The Sweet Smell of Terror

If she was introduced to horror cinema later in life, no one can say of Elza Kephart that she is not catching up by putting all her heart and time into it. After screening GRAVEYARD ALIVE, a surprising zombie comedy, you could swear she had been a life long adept. If the film, shot in 35mm Techniscope (!), is permeated by a B-movie esthetic, we can equally sense a variety of other influences, such as Jacques Tati (the silence punctuated by sound effects, the approximate dubbing), Aki Kaurismaki (some of the lighting) and of cheesy teenage sitcoms (the childish rivalry between two nurses leading to a hilarious catharsis).

"I've always liked the genre, but a bit like everybody. It's only recently that I got the idea of shooting a genre film" relates Elza. "In September '99, a school friend and I were thinking of a few film ideas. After having found the title, the rest followed. She and I looked at a good quantity of old horror and sci-fi films for research, and that's where my real interest started." Patricia Gomez, the co-writer, "already knew a lot about the horror genre. You can say she initiated me to it."

GRAVEYARD ALIVE tells the story of a shy nurse, teased by women and rejected by men, who finds comfort in her daily dose of soap-operas and romance novels. After being bitten by a zombie, she discovers in herself a sex-appeal she didn't realise she possessed. The head doctor suddenly falls in love with her and leaves his fiancée, which causes and intense resentment in the latter. Little by little, the hospital becomes zombified. How will the suspicious eye and pretentious pout of the ditched fiancée affect the development of the story?

Not looking to rival Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or Fulci's ZOMBIE INFERNO when it comes to gore, GRAVEYARD ALIVE nonetheless benefits from excellent special effects, created by Marc Thibault. Now wholly addicted to the horror genre, Elza Kephart intends to continue in this vein. "I'm now working on a script about a vampire-geneticist" she reports. Will we find the same atmosphere? "It's possible", she answers, while an ill-contained laugh stops her from continuing. Watch your festival programs closely, GRAVEYARD ALIVE will be showcased in the months to come.

Rivard, Yves. "A la découverte du Cinéma Fantastique Québecois." L'Écran Fantastique Juin 2001: 46.

Translated from the French by Minette Partouze

Un parfum d'épouvante…

Si elle est venue plus tard au cinéma fantastique, personne ne pourra dire d'Elza Kephart qu'elle ne ratrappe pas le temps perdu en y mettant tout son coeur et presque tout son temps. À voir GRAVEYARD ALIVE, une étonnant comédie de zombies, on jurerait qu'elle est tombée dans le chaudron étant petite! Cependant, bien que le film tourné en 35 mm et Techniscope (!) possède l'esthétique des séries B des années 50 et 60, on y sent également le parfum d'influences aussi variées que celles de Jacques Tati (les silences ponctués d'effets sonores, les vois doublées approximatives), d'Aki Kaurismaki (certains éclairages) et de sitcoms ados (la puérile rivalité entre les deux infirmières menant à une catharsis hystérique).

"J'ai toujours aimé le genre, c'est sûr, mais un peu comme tout le monde. Ce n'est que récemment que l'idée de tourner un film de genre m'est venue" raconte Elza. "En septembre 99, en compagnie d'une amie d'études, nous avons proposé des idées de films. Après avoir d'abord trouvé le titre, le reste a suivi. Elle et moi avons visionné une certaine quantité d'anciens films d'horreur et de science-fiction afin de nous documenter, et c'est de là que mon intérêt réel s'est développé." Pour ce qui est de Patricia Gomez, la co-scénariste, "elle était déjà bien versée dans le genre. Elle m'y-a, d'une certaine façon, initiée."

GRAVEYARD ALIVE met en scène une infirmière timide, ridiculisée par les femmes et rejetée par les hommes, trouvant une compensation dans la vision quotidienne de mélodrames télévisuels et dans la lecture de romans à l'eau de rose. Alors qu'elle est mordue par un zombie à la morgue de l'hôpital, elle se découvre un sex-appeal qu'elle ne se connaissait pas. Lorsque le toubib en chef s'éprend d'elle soudainement et qu'il délaisse sa fiancée, cela ne va pas sans créer de la rancoeur chez cette dernière. Peu à peu, l'hôpital se zombifie. L'oeil scrutateur et la moue de pimbêche de la fiancée abandonée auront-ils quelque influence sur le cours des choses?

Ne cherchant aucunement à rivaliser avec LE JOUR DES MORTS-VIVANTS de Romero ou L'ENFER DES ZOMBIES de Fulci côté gore, GRAVEYARD ALIVE bénéficie toutefois d'excellent effets spéciaux de Marc Thibault. À présent adepte à part entière du genre, Elza Kephart a l'intention de poursuivre dans cette voie. "Je travaille actuellement sur un scénario traitant d'un vampire généticien" annonce-t-elle en effet. Y retrouvera-t-on la même atmosphère? "C'est parfaitement possible", répond cette dernière, qu'une envie de rire mal contenue empêche de poursuivre. Surveillez de près vos programmes de festivals, GRAVEYARD ALIVE y figurera au cours des prochains mois…

Rivard, Yves. "A la découverte du Cinéma Fantastique Québecois." L'Écran Fantastique Juin 2001: 46.

