If and when the zombie apocalypse strikes Tufts University, will you be ready? Since the days of George A. Romero's seminal work "The Night of the Living Dead" (1968), the idea of a re?animated corpse feasting on human flesh has intrigued viewers and artists alike. Recently, zombies have been the subjects of numerous films, ranging from intense horror flicks such as "28 Days Later" (2002) to slacker comedies such as "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) to a dramatic AMC series, "The Walking Dead."
With this impressive pedigree in mind, Sam Zuckert decided to make a movie. At the start of the fall 2011 semester, Zuckert, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, began outlining the skeletal structure for his first feature.
"I think it's funny when problems that come up a lot have really simple solutions," Zuckert said. "So, I thought it would be really funny if zombies could be cured by something stupid." Over winter break, he hatched this simple idea into a full?fledged script and "Dead Campus" was born - er, reborn.
The film follows a college?age girl, Shad (portrayed by Tufts senior JT Vancollie), as she seeks to find a cure for the zombie epidemic that has overrun her college campus. In her efforts, she teams up with a friend to seek out a recluse who is rumored to possess the sole remedy for the zombie disease. Her journey soon evolves from a simple act of survival into a frightening encounter with the very catalyst of the zombie apocalypse.
Zuckert and his team of Tufts students filmed "Dead Campus" over spring break, utilizing the vacant, apocalyptic quadrangles and the ample time that a week off affords to shoot the zombie thriller. The result is a comedy through and through, featuring off?putting, eccentric characters in goofy situations. The humans discuss the zombies with uncharacteristic nonchalance; their blase attitudes contrast sharply with the panicked, often maniacal human characters viewers are used to seeing in zombie?centric works.
Senior Luke Pyenson shines as The Chemist, the aforementioned expert whose scientific revelations generate the human rebellion against the zombie aggressors. He plays the role with a silly smirk and a general sense of apathy that is at once surreal and hilarious. But he is perhaps upstaged by sophomore Jay Dodd, who makes an unforgettable cameo as the supernatural Zombie King in the waning moments of the film.
The acting is complemented by a bass?driven, hip?hop soundtrack that turns slow?motion attack scenes into hyperbolically intense action sequences. The flooring strangeness of watching zombie assaults set to rap ballads makes the film all the more amusing.
Due to its constant search for laughs, "Dead Campus" is certainly not devoid of discontinuity problems, but the raw, unrefined style makes the film surprisingly endearing. In one particularly hysterical turn of events, sophomore John Asare assumes the place of sophomore Kevin Antwi in playing the secondary protagonist, Darren Walking. The film never acknowledges the unusual switch but supplants Antwi with Asare as if nothing had changed. Though easily interpreted as a comedic overture, Zuckert admits that Antwi went home for spring break before all of his scenes were shot.
On Thursday, April 12, Zuckert showcased the film in the Sophia Gordon multipurpose room to a group of friends and supporters. Though he has no other screenings planned, the film is available online at www.vimeo.com, and Zuckert clearly relished the opportunity to present his work to a small assemblage of his peers.
"I think it would be cool if more stuff like this happened," he said. "More people should get involved in going to and making things. That's what's cool about college."
