Spring Break
URI alumnus directs zombie movie
Chloe Thompson
Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: News
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But 2007 University of Rhode Island alumnus Tony Nunes dreamed it, and is now making it a reality in his 90-minute film, "Zombie Allegiance."
He's also running a start-up production company, called "Solipsist Media Group," and is hoping to score distributors for a straight-to-DVD film.
Nunes, 25, describes his movie as a "zombie-slasher movie," with political undertones. The main villain, "George," (not intended as the U.S. President George W. Bush, Nunes said) uses the zombies as an army, motivating them in politically charged speeches as their "President" to attack the rest of the humans.
After a nuclear attack from a world war is followed by a biological attack, much of the population is left in disarray ... and consequently turn into zombies.
"They're aggressive, they're decaying, they're slow-moving, and they're hungry," Nunes said.
But, as with many horror films, there is a core group of survivors, including deranged George, who has lost his family in the biological attacks. The survivors are generally cruel vigilantes, except for a small bunch that comprise the main characters.
The film follows the survivors through to a surprise ending, but there's no room for a sequel. It captures the escapades of heroine, Jen, who stumbles upon a zombie survival camp, perpetuated by a supposed zombie savior, Saul, who captures zombies in the hopes that they will survive the biological attack and convert back to a more human form.
Along the way, there is plenty of violence and gore, with excerpts from Paradise Lost by John Milton, Dante's Inferno and even Shakespeare. There's even a zombie sex scene.
"That was interesting," Nunes said. "We all needed to go home [after it was done] ... watch Finding Nemo or something happy."
Though Nunes admitted some of the scenes in his film were a bit far-fetched, he said an imagination is vital if one wants to pursue the field of film.
"You have to leave some of your beliefs at the door," he said. Nunes said he realizes many horror films are comical, but said his is "mostly supposed to be taken seriously."
His cast of about 25 people, including eight main roles and extras, were chosen through a taped open audition, which Nunes reviewed before making his final selections. The actors, mostly local New England actors and actresses, did the filming unpaid, which fit in especially well with Nunes's final budget of $10,000.
Though Nunes wrote and directed the screenplay - which took him a little over a year, finishing the filming this past July - he welcomed impromptu performances from his cast, which he said did an "absolutely excellent job."
Now Nunes is in the editing stages of his production, and has about 15 hours of footage to sort through. But, he said, that's the fun part.
"It's sort of tedious, but I actually like that kind of stuff," Nunes said. "To keep from going insane," Nunes plays with his 7-month-old daughter, Lydia, in their apartment in Connecticut, or spends time with his wife, Marybeth, whom he met in high school.
And what next after "Zombie Allegiance?" Nunes is working on another movie, "Cake and Eat It," along with two other screenplays with a werewolf science fiction theme for his mentor, Richard Griffin, of Scorpio Film Releasing, who also acted as the cinematographer in "Zombie Allegiance."
Though many fresh college graduates like to head to the West Coast, Nunes said he prefers the East Coast, and isn't planning on moving. He acknowledged it might be tougher to hit it big in states like Massachusetts or Connecticut, but he's willing to try.
"Around here, you have to make your own opportunities," he said. "The only way you're really going to get to be a filmmaker is to run out in the middle of the road, straight into traffic."
