WRITING CULTURE 2012: Film, Food & Beyond

Still Image taken from the short film “Rest” by Cole Schreiber

Who says zombies can’t have hearts? …Oh, yeah. Well, anyway this zombie from the short “Rest” by Cole Schreiber will make any 300 pound, muscle man squeal “awww” right in front of their laptop screens. It all begins with a zombie inexplicably rising from his grave and walking miles to unspecified location. We see the zombie walk through sand and dirt and mountains just to arrive at this location. He even rides a boat across the ocean. All that is heard throughout is a merry piano tune. The lack of language is good because it perplexes the audience and makes them wonder where he might be going. Is he going to seek revenge on the person that killed him? Or is he just mindless walking since he is a zombie and therefore brainless.  Well for the sake of making it a short film, let’s assume that he is going somewhere specific for a reason.

As you see him walk and walk for minutes through these different fields and areas, even through New York City at one point, the we still don’t get a hint as to where he might be walking to which can bore the audience. For a short film that’s only about 12 minutes long, 5 minutes of just walking with no indication or clue can get a little redundant and boring and make viewers just close their screens. Midway, however, we see him take out a picture and look at it so now the viewers can assume he has a plan, at least. At the end, he gets a shovel and digs up a grave and jumps in it, only for us to see a woman there and they lay there together until the end. How cute. If you’re into zombies and the undead and at the same time love a good love story, this is a good short film to watch.