A Zombie Story With a Social Conscience
BILL BROWNSTEIN
The Gazette
December 14, 2003

In light of particularly unsettling events in these parts recently, it shouldn't come as much of a shock Montreal served admirably as the background setting for the ghoulish zombie-horror flick GRAVEYARD ALIVE.

What could shock, though, is this no-budget camp delight, marking the debut feature of three twentysomething Montreal women, has been selected to screen at the prestigious Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, next month. And now our spooky little secret is out for the whole world to devour.

Premiered last summer at Montreal's Fantasia Festival, Graveyard Alive is one of only 11 features to make the grade for Slamdance, considered to be one of the major springboard fests for indie offerings. The film was written and directed by Elza Kephart and produced by Andrea Stark and Patricia Gomez.

Shot in stark black-and-white for the ludicrously low sum of $50,000 - likely less than the cost of Tom Cruise's head-lopping sabre in The Last Samurai - this stylized take on the B-horror flicks of yore focuses on a sadsack nurse whose life understandably changes after being bitten by a zombie. No run-of-the-mill zombie, this dude has an axe imbedded in his head. Buoyed by new powers, the morose nurse makes a move on an old doctor flame, to the chagrin of the latter's catty fiancée. Much strange stuff ensues.

But stranger than the scenario is the genesis of this production. Kephart and Gomez, friends since their Mile End trick-or-treatin' childhood days, first came up with the catchy title before getting down to the business of actually writing a script.

"We were stuck at this boring party. We had beer. So we decided to make a movie called Graveyard Alive," Kephart recalls. "All we needed next was a story."

No problem. A few beers later, a script was born.

Given their limited resources, they had planned to shoot this epic in Super 8. But by a quirk of fate, a cinematographer friend offered to film it with his 35-mm camera - for nothing. In fact, they got by with a lot of help from their many friends. Cast and crew worked for squat. Free.

"But we did try to feed them well," chirps Stark.

Far-fetched though this tale may be, the women maintain it was somewhat based on the frightening reality of health care in this city. Yes, a zombie story with a social conscience.

"When we got down to writing, we were definitely influenced by the overcrowding crises at local hospitals," Kephart says. "I like to think that the decomposing bodies in the film are a metaphor for health care here and a good reflection of the system."

Works for me. To enhance the mood, the film was shot on a closed floor at the Royal Victoria Hospital as well as at a wing of the Jeanne D'Arc Hospital.

Reaction to the film has even taken its makers for a loop.

"Bar none the best original zombie movie I've seen in over a decade," marvelled Karen Walton, writer of Ginger Snaps

"A promising piece of genre-bending filmmaking ... and a fine-looking movie," enthused Gregg Hale, producer of The Blair Witch Project.

"An experience not to be missed!" gushed Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma, the world's foremost purveyor of zombie-cum-slasher fare.

The frosting on the cadaver, of course, was the invitation to Slamdance. "Not in our wildest dreams - and they are wild - did we ever expect that," Stark says. "Now all we need is a U.S. distributor and ... who knows?"

Precisely. To that end, Kephart is now penning Slaxxx, a kooky horror picture about - what else - a possessed pair of pants that goes on a killing spree at a high school. Also in the works is How to Build Your Own Harem of Mormons, another consciousness-raiser about a lonely housewife who kidnaps Mormons for matters mostly carnal.

"Really, I'm quite normal," Kephart insists. "I just get all my weirdness out in my writing."

GRAVEYARD ALIVE: A ZOMBIE NURSE IN LOVE
Scott Foundas
Variety
March 10, 2004

A profound fondness for grade-Z horror pics powers writer-director Elza Kephart's GRAVEYARD ALIVE, a take-no-prisoners genre parody rooted firmly in the playful tradition of Sam Raimi, George Romero and Canadian kitschmeister, Guy Maddin. Very cleverly made on a minuscule budget, terrific-looking pic (which deservedly received the Kodak Vision Award for best cinematography at Slamdance) should see a healthy life (and after-life?) as a cult and midnight movie, at festivals and in ancillary.

Pic's subtitle, "A Zombie Nurse in Love," pretty much tells it all. Drawing its inspiration both from the zombie movie and medical soap opera canons, pic relates the tongue-in-cheek story of a hospital nurse (Patsy Powers), who fantasizes about whisking away the handsome Dr. Dox (Karl Gerhardt) from his current flame (and Patsy's arch-nemesis), Goodie Tueschuze (pronounced, of course, "two shoes").

Then, a fortuitous bite from a zombie patient begins to turn Patsy's dreams into reality. Suddenly, Patsy has voluptuous breasts and heart-stopping legs and can belt out a torch song like nobody's business -- all to Dr. Dox's titillation and Goodie's consternation.

