Macabre…ish Horror Review: What Doesn’t Kill Us

What Doesn’t Kill Us, 2019/ 1 hr 32 min

Years after the zombie apocalypse, zombies are integrated into society but struggle to overcome the stigma. They call themselves Necrosapiens.

They say the plague was started from people eating Fugu (blowfish), a Japanese delicacy but if it isn’t prepared correctly, it is toxic. A business man in Texas got the idea to breed blowfish for human consumption then a Japanese chef took it further and bred the fugu blowfish with spotted blowfish in an attempt to breed out the toxicity.

If successful, it meant a million dollar industry. Mr. Johnson tried the crossbreed fish and after suffering no immediate side effects, he fast tracked the operation to get ahead of potential competition. But he jumped the gun and 20,000 customers had consumed the fish by the time anyone realized.

It was an epidemic that resulted in 55,000 deaths. Then a doctor developed an antibody that eliminated the side effects, including the violent rages that made them dangerous and made them fully functioning human beings again. With some side effects such as slow healing and chronically dry skin. And as far as the law, they cannot legally wed.

This documentary follows undead residents of Texas. Their employment, relationships and interactions with noninfected people. In Globalware, Keith (Peyton Paulette) feels like he’s filling a diversity quota but still hopes to be promoted because a manager is retiring because of a sexual misconduct scandal. He’s also in a relationship and trying for a baby with an uninfected person, Sarah (Christian Hopson).

Jeremy Holland (Richard Scott) is the world’s first necrosapien baseball player. He’s not offended by being called a zombie. Don Basso is running for governor and many of his staff are undead. Plus a really aggressive staff manager who is bad at her job.

Many necrosapiens just settle for being extras in zombie flicks, except that one guy, Xavier Hayes (Trenton Bennett), who’s just regular ole alive but pretends to be undead for gigs. And necrosapiens find him offensive.

This is directed by Ethan Cartwright, Jacob Kiesling, Zach Schlapkohl and it is a zombie mockumentary. It’s created with interviews and  history of how the outbreak happened, spread and was contained. It was fun and funny. With a solid story, concept and interesting characters. If you liked Netherbeast, Blood Sucking Bastards, End of Days Inc and In The Flesh, you might like this.