Mimesis

source: Mimesis

I love Sid Haig and zombie movies. I thought this would be a great film, but... The best way to watch this film is not to read the title or any review. The title lets you know that the whole zombie scene is a set up. The film would have been better served if the title and box description didn't give so much away and if the film stayed in character longer. In my opinion this would have been a better film if they would have stolen "Cabin in the Woods" scenario where the zombies would be real under the control of people. The film seemed to end just when it was getting started. Note: Never eat someone else bloody body organs raw as there is a bevy of blood borne pathogens out there. Parental Guide: F-bombs. No sex or nudity.

The only reason I can think of that someone would rate this movie above a 1 is because they personally know someone who worked on the project. The writing is cliche, the make up is terrible, the acting is horrendous. Can't find one thing to like about this movie. Just dumb.

While I agree with some of the points the detractors gave the movie, I don't agree completely. Some of the acting need brushing up (and one particular actress was exceptionally awful IMHO), but they're not so bad to the point that they're unwatchable. Some of the actors' portrayals are commendable. The low budget vibe actually pays greatly to being a homage of the original film. I actually originally wanted it to give a 6, but opted to give it a point more because I honestly believe that all fans of the original movie should give this one a shot. The effects are enough to make you cringe at the right moment. While the execution falls flat in some places, I feel that it's worked as a whole. I'm not a fan of slasher flicks per se, but this one works for me. So, overall, I liked the movie. I doubt that it'll be a classic like the movie it pays homage to, but hey, who knows? I didn't think Romero thought that his Night of the Living Dead would turn out so successfully either. And I'm sure that when it first came out, it was met with some negative feedback from some critics, too.

I'm a huge fan of zombie films and i loved the classic 'night of the living dead' so just had to check this out. Glad i did! Watch it, it's brilliantly made and very original. Spot on acting, great effects, fab storyline, can't go wrong! Gave me some scares too!! I heard the director did some other great horrors too, i'll be checking them out soon. Didn't get why this film has such negative reviews, nowadays people are harsh with films and just want every movie to be PERFECT. News flash; there's no such thing! They are here for entertainment, and i can say that this film provides just that. I'll be first in line for mimesis 2!

This movie is about a group of people who go to a Horror convention and while there they are "invited" to a "party" on a farm. They all end up waking up in strange clothing and find themselves in a familiar situation, familiar if you're a 'Night of the Living Dead' fan! - Now when I heard about this movie and after I saw the trailer I was kind of looking forward to seeing this because of the idea of it (don't want to give too much away). And with a cameo by Sid Haig in it I was thinking it would be at least decent, but after watching it I found myself a bit disappointed by the film as it didn't live up to the potential that it could have had. The plot, although imaginative, failed in the delivery by the director in my opinion. But in saying that a few people will like this movie if they are new to the genre. All I can give this film is a 3.5 out of 10.

It's refreshing to see a film that knows the true meaning of the word "homage" -- something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another -- rather than "rip off," which is something we see far too often in films, especially horror movies. Douglas Schulze's Mimesis is a clever homage to George Romero's Night of the Living Dead on one hand and a modern "thrill killer" movie on the other. After an opening scare starring Courtney Gaines, the audience is taken to a horror convention where Alphonze Betz (Sid Haig) rails against the media blaming horror movies for real life horrors. In the audience are Russell (Taylor Piedmonte) and his unlikely pal Duane (Allen Maldonado). Russell is a horror fan while Duane is more keen on meeting some of the hotties at the con including Judith (Lauren Mae Shafer), a goth girl who invites the boys to a party later that night. Thinking he'll get some, Duane convinces Russell to drive out to the spooky farmhouse where they encounter some out-of-place regular people and a number of silent, spooky dudes all made up in makeup. Before the party gets too "dick in the mashed potatoes" crazy, Russell and Duane are down for the count, waking up dressed in different clothes and hanging out in some eerily familiar settings. There's no "They're coming to get you, Barbara!" line in Mimesis but much of the rest of Night of the Living Dead is there as our protagonists find themselves cast in a living remake of the film, complete with flesh-tearing zombies. Thus, Mimesis becomes a film with disparate characters trapped in a farmhouse with a menacing presence outside but the presence isn't supernatural, it's psychotic. Additionally, the script by Schulze and Joshua Wagner is incredibly self-aware, playing with and against the plot of NOTLD along with more current films where strangers toy with innocents (Them, Inside, High Tension, etc.).

