaMorte intersperses color strategically to enhance the scenes. The color spashes and some well placed animation effects make for a really nice visual style that works well in contrast to the black and white film.
The acting is pretty solid, especially when you consider the entire thing was shot in front of a green screen. The best part of the players’ performances here is that they all seem to be having fun. Each actor plays up their noir character archetypes with style, but also with tongue planted firmly in cheek. There are some fun, self-referential moments and dialog in here all delivered with a wink and a nod.
As a noir piece, it has all the core things you’d expect: a detective, a beautiful client, trench coats and guns, a night club (complete with musical numbers), pessimism, tragedy, fisticuffs, romance, and a femme fatale. But it also has zombies, and that sets the whole thing on its ear! It’s a cool premise, and as a genre mashup, it works suprisingly well.
What Doesn’t Work
Filming in black and white is practically a must when it comes to noir, so it was an obvious choice here, but it also presents some challenges. Lighting might be the biggest one. The majority of the scenes in Bury Me Twice feature solid lighting and camera work, but others were much more difficult to pull off. Some scenes are really dark, to the point where it’s difficult to make out the zombies and the blood sprays.
Filming in this green screen format gave LaMorte great flexibility in creating an entire world without having to build sets or find period locations. That is a great strength of the production. However, it does not come without its drawbacks. Some of the visual FX shots suffer in this green screen black and white format, particularly the scenes that involve fire, water, or gunplay. It’s hardly a dealbreaker, but it definitely stands out.
Final Thoughts
Steven LaMorte has been developing Bury Me Twice for years. It’s the textbook defnition of a passion project, and that passion translates to the screen. I applaud LaMorte for following his dream, taking chances, and being bold enough to do something original in a saturated genre.
The best way I can describe Bury Me Twice is to say it’s a lot of fun. I recommend it for horror fans, zombie fans, and anyone looking to enjoy something new. It has me wondering what else you could do with genre mash ups. Slasher noir? Zombie western? Werewolves in space? Okay, let’s not get too carried away.
Bury Me Twice is available to rent and own on Amazon Prime Video.
