Cabrini Green
05-15-2004, 12:13 PM
Willard Huyck’s cult zombie film Dead People also known as Messiah of Evil deserves to be mentioned with the upper echelon of the genre. It is a treat to see what he accomplished on such a low budget. Marianna Hill plays Arrletty, the films protagonist who arrives in the small Californian coastal town of Point Dune to search for her artist father and discovers a plague that turns its citizens into trance like states. They stare out at the ocean, bleed from their eyes, insects appear in their mouths, and they crave raw meat. There are so many memorable scenes in the film from the opening gas station, the supermarket and movie theater encounters, and zombies crashing down from skylights. Huyck obliviously added the Italian influence in his picture tinting the film and the famous scene where she attacks a citizen covered in multicolored paint. The voiceovers and psychedelic score add to the nightmare. I really can’t think of any flaws with this picture. Do yourself a favor and hunt this one down.