Zombie Documentary trailer post #12)

Galvasean

Some pretty cool stills from the Irish made zombie film Portrait of a Zombie have been released. The film is due for release next year. The teaser trailer goes live in 5 days time at portraitofazombie.com
The makeup effects look pretty slick.







Sure would be nice to get a really decent docu-horror film come out of Ireland for a change.. Here's hoping this is it.

Doctor DooM

The DooM is pleased by this.

Valmont

I am looking forward to this!

miju

is the one that was filmed out finglas way?

aaronjumper

Oh yes.
Good times ahead

Galvasean

miju wrote: »

is the one that was filmed out finglas way?

Yep. Most of it was filmed in Finglas.

Galvasean

More stills; Guns n' gore, horay!

CutzEr

hellz yeah

Nerin

can't wait! very excited

Galvasean

Forgot to mention there is a Facebook page where you can get updates etc. (act fast though, as friend space is limited!):
http://www.facebook.com/#/PortraitOfAZombie?ref=ts

And a more general fan page (doesn't have as much content yet, but will soon):
http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Portrait-Of-A-Zombie/133574205681?ref=ts

Galvasean

Nice to see some of the online bloggers have begun supporting the film.


Trailer is up tomorro, I'm so excited!

Almost forgot, there is a little behind the scenes sneak peek up on the Facebook page. It involves guns and screaming

Galvasean

Facebook fans get to see the trailer before everyone else! It's up now:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?comments&v=104885732861629

SmileyPaul

that looks surprisingly good actually!
acting doesn't seem too bad either specially the anguish desperation and eventual coming to terms with whats about to happen when he simply says "your not leaving me out here"



that was a bit deep........
ehem....
where were the boobs!!!!!

NOGMaxpower

Bleedin deadly buzz, fecking amazing looking. Effects are savage, acting looks awesome.... just wished i could've been an extra!

Micky Dolenz

Great stuff,

I can see a Zombie Survival outing very soon in our future

Cinema and beers anyone?

Galvasean

Mainstream media coverage woo!!!!

http://www.iftn.ie/?act1=record&aid=73&rid=4282740&tpl=archnewshome&only=1&force=1

IFTN wrote:

Production has recently wrapped on the set of feature film ‘Portrait of a Zombie’ from Irish born director, Bing Bailey. The low budget black comedy/horror film explores the story of a working class Irish family who become caught up in a zombie invasion of Dublin.

When son, Billy, becomes a zombie the family chooses to take care of him in the home much to the chagrin of the neighbors and the local crime boss. Meanwhile, they invite an American documentarian to film their situation and the film crew become involved in the mayhem.

’Portrait of a Zombie’ is produced by Laura Morand Bailey and Bing Bailey for Organ Hill Films. The film was shot on Red Digital 4K by Clayton Haskell (executive producer, Chinatown) and will now be edited in the U.S. The film’s cast includes Patrick Murphy, Todd Fletcher (Yard of Blondes), Diane Jennings (Dublin: A Movie in Four Days), Geraldine McAlinden (The Guards), Rory Mullen (Hunger), Gerry Shanahan (Omagh), Paul O'Bryan, Sonya O'Donoghue, Sara White, Ciaran Davies (The Haunting of Hell House) and Stephen Neeson.

Cast and crew involved in the project filmed mainly on Mellowes Avenue in Finlgas but used other various Dublin locations such as Smithfiled, College Green and the Glasnevin Cemetery.

Producer Laura Mornad Bailey tells IFTN: “The goal of the film is to reflect modern Ireland in the horror genre and to celebrate the strength and humor of the Irish in the face of adversity.”

It is expected that ‘Portrait of a Zombie’ will be released next year. A teaser trailer will be released on December 1st at www.portraitofazombie.com.

_SONIC_

the previews out!

it look pretty good

link >>> http://www.portraitofazombie.com/POAZ/Home.html

Galvasean

Good news everyone. The teaser trailer will be playing before the main feature at the underground cinema Dec 17th in Dun Laoghaire. So if anybody wants to pop along and see it on a big screen (not to mention the actual films) now's your chance.

