AFTER making a sanguine splash with the horror-comedy KL Zombi back in 2013, filmmaker Woo Ming Jin returns with another tale of the undead in Zombitopia.
Currently streaming exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar, the 44-year-old director, who also wrote and produced the new film is happy to return to the genre with a more mature and different aesthetic.
"I felt that I still had quite a bit of fuel left in the tank and I had more to prove so I wanted to do a different take with this one.
"I started with a script. I also wanted to work with the best actors in the industry.
"With the film out, I'm very thankful that everything went well," he said in a recent online interview, which also featured the main cast of Shaheizy Sam, Bront Palarae, Sharifah Amani and Datin Elvina Mohamad.
Zombitopia begins in the aftermath of a deadly zombie outbreak in Malaysia.
It follows the story of Zidik, played by Shaheizy, who is left to battle the harsh reality of life after a zombie breakout.
The tragic hero must face his traumatic past of losing his family to the zombie virus when another outbreak occurs.
The film also features Bront as a scientist with his own personal agenda, Amani as a spunky activist and Elvina as Zidik's childhood friend, who is in a unique situation after the zombie outbreak.
DEAD SERIOUS
"The film is more visceral, serious, dramatic and realistic compared to my previous zombie movie.
"To me, this one is about a family going through the adversity of a zombie outbreak," said Woo.
Touted to be a different Malaysian zombie movie, the co-founder of KL-based film and TV production company Greenlight Pictures added that viewers would be able to experience character development as the journey unfolds.
Woo also took a lot of inspiration from the many other zombie films that have thrilled fans of the popular genre over the years.
"It's still a very beloved genre, especially in this region. I've seen a lot of films and I wanted to do something that hasn't been done before in the Malaysian context.
"Some of the influences I drew from included Dawn Of The Dead, I Am Legend, Train To Busan and The Walking Dead. We've paid homage to a few of them as well.
"There's always character development in the great zombie stories so I wanted to focus on that besides the action and gore," he said.
The director, who has had his works screened at prestigious international film festivals in Cannes, Berlin and Venice, explained that the biggest challenge for Zombitopia was working with the CGI (computer-generated image) elements.
STEEP LEARNING CURVE
"We wanted to step up our game and create something that was at the level of Hollywood.
"It was shot way before the pandemic and contains the biggest amount of CGI shots I've ever worked with.
"This involved the zombie fights and we had to learn to work with special effects elements that I wasn't used to. It was very difficult to get right.
"We did over 1,000 GGI shots but these also included a lot of small things like veins and blood, as well as background replacements that viewers will not necessarily notice," he said.
Woo added that it was a good learning experience and a great effort since all of the talent working on the film were locals.
"We had local makeup artists to create the various zombie effects and we also hired about 20 breakdancers to play the quick-moving undead during the 30-day shoot," he said.
Another challenging part of the film involved the zombie attacks.
"Those playing the zombies couldn't see where they were going since they were wearing special, custom-made contact lenses that we got from the US.
"So during scenes, where they were running towards the other actors, we had to direct them properly. Luckily no one got hurt during those action scenes," he said.
Woo thinks that Zombitopia will not have any problem finding an appreciative audience.
"As a filmmaker, I focussed on bringing the aspect of humanity to the film. And the zombie genre is an evergreen one. So I feel that this film will resonate well with audiences."
Both Shaheizy and Bront agree.
"It is a serious film with a grim setting, but what makes the story great is the fact that you can relate to this situation. You can see through Zombitopia how people would react to an outbreak in society," said Shaheizy.
Bront added: "The film is fast paced, aggressive and yet it also features a wholesome human element to it, which I'm sure the audience will love."
Watch Zombitopia on Disney+ Hotstar. Subscribe directly for RM54.90 for three months via the Disney+ Hotstar website (www.hotstar.com/my) or the Disney+ Hotstar app on Android and iOS devices.