''L.A. Zombie'' is a 2010

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

zombie porn film written and directed by

Bruce LaBruce Bruce LaBruce (born January 3, 1964) is a Canadian artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer, and underground director based in Toronto. Life and career LaBruce was born in Tiverton, Ontario. He has claimed both Justin Stewart and Bryan Bruce a ...

. It premiered in competition at

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

in Switzerland in 2010. The film exists in two versions, a 63-minute cut version showcased at various festivals and theatres and a 103-minute directors cut DVD release containing hardcore gay

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

not seen in the cut version.

Plot

extraterrestrial Extraterrestrial may refer to: Science * Extraterrestrial life, life that occurs outside of Earth and that probably did not originate from Earth Media * ''Extraterrestrial'' (TV program), a program on the National Geographic Channel * '' Extrate ...

zombie (who may just be a

schizophrenic Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

vagrant, and whose appearance constantly shifts between that of a corpse, a

tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine tooth, canine teeth, as with Narwhal, narwhals, chevrotains, musk deer, water deer, muntjac, pigs, ...

ed beast with irregular genitals, and a normal man) emerges from the sea, and begins making its way to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. A motorist notices the zombie walking along a deserted road, picks it up, and dies in an accident moments later. The zombie recovers from the crash, and reanimates the driver by penetrating a wound in the man's chest with its monstrous penis. The ghouls have sex, which ends with the first zombie ejaculating black semen, and stumbling away as the motorist sits among the wreckage of his vehicle, in awe of what has just transpired. The zombie reaches Los Angeles, and after perusing shopping carts full of discarded objects, ventures to the L.A. River, where it sees a white collar criminal being shot to death by his partner. The zombie drags the deceased lawbreaker to a soiled mattress, and resurrects him via coitus with the bullet wounds in the man's back. The undead criminal and the zombie have sex, which is followed by the zombie wandering away, washing itself, and going to a café, where it purchases a cup of coffee. The zombie steals some clothing, and finds the dumped body of a gang member who was shot in the head. The zombie brings the hood back to life by molesting the hole in his forehead, and has sex with him. A group of homeless are then shown meeting at an abandoned sofa, but flee when they discover the body of a fellow bum who had overdosed in a cardboard box. The zombie stumbles upon the scene, and after ignoring a homeless man who is merely passed out, resurrects and engages in sex with the dead one. In a

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often Eroticism, erotic practices or Sexual roleplay, roleplaying involving Bondage (BDSM), bondage, Discipline (BDSM), discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given ...

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

, four men have an orgy, and later all of them are killed by a pair of drug dealers when they refuse to pay for low-quality cocaine. The zombie witnesses the massacre through a window, enters the building, and instigates a gory circle jerk after bringing back the shot leathermen. The zombie then goes to a cemetery, cries tears and blood as it reminisces about its lovers, and digs up a grave as it begins to storm.

Cast

Production

''L.A. Zombie'' began production in 2009, filming on location in

. One scene was shot at the L.A. River, in the exact location of the "Thunder Road" race sequence from the musical '' Grease''. The film was first released as a soft-core independent feature and then a

gay pornographic Gay pornography is the representation of sexual activity between males with the primary goal to sexually arouse its audience. Softcore gay pornography also exists; which at one time constituted the genre, and may be produced as beefcake por ...

film at a later date.

Release

On January 30, 2010, the film had a sneak preview at the Peres Project Exhibit in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany as part of the show ''L.A. Zombie: The Movie That Would Not Die''. A collection of silk screened portraits by Bruce LaBruce from the film were also shown at the exhibit, mostly pictures showcasing Sagat as a zombie. The

screened ''L.A. Zombie'' in competition from August 4–16 of 2010. The film was due to have its second and third screening as part of the

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

(MIFF) in Australia on August 7 and 8, 2010. However, the Australian Film Classification Board advised festival organisers that the film could not be screened as it was likely to be refused classification. Under Australian law, films that are refused classification may not be imported, sold, or distributed, which precludes screening at public events. In defiance of this censorship, the

Melbourne Underground Film Festival The Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) is an Australian independent film festival featuring mostly genre, controversial, transgressive and avant garde material. History The Melbourne Underground Film Festival was formed out of disagreem ...

