I happened to catch THX 1183 on television the other night, and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed in the least. While it’s not a zombie movie in the classic brain-eating, mindless-wandering sense, it still touches on the way in which we, as a society, can become zombie-like when we forget to truly live. Check it out if you’re looking for something a little different, but still entertaining. Oh and it is George Lucas’ directorial debut…
“Work hard, increase production, prevent accidents, and be happy.” THX 1138 presents a cold, dystopian future in which individual thought and love are forbidden. But two citizens dare to rebel. LUH 3417, a disenchanted surveillance worker, consciously stops taking her mandatory drugs — medication that suppresses emotions — and gives placebos to her roommate, THX 1138. Now free to feel, the two fall in love, but find themselves on the run for breaking laws of conformity.
My Rating: A-
Interesting Facts: To provide the large number of extras required, George Lucas contacted the Synanon drug rehabilitation facility where he found many recovering drug users who were required to be shaved bald for the drug program anyway; the sounds of the police motorcycles are the sped-up sounds of women screaming together in a tiled bathroom; and very little makeup was used on the actors to give them a look of authenticity.
And now it’s time for the trailer…
A zombie is found aboard a boat off the New York coast which belongs to do a famous scientist. Peter West, a journalist, travels to the Antilles with Ann, the daughter of the scientist. On the way, they meet with Brian, a ethnologist, and Susan. When they arrive at Matul Island, they find Dr. Menard, and discover a terrifying disease which is turning the islanders into horrifying zombies which devour human flesh and seem indestructible…
Young couple Madeleine and Neil are coaxed by acquaintance Monsieur Beaumont to get married on his Haitian plantation. Beaumont’s motives are purely selfish as he makes every attempt to convince the beautiful young girl to run away with him. For help Beaumont turns to the devious Legendre, a man who runs his mill by mind controlling people he has turned into zombies. After Beaumont uses Legendre’s zombie potion on Madeleine, he is dissatisfied with her emotionless being and wants her to be changed back. Legendre has no intention of doing this and he drugs Beaumont as well to add to his zombie collection. Meanwhile, grieving ‘widower’ Neil is convinced by a local priest that Madeleine may still be alive and he seeks her out.
A hike alone in the woods ends tragically for Beth Slocum with a fatal snake bite. Her death leaves her parents and boyfriend Zach reeling. After the funeral, Zach tries to make friends with Mr. and Mrs. Slocum, but even they reject him, and he’s determined to figure out why. Then he sees Beth. Her parents are trying to keep her resurrection a secret, but zombie Beth provides Zach with the opportunity to do everything with her that he didn’t get to do while she was still alive. But with Beth’s increasingly erratic behaviour and even more strange occurrences around town, life with the undead Beth proves to be particularly complicated for her still-living loved ones.