I was a recent attendee of Mad Monster Party 2017 in Rock Hill, SC, since my short film, "Incubation Period" was playing there as part of a short film block. I was pretty excited about that, as can be expected, but I was just as excited to see the premiere of "My Uncle John Is a Zombie," written and directed by John Russo.
I had heard about "My Uncle John...," first through a crowd-funding event, and then at the Mad Monster Party 2016, where I met John Russo. Since Mr. Russo was attending Mad Monster Party 2017, and would be in attendance at the premiere of his film, it was even more exciting. When the day arrived, I was pretty pumped.
First, let me delve into some of the negative aspects of "My Uncle John..." (I know this was a rough cut, so hopefully some of the issues will be worked out, eventually.) Film and sound quality were not so great. Fixable issues. A lot of the acting (there were tons of brief character appearances and featured extras) was simply not very good. The story line seemed a little jumbled, and wasn't very tight.
Onto some of the positive aspects. John Russo did a fine job as Uncle John. He had some great lines, and there were lots of funny moments. Tiffany Shepis was a surprise I wasn't expecting, and did a fabulous job, as usual. Debbie Rochon was right on point with her brash zombie-killing character. It was great, and a little bittersweet, to see George Kasana one last time, and in a film that was sort of an homage to "Night of the Living Dead."
It made my day that as I sat there in a theater, watching "My Uncle John Is a Zombie," with John Russo in the room with me, Tom Savini came in for a few minutes, and sat right next to me. Always interesting to hob-nob with the legends.
I can't give this film, as I saw it, a solid A. There were too many technical things gone wrong for that. I will, however, give it a B minus. If you're a zombie fan, this is a must see for the connections to zombie legends.
I had heard about "My Uncle John...," first through a crowd-funding event, and then at the Mad Monster Party 2016, where I met John Russo. Since Mr. Russo was attending Mad Monster Party 2017, and would be in attendance at the premiere of his film, it was even more exciting. When the day arrived, I was pretty pumped.
First, let me delve into some of the negative aspects of "My Uncle John..." (I know this was a rough cut, so hopefully some of the issues will be worked out, eventually.) Film and sound quality were not so great. Fixable issues. A lot of the acting (there were tons of brief character appearances and featured extras) was simply not very good. The story line seemed a little jumbled, and wasn't very tight.
Onto some of the positive aspects. John Russo did a fine job as Uncle John. He had some great lines, and there were lots of funny moments. Tiffany Shepis was a surprise I wasn't expecting, and did a fabulous job, as usual. Debbie Rochon was right on point with her brash zombie-killing character. It was great, and a little bittersweet, to see George Kasana one last time, and in a film that was sort of an homage to "Night of the Living Dead."
It made my day that as I sat there in a theater, watching "My Uncle John Is a Zombie," with John Russo in the room with me, Tom Savini came in for a few minutes, and sat right next to me. Always interesting to hob-nob with the legends.
I can't give this film, as I saw it, a solid A. There were too many technical things gone wrong for that. I will, however, give it a B minus. If you're a zombie fan, this is a must see for the connections to zombie legends.