Eaters is an Italian take on the post apocalyptic world. The entire planet has been devastated by the “Great Epidemic” and there hasn’t been a birth since it started. The virus started with attacking women and with those…there aren’t any babies. We follow two hunters, Igor (Alex Lucchesi) and Alen (Guglielmo Favilla) as they find live dead people to be lab rats for a cracked out scientist named Gyno (Claudio Marmugi). Gyno sends out the two hunters on a journey to find more specimens far far away from their compound so this movie is a road trip into zombie land. The movie is set in the future but it’s already outdated because there’s a joke about never finding Bin Laden.
Igor is a bad ass who walks the walk and talks the talk. He has come to terms with the world they have to deal with and in most cases is the cool head of the group. Alen is still holding on to the love of his life, Alexis (Rosella Elmi) who seems to be alive but kinda isn’t…just like most of the things in this movie. It’s a zombie movie where the zombies eat themselves, each other, and everybody else. There are some slow zombies, there are some fast zombies; but they all look amazingly gruesome. The makeup and art in this film is jaw-dropping. It looks disgusting and so detailed that I couldn’t believe I was watching a foreign indie.
Igor ((Alex Lucchesi) is a badass
On the journey with Igor and Alen, we meet up with many interesting characters. First, a painter who somehow hordes a lot of the supplies these guys needs (mainly beer) in exchange for random dead zombie body parts which he uses to paint. They run in with some old not-so-friends who happen to be neo-nazis. There’s a lot of German influence in this movie including a midget Hitler for some reason. The scenes with the nazis are quite superb…if you watch the trailer, notice the scene with fire where one guy is dragging another by a chain. They also stumble upon a converted priest who is just as crazy as the sinner he was before the world went to zombies. There’s no explanation of why or how these are the people who survived but just as any other post apocalyptic story, nothing has to make sense.
The gory zombie creatures looked amazing. Great visual effects!
Igor and Alen keep mentioning the Plague-Spreader throughout the film. This is rumored to be the source of the epidemic and the reason why the world is in such a bad shape. With all the foreshadowing, you know something is going to come of this Plague-Spreader…but not what you expect. The middle of the movie just turns into one zombie kill after another until it gets pretty mundane. But each and every zombie is unique and again, the make up art is amazing. The production value on this film is surprising so it’s fun to look at but not as fun to follow the subtitles except for the very end where there’s an awesome Leon: The Professional reference. Check out Eaters as it screens at Another Hole in the Head on Tuesday, June 16h at 9:20pm.
This post is part of our ANITH coverageEvery year, the ANOTHER HOLE IN THE HEAD FILM FESTIVAL unleashes the best dark fantasy, horror/comedy, sci-fi, bizarro-vision cinema in San Francisco. 2011 is no exception — AHITH, PART 8 will throw up 26 features and 15 short films onto the screen at the Roxie Theater, the beating heart of horror starting June 2 through June 17.Visit SF INDIEFEST’s Official Website
Tags: AHITH, Alex Lucchesi, Another Hole in the Head, Part 8, Claudio Marmugi, Guglielmo Favilla, Rosella Elmi
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