Just saw the premier showing of this last night at the McMorran Complex in Port Huron, Michigan. All (or most of) the actors and actresses were at the showing which made it all that much more interesting. I have to say that I enjoyed this movie very much, even if it were a little bit on the "campy" side. But perhaps that is because I am biased. I am also a big fan of the original Night of the Living Dead Romero Classic from the late 1960's. This movie was made on similar budget as that, albeit updated to the current price of movie making as compared to 40 or so years ago. The effects were good enough to grab most of the audiences attention as far as the reactions went, including myself! It was nearly a sold out movie theater, and I can tell you from the unemployment in this part of the world that is a rare thing in this town for sure! Let me say that it gave me a bit of the "Halloween Spirit" that I haven't had for a few years now. Dare I say it made me giddy? Anyways, I would definitely recommend this indie as a must see for the low(er) budget horror flick fan.

Caught this clunker at its premiere in 2011. Then I completely forgot about it until I needed to look up some information about its crew. When I came to IMDb and read three glowing reviews, I wondered what those reviewers were smoking that night. I remember Mimesis as a very low budget horror flick that neither horrifies nor entertains. Ridiculous premise, dumb plot, wooden one-dimensional characters and all the usual zombie film clichés. Bunch of twenty-somethings cower in a farmhouse while (spoiler alert) phony zombies shamble around outside, trying to lure them out and pick them off one by one. Problem is, there is only a handful of "zombies", they move as slowly as tortoises and lack any weapons that might pose a real threat. Here's a tip for the guys in the house: open the door and stroll down the road. You can even walk backward and thumb your nose at the zombies as they recede into the distance. This is an altogether failed homage to the Night of the Living Dead, listlessly directed by Douglas Schulze, who did not impress me as a very capable director. One good shot in the movie, the rest bland and boring. And the performances, with a few exceptions, were just plain awful. Production design totally lacking. The film had decent makeup effects, though. Awful sound. Cameos by Sid Haig and Courtney Gains do nothing to save the film from the obscurity it deserves. Overall, Mimesis looks and feels like a high-school film project.

After getting drugged at a horror convention's after-party, a group of friends awake to find themselves forced to play a live-action role-playing-game based on a famous horror movie and must utilize their knowledge to get away alive. This turned out to be far better than it really should've been. Perhaps the film's greatest virtue amongst itself is the clever and highly original storyline present as the film does boast a pretty unique gimmick of trapping horror fans in a retelling of a classic horror film and forcing them to recreate the events of the film for their own amusement, and it does a fairly close job of recreating it throughout. The clothes, the setting, the general look and feel of the whole effort as well as the use of piping in the actual movie on a closed-circuit TV to rattle them even more makes for a rather unique and clever style here that really helps this one develop into more than just a loving homage and a chance to re-work some of the original bits and gags from the movie. This turns it into a rather fun and original way to do the homage in a different way and is certainly a very new concept that's employed here. That this allows the film to really up the gore and action content that was missing from the originally-aped film makes this even more fun with tons of splatter and gore that was missing from the original as well as bringing about some rather tense confrontations that arise here from the different encounters here. While the film does dip somewhat once we learn the truth about what's going on within as the twist about the intent behind the drugging does seem quite far-fetched there's still a couple fine chases in the later half to make for a rather fine mix of chills, blood-splatter and cheese. There's one rather glaring problem here, beyond the fact that this just seems like an excuse to remake the original for their own purpose, in that for such a landmark and legendary film they run through only one person has seen it among the group, which makes no sense at all and really stretches believability here with something that influential and massive. It would've been more fun had everyone been aware and fans so that they all have the ability to outwit the killers that way, yet here it's just the one and it really seems like a stretch. Otherwise, this one is a lot of fun. Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.