Synopsis
The following summary is from a professional coverage service.
"I eat brains.” Z-MAN centers on a research scientist, Clancy that discovers he is terminally ill. He has a lab where he has been experimenting with various drugs on octopuses in hopes of finding a cure for cancer. He needs more money to continue his research but discovers he has been swindled out of his funds.
Out of desperation he injects himself with the formula he has been testing and instead of staying dead; he comes back as a Zombie who eats other people’s brains and then morphs into looking like that person.
Clancy tries to get his money back and continue his research by teaming up with a disgruntled cop, Heston Price, who seeks revenge for the murder of his undercover detective brother. The two find that they are connected to the same bad guys.
In this story the call to adventure for our hero is to find a cure for his illness and/or his zombie transformation
The story offers charming, quirky and off-beat characters that we like very likable; vivid visuals that are both genuinely amusing and grotesque at the same time, and delightful entertaining moments. The pacing in the first act is well executed and the audience bonds and identifies to Clancy and his goal. The audience roots for him.
Clancy and Heston are eccentric in their own distinct style. Heston is wickedly fun as the revengeful cop out for justice. Clancy is pitiful as the sad and conflicted Zombie experiment gone wrong. Bob the Clerk is naturally sardonically funny.
However, the character that steals the entire show is Scruffy the homeless gun chewing mutt of a dog who is an absolute adorable scoundrel to watch.
There are some visual moments that shine such as the images of the octopuses; Scruffy “blue” liquid porta potty face: Scruffy chewing on the gun; Clancy’s face peeling; Clancy using crazy glue to glue his face back on; Clancy handing Eva his cheek for testing; and the reanimation of Clancy’s arm.
The humor in the story fits the style of a dark comedy. The humor is derived from dialogue and action. The note Clancy leaves Eve is very entertaining.
There are plenty of Zombie movies out in the world and the unique hook in this one is the ability of our protagonist to morph into various bodies and his undying love to eat brains which he doesn’t apologize for doing. Even innocent people become victims of Clancy’s voracious appetite.
The face peeling visuals and the trash compactor action sequences are sure to be a crowd pleaser. More over there is really no cliché happy ending and some truly unpredictable moments in this enjoyable and off-beat shady comedy.
Thus, the overall story is light hearted and entertaining and even a small lesson to learn about sacrificing yourself for the sake of others as Clancy seems to do at the end as well as learning to deal with losing a loved one.
The role of Clancy and Heston are intriguing roles for an actor to play.
Zombie movies are very marketable as long as they have a new hook and are original. The story definitely takes a chunk of flesh out of the “B” Zombie flicks.
An alternative to this concept could have Zedderman slowly turn into a zombie, slowly developing his lust for brains. Doing such would bring instant urgency to the overall story (in the form of “can Zedderman find a cure before he turns into a zombie?”). Not to mention, the overall goal of the story would be pretty clear.
Such an alternative concept could give you a chance to develop higher stakes too. Maybe his family cannot survive without him financially.
There would be room for dramatic irony, too, as Zedderman could keep the secret of his illness from his wife—while she talks about her future plans, how they should buy a bigger house, etc.
STORY: To be honest, the story, as told in Test Movie #9, confused me. I couldn't tell you exactly what the protagonist was working on (a vaccine of some sort) or why, after he injected himself, he needed to get the five million dollars. I think you mention that he needs it to complete his research, but then you have his wife in the lab doing her own experiments (or finishing up his research—I'm not sure).
The goal needs to be made more clear. How will five million dollars help Z-Man achieve his goal? I never got the sense that he really could be saved from his condition.
What's really at stake here? Zedderman's humanity? He's fighting for his life but I never get the sense that he could actually achieve it.
The urgency, I suppose, comes from what seems to be his increasingly poor state, almost as if he's nearing a threshold at which, once crossed, there will be no chance at recovery. But still I'm not sure.
Maybe have it so that, if Zedderman doesn't recover, his wife will lose the house, or his death benefits, so his family will suffer if he can't recover.
The repetition of brain-eating scenes doesn't help either. Zedderman, in his brain-eating frenzy, seems to be unstoppable. Where is the insurmountable odds? Where is the villain? Why didn't Z-Man kill Heston when he had the chance (in the garbage truck)? Given Z-Man's almost mindless nature, I don't know what stopped him from doing such.
CHARACTERS: Zedderman, like all the characters in this story, lacked dimensions. I can't tell you all that much about these characters because it seems like they don't have much of a past. They just felt quite flat.
Giving Heston that dog as a companion seemed like an odd choice, too. I mean, it seems like he is the antagonist early on. Giving him that dog seems like a choice to give him sympathy. It just didn't quite click.
I know you introduced the Old Man character on the TV early on, but at the end, when Zedderman kills him, I just didn't know how he factored into the story.
STRUCTURE: The structure of this story did not aid in giving me any sense of when this story was going to end. I never anticipated the moments to come because I simply didn't understand what the protagonist was trying to do. I still don't know why he went to the military base (or was it a ship) with Heston and the Army Guy. Moreover, why did the Army Guy help Heston and Z-Man attack the military base? I couldn't tell you.
DIALOGUE: The dialogue felt odd in places. The one-liners, most of the time, fell flat and seemed forced. While I wouldn't call the dialogue horrible, I would say it lacked luster.
OVERALL: The artwork sufficed. However, there were a lot of moments when you would cut to black or focus too closely in on certain images. I feel like this could definitely benefit from more frames.
I have a feeling you had to cut corners making this test movie just to get it finished. And maybe that hurt the overall telling of the story to some degree. But I can't imagine that the cutting of corners reduced the clarity of the story all that much versus the screenplay version of the tale.
Though, the biggest problem with this is the telling of the story, and its overall structure. Things need to be crystal clear. One should never be in doubt as to what the characters are trying to achieve. And, unfortunately, I found myself wondering, most of the time, what the protagonist's goal was and why.
Congrats, though, on winning the Best Test Movie prize and all the other awards this project has garnered. You've clearly put a lot of effort in this and are well deserving of the honor.
Good luck with this and all your future endeavors.