DVD Review: A Plague So Pleasant

Zombies sure are popular these days. That seems due in large part to The Walking Dead, a series that even my girlfriend (who says she hates horror films) enjoys. There are also zombie walks, where people dress up as zombies and… well… walk. And now there are zombie trains as well, where passengers ride through a zombie apocalypse and can even choose to become zombies en route. Why not? And as for zombie films, writers and directors are still finding new and interesting places to take this horror subgenre. Look at A Plague So Pleasant for a prime example of what wonderful new work can be done in the zombie realm.

This film is set a year after the zombie apocalypse, when zombies have become a simple fact of life for those who survived. It has an odd opening, a static shot of a kitchen table, upon which sits a gallon of milk and an empty glass. Soon Todd (Max Moody) enters frame and sits down, facing us. But when he speaks, we hear another man off screen answer. And since Todd looks directly into the camera, we immediately share this unseen man’s perspective. It’s an interesting way to establish that perspective, and align us with Clay (David Chandler). The scene itself is humorous, with Todd asking Clay if his sister Mia is available. And it contains a slightly subtle hint as to what’s taken place, as Clay tells Todd, “Ever since she lost Mom and Dad and Gerry, she’s been so… She needs somebody right now.” And when Clay opens the door to head to work, he sees zombies milling about in the front yard. He walks right past them.

A Plague So Pleasant acknowledges the zombie movies that we’ve all seen, in the voice over narration that Clay delivers during the opening credits. Then he adds: “So when the news reports came in, we were all very well armed. We shot every zombie we saw.” But in an interesting twist, he adds, “When we stopped shooting the zombies, the zombies stopped eating us.” In the world of this film, the zombie apocalypse lasted only twelve hours, and now it’s a felony to shoot a zombie. The film shows us a series of images of zombies in close-ups, as somber music plays, almost like we’re seeing refugees of a war. Plus, all of this is presented in black and white, adding to that feel (while also reminding us a bit of Night Of The Living Dead, and so giving us the sense of beginning the genre over again in a different way). What’s also wonderful about this opening is that it addresses the sort of philosophical and religious questions about death, for in this world no one really dies anymore, but instead everyone wanders forever. And perhaps that’s the most horrible thing of all, worse than death.

The film has an interesting tone, with a quiet and dark humor, implying that both the victims and the survivors of the zombie apocalypse share the same fate, existing in a sort of lifeless world. For example, there is a great scene at Clay’s workplace where he and his co-workers have to sit through a meeting on “Undead Awareness Safety,” with zombies having become as dull a topic as any other that would be brought up at an office meeting. And instead of cemeteries, there are zombie reserves, where you can visit your undead loved ones. As Clay points out, “A tombstone makes it a lot easier to move on.” So when it’s clear to Clay that his sister will never get over Gerry so long as Gerry remains above ground, he returns to the reserve with a gun, intending to kill Gerry so that Mia can get on with her life. And that’s when things suddenly take a drastic turn.

A Plague So Pleasant was written and directed by Benjamin Roberds, and was released on DVD on September 29, 2015 through Wild Eye Releasing. The DVD includes two promotional spots for the film.