With a lot of today's stale and unoriginal zombie movies, it's a nice change of pace to see something fun and creative come out of a country that isn't exactly known for their quality films, especially ones from the genre (I believe this may even be its first). Set in Cuba, the pic follows Juan - a man who hustles his way through life and finds that the recent zombie outbreak could mean big business for him and his strange eclectic group of friends. While the country's government is blaming the outbreak on American dissidents simply stirring up trouble, Juan and his pals know better and decide to take care of people's zombie problem while earning a little cash on the side.

While obviously paying homage to other zombie classics, the film stands out among the usual tripe through its own creative merits with some of its inventive kills and concept of turning zombie killing into a business, which I personally haven't seen done much (if at all) in the genre. Surprisingly, the movie's comedy also works, especially with how it pokes fun at its country's own government with political subtexts strewn throughout the piece. Though, I think a lot of comedic aspects work primarily thanks to its crazy cast of characters, from the huge muscle-bound man who wears a blindfold while fighting since he faints at the sight of blood, to the transsexual who's badass with the slingshot. Each having their own brief shine in the spotlight as it progresses.

On the technical side of things, the effects were above average for a low-budget foreign film and the cinematography was actually pretty good when compared to a lot of these indie zombie pics from the US. The look of the zombies were pretty simple (doesn't seem to take much to look like the walking dead now-a-days) but it gets points from me thanks to its diversity, as no two zombies look very much alike. There's also good amount of blood and a decent amount of gore when the scene requires it. All-in-all, I had fun with the pic and found it to be one of the better zombie tales in a good while.

Juan of the Dead turned out to be a surprisingly fun flick thanks to comedy that works and its creative way it approached the zombie apocalypse. Worth a look.