, which occurs concurrently with

MIFF MIFF may refer to: Film festivals * Listapad, aka Minsk International Film Festival, held each November in Minsk, Belarus * Maine International Film Festival, held in Waterville, Maine *Melbourne International Film Festival, held in Melbourne, A ...

but screens films regarded as too controversial for the mainstream event, held an illegal screening of ''L.A. Zombie'' on August 29. While police did not attend or stop the screening on the night, they did raid the home of director Richard Wolstencroft on the morning of November 11, 2010. Wolstencroft admitted to police that an August 29 screening had occurred, but claimed to have destroyed the only copy of the film afterwards. The court ruled that he pay $750 to the

Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), colloquially referred to as the Royal Children's, is a major children's hospital in Parkville, Victoria, Parkville, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Regarded as one of the great C ...

. ''L.A. Zombie'' held its UK premiere at the Raindance Film Festival in London on October 1, 2010. It was reported that "at least one-third of the audience walked out stupefied".

TLA Releasing TLA Releasing is a US film distribution and production company owned by TLA Entertainment Group. In March 2011, a new LLC was formed for the operation. Its primary output is LGBT-related films from all over the world under the "TLA Releasing" la ...

picked up the U.S. release for the film, and set November 12, 2010 as the DVD date. The DVD release is an uncut version, longer than the film festival release's runtime. In New Zealand, the film was first screened at the Out Takes LGBT film festival in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. Unlike Australia, New Zealand's Office of Film and Literature Classification gave the film an R18 certificate, which means that it can be screened as long as the audience is aged eighteen and over. The Society for Promotion of Community Standards called for review of the decision, while GayNZ.com welcomed its release. SPCS failed to have the film prohibited after the review and it was resultantly screened at the Out Takes film festival in Auckland and Wellington in early June 2011.

Reception

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

'' referred to ''L.A. Zombie'' as a "strangely introspective indie film", and concluded that it was well done and thoughtful, and that "The joy of the film is that it doesn't do what you expect it to, yet it always seems sincere". Film Forward stated "This sometimes sexy, sometimes chilling horror-porn-art house piece has a strong message, yet it feels like Bruce LaBruce light. There's none of the raw energy that made ''

The Raspberry Reich ''The Raspberry Reich'' is a 2004 film by director Bruce LaBruce which explores what LaBruce calls " terrorist chic", cult dynamics, and the "innate radical potential of homosexual expression". It is about a contemporary terrorist group who set ou ...

'' (2004) a revelation, and there's not enough of the thought-provoking, satirical humor that embodied his last one, ''

Otto; or Up with Dead People ''Otto; or, Up with Dead People'' is a 2008 Canadian and German queer cinema horror film. The film was directed by Bruce LaBruce and stars Jey Crisfar, Marcel Schlutt, Nicholas Fox Ricciardi and Gio Black Peter. Plot A young gay man named ...

'' (2008). According to ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', rather than combining art-show, campy horror, and porn movies, LaBruce "just turned out a confused mess", and "it's hard to imagine regular filmgoers being especially disturbed...only the most sheltered viewers will feel the notoriety is deserved." A score of two stars out of five was awarded by Moria, which wrote "One suspects the true purpose behind ''L.A. Zombie'' is that Bruce LaBruce is less a pornographic filmmaker than a gleeful agitator who latches onto pornography solely for its outrage value". ''Next Projection'' gave the film 6 out of 10 stars or "okay" rating. The ''

Torontoist ''Daily Hive'', formerly known as ''Vancity Buzz'', is a Canadian online newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It began digital publishing in 2008 and became Western Canada's largest online-only publication by 2016. In September 2022 ...

'' found the film exploitative of L.A.'s homeless, giving it zero stars and beginning its review with "A spiritless, pointless amalgam of gory zombie picture and hardcore porn, ''L.A. Zombie'' is the confluence of two cultural crosscurrents that nobody asked for. Shot on crummy-looking digital and realized by the incompetent Bruce LaBruce, it looks like a homework assignment cranked out by the insufferably pretentious kid in the

Tom Savini Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including ''Martin ( ...

master class".

Awards

References

External links

* * * {{Bruce LaBruce Alt porn 2010 films Films about necrophilia American zombie films American splatter films German splatter films Bondage pornography 2010 horror films German horror films Gay pornographic films 2010s pornographic films 2010 LGBTQ-related films German pornographic films LGBTQ-related horror films American erotic horror films Pornographic zombie films LGBTQ-related controversies in film Obscenity controversies in film American pornographic films Films about homelessness Films directed by Bruce LaBruce Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles German avant-garde and experimental films American avant-garde and experimental films 2010s avant-garde and experimental films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s German films American LGBTQ-related films German LGBTQ-related films English-language horror films