More info @ http://www.underground-cinema.com

I'll be heading on in (pending work times of course).

ScumLord

I'm very skeptical, I'm pretty sure I saw running Zombies which is a big no no in my books as it just means they went down the "lets be like Hollywood and do nothing original even though we'll never come close to Hollywood polish and it'll only look like 3 year olds made it" road.

I'll reserve judgement but my expectations are very low.

Duggy747

To be honest, I am very skeptical about this film (primarily after the Irish dross that has been released in the good past few years)

Likewise, I'll reserve my judgement until I see it but congrats on it getting this kind of publicity. Always good for an Irish film.

Galvasean

Skepticism is well founded unfortunately. Irish horror has been pretty lame the last while alright.
However, as someone who was on set for the production of PoaZ, I can tell you that it has quite a bit of originality. Not wanting to spoil anything, but there are a couple of things in this film that you won't find in a Hollywood production. *cackles evily*

I'll admit though, that the teaser doesn't reveal much about the film at all. It comes across as standard horror fare, when it is indeed anything but. Hopefully the next trailer will reveal a bit more.

Galvasean

Very nice write up about the trailer on Slash Film:

Not since Once have I been so interested in the filmic output of a land that spawned my ancestors and I have to say, without question, the premise is fascinating: a kid (Billy) becomes a zombie, his parents elect to take care of the kid at home, a documentary film crew (of course) wants to tape the family, and then we watch the havoc unfold.

The trailer opens very strangely: a group of people take to the streets to protest something. It’s in slow motion, there’s no voice over, and we’re left wondering what it is they’re protesting against. We have some person getting swarmed by a pack of zombies, a woman lets us know the whole country is “****e,” a guy gets his hand cut off with a meat cleaver, and then we meet Billy. Treated more like a rabid dog than human I am impressed with the idea of where this is going.

Slow-mo shots of zombies running around, of people evading certain death, and then a mom trying to console a thrashing Billy who is bound up in a straight jacket and muzzle all the while with a minimalist touch. This feels intimate, claustrophobic.

The final seconds of this trailer are an especially nice touch considering what we’re dealing with: a first time director/writer, Bing Bailey, who obviously doesn’t have Hollywood funds but is trying to make it look like it. The execution is grand and really taps into that sense of terror that so many other, highly polished zombie films can’t match.

More here.

Father Stone

Did anyone notice the protestors slogans? There's some good references there including a "careful now"

Galvasean

Father Stone wrote: »

Did anyone notice the protestors slogans? There's some good references there including a "careful now"

My favouite is 'Residents Against Evil' :pac:

Bit more about the story has surfaced on getthebigpicture.net

"I'm very glad you picked up on the fact the film isn't the usual we're trapped in a barn and zombies are trying to get us fare. The teaser is really a mood piece. There is quite a bit of satire and dark humour in the film and it really is about the family having to cope with what's happened to their son who had hopes and dreams for his life before he turned. They want to pretend everything is ok and love him and treat him the same way just like they always have but it proves very difficult for them and they make lots of sacrifices for their decisions."

"On the crew's side it's about how long can you observe something before you have to become involved. I'm a huge fan of zombie movies that entertain but provide social commentary."

"Many zombie films deal with outbreaks and the immediacy of dealing with survival. This film goes further and asks what would a parent do if something really awful happened to their son or daughter. How far would they go to try and make it all look normal? What we can do as independent filmmakers that the studios can't is push boundaries. I believe with this film we have."

Full story here.

geeky

Is there any screening planned for the new year?!

