'Undead' Dudes Talk Zombies

The Spierig brothers talk about their zombie horror movie 'Undead', a labour of love that the boys practically made single-handed.

Dec 29 2004

'Undead' is a remarkable debut feature, an Australian horror/sci-fi/comedy that was written, produced and directed by twin brothers Michael and Peter Spierig.

Telling the tale of a small fishing town overrun by a plague of ravenous zombies, it's also a genuine, old-fashioned, balls-to-the-wall splatter-fest, full of impressively unpleasant visual effects that were mostly created on Michael and Peter's laptop.

Time Out therefore thought we'd take the opportunity to talk with the brothers Spierig to find out what makes their twisted minds tick and just how they made such an accomplished movie for practically nothing.

Are you sick and tired of talking about the film yet?

'Undead' will probably be with us for a very long time, and we don't mind as long as people enjoy the movie and also appreciate the fact that it was truly low budget! It has now been close to five years since we first started writing the script. Full production commenced in August 2001, followed by the long process of post-production in 2002.

Where did the idea for 'Undead' come from?

In 1996 and 1997, while at Uni, we made three short films, ('Attack of the Undead', 'Rampage of the Undead' and 'Massacre of the Undead'), which was so much fun to do that we eventually decided that we should attempt to write the script for a feature based on the Trilogy.

What films influenced you in wanting to make your own (sort of) zombie movie?

We are big fans of 'Evil Dead', 'Night of the Living Dead', 'Braindead' and we also like 50's B-movies.

Was there a lot of doubt from people that two first-timers could make a film of this scale?

We, our friends and cast and crew believed that we could do it, and a lot of other people doubted us.

How difficult is it to walk that fine line between comedy and horror when you are making a movie like this?

It was not easy. Our prime objective was to make a movie that would be fun to watch.

What was the hardest part of the process – principal photography or post-production when you were doing the effects?

When you have very limited financial resources, nothing comes easy. But post-production was by far the toughest. We both virtually worked 16 hours every day, for over nine months, to create all the effects.

I believe you did many of those effects on your own laptop, and I'm guessing they cost a lot less than the average Hollywood blockbuster. They look great though, so why isn't everybody doing it the way you two are?

We were obviously very limited as far as the equipment and software available to us at the time. But with far more advanced equipment that is now on the market and becoming more affordable, it is a lot easier to create visual effects at home. It takes a lot of time to understand the software; it can take years to get past the learning stage so you can actually be creative. I think a lot of people wouldn't have the patience.

Will we see 'Undead 2' anytime soon?

While we have developed quite a few ideas for 'Undead 2', it is not on the horizon for quite some time.

'Undead' is released on January 7, 2005.

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