Jean Claude: The Gumming Zombie (2009) - By Josh Samford

Film Reviews: Jean Claude: The Gumming Zombie (2009) - By Josh Samford
Posted on Friday, May 01, 2009 @ 18:19:05 Mountain Daylight Time by Duane

When a film titled Jean Claude: The Gumming Zombie shows up on your doorstep, I don't care who you are, your curiosity is going to be piqued. In the world of the cinematic walking dead, not much has been seen as far as Frenchmen nor from the toothless - so you've got a winning combo in my book. Director Johnny K. Wu and crew deliver what can only be described as one of the most odd zombie shorts likely ever made. A strange mix of many different ideas and themes all gelling together to create a strange comedy-horror that is a take off on a dozen different subjects and genres. Most of all it is a spoof on the concept of the wholesome American family model, circa 1950 with Leave it to Beaver and such. Although this might seem familiar to those who have seen the much larger production Fido, this film was already well into production when that feature came along - and aside from a couple of similarity's, Jean Claude is a much more bizarre and dreamlike film than that.

Our film begins on the "bad side" of town, a section of the city our film takes place in that is dominated by the undead. Free roaming zombies have taken over this part of town and have made sport of hunting all of the unfortunate humans who dare to wander the streets. The Malberry family however is not intimidated as they wander into frame, a very wholesome and conservative family who's father figure also dabbles a bit in the black arts. They have no fear because the father has an amulet around his neck featuring the blood of thirteen virgins! So, as the group takes in all of this zombie carnage going on around them - their poor dog Reagan is taken and killed by a group of zombies. Having their evening nearly ruined by this unfortunate event, the group eventually wanders upon Jean Claude. A frenchman, now zombie, who has no teeth and is gentle by nature. The family takes Jean Claude in as their new pet, which seems like a great idea after the loss of Reagan, but could this turn out disastrous?

At just thirty four minutes in length, Jean Claude runs at an incredibly smooth pace as one would expect. Featuring enough zombie carnage to keep most genre film fans interested throughout the duration, but also goofy enough to entertain most everyone else. The best moments probably come through the delivery of the dialogue in various bits, such as the mother explaining the difference between zombie heaven to her son and doggie heaven, as well as the plethora of small character parts that pop up throughout. It's a fun film and I think the filmmakers make it apparent that they had as much fun making it, especially during the end credits which shows a little bit of zombie dancing and even some disco! It's far from a perfect comedy though of course, the film is essentially built by CGI in various sequences and unfortunately it doesn't look as great as the sets that are used throughout. I really can't complain myself, I couldn't do half as good of a job as these guys did in After Effects, but the CG is noticeable. Overall though, I found myself happy with Jean Claude: The Gumming Zombie, it's a silly poke at the traditional American family and for the most part works really well as a short. If you'd like to read more about Jean Claude, visit the official website at thegummingzombie.com and read more about this crazy flick!