Galvasean

Hey guys, just thought I'd pop the head in with an update. Portrait of a Zombie has been nominated for Best Independent Feature Film at the Underground Cinema Awards in September.
http://www.undergroundcinema-filmfestival.com/2011nominees.htm

Also, new poster is pretty slick. :cool:

Galvasean

Just thought I'd pop in to say the film was (FINALLY) been premiered at the Cinequest film festival last weekend. Reviews have been trickling in and have been quite positive.

http://www.directorslive.com/articles/cinequest-film-review-portrait-of-a-zombie/
http://www.kaos2000.net/festivals/cinequest/2012/reviews.html
http://www.quietearth.us/articles/2012/02/Review-of-mad-as-nuts-PORTRAIT-OF-A-ZOMBIE

Hootanany

Sorry to drag up an old thread whatever happened to this film? most of the links are dead.

ScumLord

Hootanany wrote: »

Sorry to drag up an old thread whatever happened to this film? most of the links are dead.

Ba-dum-tish!

Hootanany

Nah what happened to the film anyone see it Facebook page is gone also.

degrassinoel

just double checked it there too, the fb page is gone entirely, hope it pops back up again

Hootanany

That's what I said Diddle Eye

degrassinoel

diddle yew? oh, so you diddle!

Galvasean

Gone? It's still there:
https://www.facebook.com/PortraitofaZombieMovie

As for the film it came out on DVD last year (not in Ireland as far as I'm aware):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Portrait-Zombie-DVD-Patrick-Murphy/dp/B00DMD7YB0/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1390339923&sr=1-1&keywords=portrait+of+a+zombie

Galvasean

Speak of the devil; I was talking to the director yesterday. He tells me it'll be released in the States this year, but under a different name.

Hootanany

Why not release it in Europe?

Galvasean

Hootanany wrote: »

Why not release it in Europe?

It is officially out, but none of the Irish chains are stocking it.

TerrorFirmer

Saw this a good while ago at a screening, sixteen months ago I would say, went with a friend as we're both huge zombie fans.

Here was my review at the time:

Primarily, Portrait of a Zombie suffers from the same problem that a lot of low budget zombie films tend do - they aim far too high with too scant resources. It was actually excellent to begin with, a fairly sharply written and witty story following a localized infection, but as the movie trundled into it's main act, the attempt to stray outside of what was clearly their comfort zone doomed it with the resulting -and frankly unnecessary within the framework of the story - attempts at portraying a Dublin plagued by Zombie attacks being farcical. It was ridiculously far fetched - even given the fact that it's a movie about zombies - and the whole movie started to fall apart completely from the middle onwards as neither zombie hordes, attacks in the city center, or criminals openly carrying guns on the streets evidently manage to catch the attention of law enforcement.

As a positive, it had promise, and I firmly believe its downfall was not actually a budget issue, but rather a far too ambitious story arc for the budget - had they kept it smaller in scale and confined to the estate the action was mostly set in, jettisoning the wholly unnecessary and rubbish city scenes, it would have been twice the movie it ended up being. Although some of the acting was ropey, the main characters were mostly excellent, and the strength of said acting largely held the film together. Zombie effects ranged from mediocre to decent - the main zombie, about whom the film is largely about, was leagues ahead of the rest of the make up in this regard but the zombie attacks were wholly unconvincing and more or less were, without fail, the classic 'camera lens into the face to signify an incoming zombie', which got old pretty quick. The gore was also quite poor, with one or two decent scenes offset by some incredibly boring, drawn out and surprisingly bloodless death-by-zombie scenes.

The script was, however, pretty decent and putting aside the aforementioned scenes external to the estate in which it's based, was competently written with a good blend of drama and wit that the actors involved served well. One or two excellent lines had the audience laughing.

All in all, what's most disappointing about this movie isn't that it's not really a good one, but with some minor changes in story telling and set pieces it could have very easily been a good one. As it is, it's watchable, and some terrific acting in some lead roles - the parents, brother, and neighbor in particular - holds it together admirably, but it's s shame because I wanted to like it more than I did. I believe with a further edit restricting the action to the estate in which it's based and removing several scenes which ultimately had no bearing on the film other than to cheapen it, the film would benefit hugely - because the makings of an excellent film are there.

As it is I would give it a 4/10.