Juan of the Dead

2012

Juan of the Dead

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

64%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,333

Super Reviewer

Juan of the Dead Photos

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Movie Info

Juan is 40 years old, most of which he spent in Cuba doing absolutely nothing. Juan's only emotional tie is his daughter, Camila, a beautiful young girl that doesn't want anything to do with her father because the only thing he's good at is getting into trouble. Suddenly some strange things start to happen, people are turning violent attacking one to the other. Juan was first convinced it's just another stage of the Revolution. Little by little Juan and his friends start to realize that the attackers are not normal human beings and that killing them is quite a difficult task. They're not vampires, they're not possesed, but they're definitely not dissidents; a simple bite turns the victim into other violent killing machine and the only way to beat them is destroying their brains. Juan decides that the best way of facing the situation is making some money out of it..... -- (C) Official Site

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Art House & International, Comedy, Horror
Directed By:

Alejandro Brugués, Alejandro Brugués
Written By:

Alejandro Brugués
In Theaters:

Mar 16, 2012 limited
On Disc/Streaming:

Aug 14, 2012
Runtime:

100 minutes
Studio:

Outsider Pictures

Watch it now

Cast

Alexis Diaz de Villegas
as Juan

Alexis Días de Villegas
as Juan

Jorge Molina
as Lazaro

Andrea Duro
as Camila

Andros Perugorría
as Vladi California

Jazz Vila
as La China

Eliecer Ramirez
as El Primo

Blanca Rosa Blanco

Elsa Camp

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Critic Reviews for Juan of the Dead

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (5)

This wacky zombie comedy exploits to the full this genre's juicy potential for satire: a more solemn kind of movie maybe couldn't get away with being quite as irreverent about the Castro government.

May 3, 2012 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
Top Critic
Rum zombie flick blends hit-and-miss buddy comedy with slyly subversive political commentary.

May 3, 2012 | Rating: 3/5

Anton Bitel
Little White Lies
Top Critic
The 'Evil Dead' and Romero nods are fun, but characters appear for no reason and are bumped off without warning; there's just not enough flesh on these funny bones.

May 3, 2012 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Nigel Floyd
Time Out
Top Critic
As a zombie picture, Juan of the Dead is merely OK. But as a satirical comedy of life in Cuba under Castro, it totally kills - and keeps coming back for more.

Mar 8, 2012 | Rating: 3/4

Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
Top Critic
The visually arresting bleached browns of Havana form a perfect backdrop for the liberal dousing of blood and severed limbs, whilst the plethora of set-piece deaths appear fresh in their originality.

Jan 7, 2019 | Full Review…

Cleaver Patterson
CineVue
Polished and heartfelt, Juan brings a new voice in genre filmmaking from a land hamstrung by politics for decades.

Nov 6, 2017 | Full Review…

J Hurtado
ScreenAnarchy
A silly and occasionally creepy zombie movie, but one that also dares to have a brain...

Nov 12, 2013 | Full Review…

Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
Not only is this movie funnier than "Shawn of the Dead", its obvious inspiration, it is proof that Cuba is not a totalitarian dungeon.

Apr 26, 2013 | Full Review…

Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews
Sure, some of the socialist humor and Cuban culture may be lost on American viewers, but the film is still a ton of fun.

Sep 13, 2012 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…

Matt Donato
We Got This Covered
This zombie revolucion takes aim at our funny bone and the damage done by the Castro regime.

Sep 1, 2012 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Christian Toto
Big Hollywood
The story is a bit choppy from the middle to the end. But, hardcore zombie fans can be very forgiving. And, for them, "Juan of the Dead" might just be worth the time. The ending is clever and upbeat. Not too bad.

Aug 28, 2012 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…

Paul Chambers
Movie Chambers
A very broad and exceedingly splattery mash-up of horror, comedy, and mild social commentary.

Aug 28, 2012 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Scott Weinberg
FEARnet

View All Critic Reviews (21)

Audience Reviews for Juan of the Dead

Aug 02, 2017

Remember Shawn of the Dead? Of course you do, you zombie film enthusiast you, and so did the makers of this Cuban export that freely cribs all that it can from that seminal work. And they nearly get it. Missed it by that much. Still, a zombie parody film, only there's not a scare in the whole thing. Not one. Just guys running around and killing zombies, making with the snappy repartee (in Spanish, natch) but with hardly a single threat. The monsters might've been mannequins for all their danger.

Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
Sep 19, 2013

[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img]

Directors C Super Reviewer
May 26, 2013

A Cuban parody of Shaun of the Dead. I like the TV series, "The Walking Dead" but this movie didn't make me laugh.

Ida K Super Reviewer
Nov 05, 2012

As a Cuban version of 'Shaun of the Dead' this has a lot to compete with and if it doesn't hit the heights of that horror-comedy classic (or for that matter 'Zombieland') there is still a lot to enjoy here. The main group of 'heroes' are a lot less likeable than their British and American counterparts but the film makes it clear that life in Cuba under Castro's regime has hardened these people and sentimentality and compassion for your fellow man is a thing of the past. The fact that by the end of the film the main character has found his heart is perhaps predictable but still satisyfing. Laugh out loud moments include Juan's best friend and his haphazard way of firing his harpoon gun at the wrong moments, a bodybuilder who keeps fainting at the sight of blood so has to wear a blindfold when fighting and a novel way of decapitation that I imagine is similar to the way people produce crop-circles!

David S Super Reviewer