In GRAVEYARD ALIVE becoming a zombie isn't nearly as hazardous to your health as it is in most zombie pics. Rather, it's an overnight route from dowdy to dynamo. The only hitch: You also develop a ravenous craving for human flesh.

Kephart takes the eroticism of the vampire myth and grafts it onto the undead (rather than the immortal). But it's all done with little pretension and obvious joy for the moviemaking process. The laughs in "Graveyard Alive" are plentiful, and if they don't quite keep the same manic pace all the way through to the end, pic remains a far livelier comic specimen than any one of the three SCARY MOVIES's.

Pic is also a constant visual pleasure, with terrific high-contrast, black-and-white lighting schemes; compositions that are all sharp diagonals and dramatically twisting spirals; and oodles of visual references to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and virtually the entire Alfred Hitchcock library.

Interestingly, pic was actually shot in the old Techniscope widescreen format, fondly remembered from the spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and many of the Italian "giallo" horror pics of the same period.

This picture is one of the best signs I've ever seen that terrifically twisted minds have a future in Canadian cinema. A brilliant degeneration of the worst stereotypes in modern horror films, this film still mercilessly meats out all the hoots, howls and pure horror of the genre it so adeptly redresses. It is bar none the best original zombie movie I've seen in over a decade.

Karen Walton
Screenwriter, GINGER SNAPS

To Whom It May Concern:

I just watched Bastard Amber's feature film (in-progress) GRAVEYARD ALIVE and found it a very promising piece of genre-bending filmmaking. It's a fine-looking movie that could definitely find a niche audience if given the chance.

With a completed sound mix and without the missing scenes, I believe the film could easily move from midnight-movie screenings at film festivals to a successful limited theatrical release to a small cult following on video/DVD. All the pieces are there. They just need that final little 'tweak'.

I have met the principals at Bastard Amber and find they are as a promising as their film. They are serious (in a certain kind of way), driven, creative, and bright. GRAVEYARD ALIVE could be a nice kick-off to very long and fruitful careers in film. North American cinema needs more strong female voices and I truly believe the women of Bastard Amber are just that.

Sincerely,

Gregg Hale
Producer, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

To Whom it May Concern,

I have recently seen a rough cut of the film GRAVEYARD ALIVE produced by Bastard Amber Productions. I express to anyone who has the opportunity to see this film that it is an experience not to be missed.

Rarely will you find a team of women producing a black and white feature film about female zombies with healthy sexual appetites. It is an amazing, humorous film, and I applaud all of the director's artistic choices. Shooting in black and white on Techniscope allows the 1960's dark and nasty B-movie attitude to shine through. Every image is both rich in texture and thoughtfully designed as the intricate story unfolds and builds with wonderful pacing.

This is a company composed of talented, intelligent women who know how to manipulate a small amount of money into a hugely entertaining and thought provoking piece of celluloid. This film is not just about the flesh and blood of the zombie lifestyle; it examines personal growth and the complicated nature of human relationships through an uncommon female gaze.

I sincerely hope that Bastard Amber Productions finds the support required to complete GRAVEYARD ALIVE. I look forward to seeing the final cut of this film. I'm convinced it will have a great cult afterlife that will surprise us all! I believe Elza Kephart has proven herself to be a capable artist with a bright future in the industry-she is definitely a filmmaker to watch out for. If this is Bastard Amber's first feature length production I am afraid and excited to find out what they will think of next!

Lloyd Kaufman
President, Troma Entertainment

February 18, 2000

Dear Elza,

Thank you kindly for submitting your screenplay of GRAVEYARD ALIVE for festival consideration. I am pleased to say that I highly enjoyed reading it, and am very much looking forward to seeing the eventual completed feautre. I am equally pleased to say that we would love FanTasia to be the site for GRAVEYARD ALIVE's World Premier screening. As you know, our festival has proven itself to be a strong launching ground for low budget, independent features. Further, the last Montreal-based feature that we launched, Maurice Deveraux's LADY OF THE LAKE, sold two territories (Blackwatch/Canada, MPI/U.S.A.) within a week of its screening. If it sounds as if I'm almost "making a case" for our festival, it is because I am. Frankly, we feel that GRAVEYARD ALIVE could very well turn out to be one of the most interesting Canadian genre films of the last few years. Its mixture of comedy and horror feels fresh and is genuinely amusing, whereas many such attempts prove to be merely thoughtless and often even condescending. The gender politics at the film's core all but guarantee it a cult afterlife that will more than likely thrive for years following its eventual release. In short, I can very easily see other, more mainstream film festivals canvassing your film once it is done, an am very happy that we have our foot in the door at this early stage. In other words, provided that you are still interested, you can consider this to be an official letter of acceptance for GRAVEYARD ALIVE to screen at FanTasia the year that it is completed. Please keep us posted on any further developments. We look forward to whatever the future might bring for you and your projects.

Sincerely,

Mitch Davis
International Programming, FanTasia