Zeta: When the Dead Awaken (2019) Review

“Zeta: When the Dead Awaken” Theatrical Poster

Director: Amanda Iswan
Writer: Amanda Iswan
Cast: Cut Mini, Dimas Aditya, Jeff Smith, Edo Borne, Joshua Pandelaki, Willem Bevers, Revaldo, Natasha Gott, Chicco Kurniawan, Atiq Rachman
Running Time: 94 min.

By Paul Bramhall

Indonesia may have put itself on the map over the last decade thanks to its martial arts offerings, with the likes of The Raid and its sequel making an impact on action movie fans across the world, however the country has also left a distinct impression with its horror output. The likes of the Mo Brothers Macabre and May the Devil Take You (and its sequel – both helmed by Timo Tjahjanto), and Joko Anwar’s Impetigore and remake of Satan’s Slaves, haven’t shied away from getting bloody, resulting in some of the most original horror in recent years. Of course, Indonesia has also had a tendency to cast Japanese AV stars in their horror flicks, who can forget Maria Ozawa in Carriage Ghost, or Sasha Grey in Pocong Mandi Goyang Pinggul? (Note the question is rhetorical)

With such variance in their horror output, particularly as many productions are aimed strictly at local audiences (check out the trailer for Pocong Mandi Goyang Pinggul, and you’ll understand), there’s always some trepidation going into one of the countries lesser known efforts. The zombie genre has been around in Indonesia for a while, although most of its output (such as 2015’s Kampung Zombie and 2018’s Reuni Z) has yet to travel beyond local shores. With that being said, the temptation to check out a new indie zombie flick in the form of Zeta: When the Dead Awaken proved too much to resist. Considering most indie zombie flicks from nearby Japan, a country with a considerably more developed film industry, are borderline unwatchable, I didn’t have high expectations, so was pleasantly surprised by what lay instore.

Similar to many Korean productions made straight out of graduation (Bleak Night, End of Animal etc.), Zeta (as I’ll refer to it from here on in) is the debut of director, writer, and producer Amanda Iswan. After struggling to get the project off the ground for a couple of years, it eventually arrived on Indonesian screens in 2019, having secured a small budget from first time producing house Swan Studio. Thankfully Iswan shows from the opening frames that she knows how to make every penny count, as we’re introduced to an aerial shot of a deserted city which has been laid to waste, immediately creating a suitably foreboding atmosphere with minimum resources.

We’re introduced to a high school student, played by relative newcomer Jeff Smith. I know what you’re thinking, yes, he’s Indonesian (ok, half Indonesian, joining the likes of Julie Estelle and Arifin Putra). Smith doesn’t have an easy life in high school, with a scientist father (Willem Bevers, Foxtrot Six) who spends most of him time overseas, and a mother (Cut Mini Theo, Follow Me to Hell) who’s suffering from the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. When he overhears a classmate mocking him, the subsequent beatdown he lays on the agitator sees him sent straight to the principal’s office. Before any punishment can be dispensed though, the beaten-up classmate turns into a zombie, biting into the nurse’s neck that was attending to him, and setting off a chain of events that soon sees the whole city being overrun by “the infected”.

The jaded zombie movie fan in me at this point was already groaning. Movies that feature angst ridden high schoolers as protagonists aren’t really my bag, and as the first onscreen zombie appearance, I wasn’t sold (if you want a masterclass on how to introduce a zombie into a movie, check out I Am a Hero). However this setup all takes place in the first 10 minutes, and once Smith high tails it back to the apartment complex that his Alzheimer’s suffering mother is living alone in, proceedings pick up considerably. It’s safe to say that a good 70% of Zeta’s lean 95 minute runtime takes place in the apartment complex, and Iswan shows an assured hand at utilising the darkened corridors, stairwells, lifts, and lobbies to wring a satisfying amount of tension from a variety of zombie populated scenarios.

Despite the small budget, from the number of zombies lurking in the apartment you’d never know. There may never be that many onscreen at the same time, however the clever editing clearly conveys the feeling that there could be a zombie lurking around any corner (and quite often there is). Zeta has opted for a traditional zombie aesthetic which I’m a big fan of. As much as I can appreciate the bone cracking, eye bulging speed zombies that Korea has popularised with the likes of Train to Busan, for me nothing beats the slow-moving undead with grotesque and bloody flesh wounds. While the use of darkness ensures the zombies in the background stay partially obscured, the makeup effects used on the handful we get up close too is effective and convincing. Even better is that for the most part the zombies are CGI-free, and we get the bonus of a zombie baby, sure to add a bit of fun to any zombie flick. 

Smith and Mini Theo eventually meet up with another surviving resident in the building, played by Dimas Aditya (Satan’s Slaves). He reveals his brother lives in another building within the same complex, and has a radio which can be used to contact the military, however is reluctant to bring them along to his siblings’ abode for reasons best not spoilt here. Armed with a baseball bat (with obligatory added nails), knives, and a gun, the trio attempt to make their way out of the apartment, and access the other building in the hopes of letting the outside world know they’re still alive.

In parallel to the trapped in an apartment complex scenario, there’s a plot involving the military, a guerrilla group they’ve teamed up with, and Smith’s scientist father. Played by Willem Bevers, who recently featured in the superhero flick Gundala, his acting is either intentionally hammy or he’s in the wrong profession. Comparative to the tense setting of the apartment complex, the scenes with the military act mainly to provide exposition as to how victims become zombies, which is through a parasitic worm called Zeta. The hammy acting benefits the B-movie style tropes of these scenes, as the soldiers discuss a pair of Zeta brains stored in jars, and ramble on about their mission to find a serum that cures it. While it feels like the two scenarios should grate against each other, onscreen the military scenes serve to break up the limited setting of the complex, and ultimately serve to compliment rather than detract from each other.

On a similar note, the pacing that this juxtaposition of scenarios results in means that Zeta doesn’t carry any fat on its bones (perhaps the wrong expression to use in a zombie movie). Free of any romance or additional drama, Iswan keeps her debut committed to its brief, ensuring any dialogue scenes are there to propel the plot forward, and never forgetting that we need zombies onscreen frequently. Again there’s a lot of clever editing in the kills, with knives plunged into skulls and plenty of headshots along the way (executed with passable CGI blood spray, and the brief use of 1^st person POV shots), however you don’t necessarily see everything. When a character embeds a knife in a zombie’s skull, you only realise if you’re playing close attention that their elbow obscured the money shot, and it was your own imagination that filled in the rest.

Iswan’s writing also delivers some smart storytelling that looks to compensate for the lack of budget with a few unique touches that give Zeta its own identity. We get a dose of zombie vision where we learn they primarily see our heart and brains, there’s a differentiation made between alpha and omega ‘zeta’s’, and I particularly liked the way the Alzheimer’s element was incorporated into the story. While Zeta isn’t going to be the next big ground-breaking zombie flick, these elements show a level of ambition that elevate the plot from just being a simple survival thriller, and add a welcome additional layer to proceedings. 

Considering Zeta most likely had a lower budget that the similarly zombie themed The Driver, Iswan gives a masterclass on how to do more with less. Despite the low budget, the committed performances from the cast, zombies that actually look like the undead (having some dirt on your face and contact lenses doesn’t make a good zombie!), and solid cinematography, Zeta proves to be a worthy addition to an overpopulated genre. 

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6.5/10