The two filmmakers are taking widely different approaches to the gathering of material. While Grace is content with sitting back and observing the daily activities of their subjects and acts with the utmost professionalism, John is looking for the sensationalist angle. He obsesses about whether or not they might be eating human flesh, and is constantly on the look out for any indications of "horror movie" behaviour.

As long as the movie sticks to being the mockumentary about zombies it is a darkly humorous look at a minority group's struggle to get by in a world that's much hostile to their kind. Their are those who are more than willing to exploit their unique abilities, as is shown by the sweatshop owner the crew interviews. Zombies are great workers because they never need to sleep, take bathroom breaks, and - especially the lower functioning ones - are perfect for doing mindless repetitive work. They've been a real boon, the guy says, because even illegal immigrants from Mexico have grown too smart to do the type of work he needs doing for the money he's willing to pay.

Unfortunately the filmmakers decided to switch into Blair Witch mode for the last third of the movie, and brought the film down to the level of a horror movie that takes away from the satire and black humour they had established. While it is being advertised as a "blurring the lines between reality and fiction", to my mind they just are making another cheap horror movie. It also doesn't work. The faux documentary feel of the movie had been too well established by the obvious tongue in cheek interviews with the zombie "experts" for the switch to "reality" to be anything but strained.

In the opening sequences of the movie Shaun Of The Dead we are treated to shots of people doing drudge jobs, shuffling along the street listening to their headphones, and just generally going about their business in typical mindless fashion. The makers of American Zombie could have made a movie that followed that avenue, but instead chose to make just another horror movie. What could have been something quite original resorted to falling back on the same old same old.

The DVD of American Zombie comes with a behind the scenes making of featurette, and is in wide screen format. It's available in universal region code and with regular stereo sound. You can order a copy directly from Cinema Libre Studio or the movie's web site.