Nurse Patsy Powers wears glasses. She has bad hair, never wears makeup, and covers her body with a large robe-like sweater. It took being bit by a zombie and actually becoming one to turn her into a sexy minx. It’s just that her new appetite extends far beyond sex, now she has a taste for human flesh. Who would have thought that being a zombie would have been the best aphrodisiac?

"Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse In Love" is the first zombie movie I've seen in 2004 and, hopefully, it will start a trend of other good uses of the zombie formula. Sort of an "Eating Raul" approach to the typical zombie tale, "Graveyard" swings smartly taking its time to develop the story and the particular quirks that make zombies, well, zombies. While my education is firmly rooted in George Romero's black and white classic, and his later color take on the genre he gave birth to, "Graveyard" helps build on the horror genre’s sometimes funny and often gruesome elements by focusing predominantly on one transformation from human to zombie in the person of an ugly duckling nurse, Patsy Powers.

Powers is really a kind soul who lives alone and pines away quietly for her high school sweetie, Dr. Dox (Karl Gerhardt) who is now the hospital’s most eligible bachelor. When the story begins and we are introduced to Powers, Dox is in the process of attempting to diddle a pretty blonde nurse named Goodie (Samantha Slan). In time, Dox proposes to Goodie probably in hopes that he will be permitted to bed her down. To his dismay, Goodie informs him that sex will not be on the agenda until after they are married.

As the good Dr. Dox' sexual frustration reaches a fever pitch, Nurse Patsy Powers is bitten by a sick woodcutter who during the film's opening moments is apparently infected with the zombie virus (or maybe it is a biological agent) from the bite of a zombie woodchuck (or maybe it is a squirrel). Once bitten, Powers goes fully into sex-kitten mode although her transformation is not exactly what you might expect. For example, we learn that the zombie infection just might make an infected host more sexually attractive even though such host's looks might degrade, or in the case of a newly minted zombie decay.

Working her way through the hospital medical staff the sometimes torn skin and certainly smelly Powers just might infect everyone. Powers' transformation doesn't go unnoticed, however, and soon, the hospital janitor springs into action. You see, the janitor named Kapotski (Rolande Laroche) is really a doctor from Eastern Europe whose specialty is the study of zombies, call him a zombieologist. And if you ask Kapotski, the only good zombie is a dead zombie, but, wait a minute, aren't zombies already dead? No matter, the battle between Kapotski and Nurse Powers is on.

"Graveyard Alive" is an intentionally odd film aimed at the zombie art film crowd. This ambitious approach is well chosen because it may draw in a large curious audience. But be prepared because "odd" is the word. According to the director, this film was originally intended to be a silent movie! By the time they realized that it wouldn't work as a silent film, they had to go back and loop the sound. The film has an overly dramatic feel to everything and this exaggerated method fits well with the affected and frankly weird sound. One scene where Nurse Powers sings at a nightclub almost doesn't work because the actress' lips don't match the song at all. Still, the completely exaggerated nature of the film makes this problem seem intentional and will be acceptable to most viewers. While at Sundance, I saw a film called "Crystal" featuring Harry Dean Stanton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Lisa Blount. In that film, Blount's character sings and the looping is off somehow which hurt the emotional impact of that otherwise solid scene. The same problem in "Graveyard" is excusable primarily because of the weird subject matter and overall campiness intended.

Although "Graveyard" is a just plain kooky film, it contains a lucid and practical explanation for many zombie traits. The writers have brainstormed well to focus on the intimate details of Nurse Powers' transformation. Powers, at times, has troubles with her joints and decaying teeth. We learn that if she consumes human flesh many of these unpleasant side-effects fade away. Also, she takes understandable steps to make herself look more human like teeth brushing (even with bleach) and utilizing perfumes to mask the rancid smells. The amazing thing is that these awful sounding events are handled directly with a tongue-in-cheek manner making them palatable and entertaining.

The music featured in "Graveyard" is catchy and very cool. French Canadian band Les Breastfeeders has contributed a ubber sllck tune entitled "Laisse autant le vent tout emporter" (roughly translated to: “Let the wind carry it all away”) that punctuates Powers' sex-kitten moments. The song, in French, was trippy appealing to me and I don't speak a word of it (my French be worse than Carrie Bradshaw's from SATC).

The special zombie effects in “Graveyard” are basic although perfectly suited to the subject matter. Since the film is in black and white, many of the flaws in the effects may have been easily masked. While there are disembowelments and other moments in which bodies are carved up, the filmmakers know how to make such shots look as realistic as possible. Frankly, I would have bought the entire thing even had the effects been worse.

2004 may end up being the year of the ZOMBIE given the fact that a remake of "Day of the Dead" and the much anticipated sequel to "Resident Evil" are on the way to theaters across the world. While "Graveyard Alive" is the art-house entry, it might do more to expand the audience for this genre because it is self-aware enough to use zombie touches intelligently without diving completely off the deep end. You can be sure that special effects and high body counts will take center stage when the remake and the sequel finally come to town. While I look forward to those films, I hope that we don't forget that just last year we were treated to one of the best zombie pics in years, "28 Days Later," made, I'm sure, for many millions less than the films to come in 2004.

Although "28 Days Later" was reportedly shot with camcorders, "Graveyard" utilizes film. And George Romero would be happy that the filmmaker has made excellent use of black and white 35 mm stock perhaps as both an attempt to capture the beauty of the silent film era but maybe, just maybe, as a tribute to the film that started it all. Whatever the reason, "Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse In Love" looks great, sounds weird, and kicks off the year of the ZOMBIE with wit and humor.

Jonathan W. Hickman, 2003