[yasr_overall_rating]
Parched: Lost in the Desert, Hungry for Friendship. A freshly-bitten zombie gets stranded in the desert. Unaware of the zombie apocalypse, two girls get lost on the way to Coachella. Their paths cross in the most unexpected ways. Samuel Beckett meets Jim Jarmusch…but with zombies.
One of my favorite movies from the 1980’s is a little-known comedy called “Hysterical,” which starred the Hudson brothers and poked fun at so many movies of that time including “The Exorcist,” “Taxi Driver,” “The Fog” and any number of zombie films. It pretty much sank without a trace but eventually found a home on video and DVD. In 2004, “Shaun of the Dead” came out and pretty much reinvigorated the zombie comedy genre (if that even exists) and then the market was inundated with such drivel as “Night of the Living Dorks,” “Redneck Zombies” and “Bio Zombie.” Thankfully, director Alex Saveliev has the proficiency and expertise to bring to life (no pun intended) a zombie comedy with brains (really, no pun intended).
Shot in glorious black and white, cinematographer Miguel Rodriguez captures, in gorgeous high definition, the beautiful but barren desolation and harsh landscape affiliated with any desert environment. As the movie begins, we are witness to a magnificent sunrise, when from behind some rocks, Carl (Carl Bryan) appears. Carrying a tennis racquet and looking like he just woke up after a hard night of partying, while he most certainly embodies the distinctive appearance of a wealthy sophisticate, make no mistake, Carl is a zombie. Plus, he’s in the worst habitat on earth for someone of his disposition: a sparse, uninhabited wasteland.
That is of course, until Sophie (Sophie Tilson) and Danielle (Danielle Jane Darling) appear. Having gotten lost on their way to Coachella, the two girls, like Carl, have not seen another soul for days and unaware of the zombie apocalypse that has engulfed the earth, when they first see Carl from a distance, they are ecstatic but upon closer inspection, they realize that he is obviously diseased. As they attempt to retreat, Carl attacks them but after managing to free the tennis racquet from his hand, Danielle proceeds to bash his head in but to no real effect (it was probably a Rossignol) and thus, begins their long trek through the desert to find civilization, accompanied by a ravenous zombie.
Carl is played to great comedic effect by Carl Bryan and in one hilarious scene, his cell phone starts ringing. Naturally, being a zombie, he has no idea what to do with it and decides to play tennis with it instead. Both Sophie Tilson and Danielle Jane Darling are fine in their respective roles but I couldn’t help wonder how great this would be as a feature length film. Three characters, two humans, one zombie and a lot of desert, the possibilities are endless!
You can watch the entire movie below
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