In early 2012, Juan of the Dead’s UK premier was
held at my local art house cinema during their annual Spanish Language Film
Festival. I was really annoyed that I couldn’t make the screening as I’d heard
a lot of good things about the comedy-horror, the fist Cuban film I’d ever come
across. Over a year later, LoveFilm sent me the DVD and I excitedly slid it
into my player. Ninety-six minutes later I was a disappointed man. While Juan of the Dead has a lot of things
going for it, I didn’t enjoy the broad comedy or unremarkable effects. It does
however contain important political subtext which was much more to my liking.
Juan (Alexis Díaz de Villegas) is
a middle aged Cuban, used to doing nothing on a regular basis. His wife left
him some time ago, taking his daughter with her to Spain. Juan’s friend Lazaro (Jorge
Molina) is in a similar situation but at least has his son Vladi (Andros
Perugorría) for company. A strange illness begins to infect the people of the Caribbean island and those infected begin marauding
through the streets, eating their friends and neighbours who in turn become
infected themselves. Dismissed as dissidents, backed by America by the
Cuban Government, it soon becomes apparent to Juan that no matter who or what
they are, he and his friends have a battle for survival on their hands.
