NAKED ZOMBIE GIRL

NAKED ZOMBIE GIRL

Written and Directed by Rickey Bird
Starring Meghan Chadeayne
Not Rated

With a title and poster like that, it's pretty easy to get an idea what Naked Zombie Girl (NZG going forward 'cause I'm lazy) from Hectic Films is about. Just to clarify - the 'Girl' of the film is not a 'Zombie' (this isn't another Dawna the Dead), but never fear, she does end up quite 'Naked' before too long.

This short film clocks in at just over twenty-five minutes long. It's been making the rounds at horror conventions and film festivals and as I was settling down to write this, the NZG facebook page announced they'd won Best Horror Short at the Austin Indie Flix Festival. Go, team!

As the film starts, three people are in a car, apparently fleeing from...something. News reports on the radio, as well as one of the car's occupants suffering from a bite wound, make it clear the zombie apocalypse is upon us. In short order, the car craps out and the bitten dude decides to end things by way of a gun in his mouth. The two remaining girls barely have time to react to this before the car is surrounded by zombies.

Our heroine, played by Meghan Chadeayne, escapes, losing her dress in the process (and that's where the 'Naked' part comes in at). She quickly finds her courage and a chainsaw and proceeds to go to town on the zombies.

Overall, the thing is very well done and looks better than a lot of full-length b-movies I've seen. Decent zombies and a fair amount of practical gore effects. There's also some computer generated gore but I'm far more forgiving of CGI in a low budget short that was filmed over the course of just a couple of nights than I am in a big budget feature. And, it's hard to deny the appeal of Meghan Chadeayne kicking zombie butt while baring her own for much of the running time.

NZG is part of the new wave of 'grindhouse' inspired films that have come out lately, so there are film scratches and other grunge effects applied to make it look like a '70s drive-in movie. Personally, I could've done without most of that but better that than the jumpy 'found footage' style that hasn't gone away yet.

I don't know if they're even considering filming a feature-length version of the story, perhaps showing how the characters ended up where the short starts and of course continuing on past the end, but I'd be all for it if they are.

If you get a chance to see a screening, I'd say go. The website for the film indicates that it will be for sale at some point, but if you live in a cultural wasteland and are impatient like myself, there's a GoFundMe campaign for a Naked Zombie Girl comic book that can get you a download of the film for a fifteen-dollar donation. That's how I got to see it. As of this writing, there are still four downloads available.


Naked Zombie Girl website
Hectic Films website
NZG comic GoFundMe page
NZG facebook page