"Alice Jacobs is Dead" short film review

(Written & directed by Alex Horwitz)

Dr. Ben Jacobs has saved the world. His antidote for the Z-Virus brought mankind back from the brink of extinction when it appeared all hope was lost. Hailed as a hero across the globe, Dr. Jacobs harbors a terrible secret. His wife remains the last victim of the virus, and has spent the past year caught between a normal and zombie states. Now the doctor must race to find a cure for his wife before the virus fully takes hold. This is the premise of the outstanding short film “Alice Jacobs is Dead”.

A short like this hangs on the chemistry of its two leads. Luckily, both John La Zar as Dr. Jacobs and Adrienne Barbeau as his wife both shine in their roles. There’s a natural, breezy chemistry between the two. Their banter together makes it easy to accept they’ve spent years together as a loving couple. They cajole and joke with one another. They plan dinners together. They make love to one another. Yet despite this veil of normalcy, Alice’s degenerating condition hangs over the pair like a pall. The film works as a terrific allegory for suffering through a terminal illness and coming to accept one’s own mortality. Barbeau seem resigned to her fate, openly pleading with her husband that he will let her go before the disease fully takes hold. Without meaning to, Dr. Jacobs reduces his wife as one more case of the virus that he can and will crack. As Alice, Barbeau does a wonderful job conveying the anguish of a woman whose body has begun to betray her, and who has essentially been reduced to a prisoner within the walls of her home.

Ultimately, La Zar conveys the desperation of a spouse terrified at losing his partner as well as the arrogance of infallibility geniuses often display. While absolute conviction in one’s actions has led to modern miracles, more often than not, the results have led to disaster. Dr. Jacobs’s arrogance and inability to listen even for a moment what those closest to him are saying inevitably dooms both himself and his wife.

Like the poster says “Alice Jacobs” is a love story, but that doesn’t mean it fails to deliver on the zombie aspect. In a beautifully shot sequence scene Alice is watching the classic "White Zombie". Bela Legosi's eyes seem to fill the screen, goading her to give in to her hunger. As the film's soundtrack plays in the background, Alice lumbers stiff legged into the kitchen. From here she hungrily snarfs down bloddy raw steak, ripping and tearing into the dead flesh while its bloody juices smear her hands and drip down her face. The scene ends with a laughing Legosi, on the television screen. While the action reduces her to tears of humiliation, she simply can’t fight her urges any longer. When her transformation to zombie is complete, the makeup work is stunning, and there’s truly nothing human left in the woman. When she busts lose and attacks her husband, the carnage is worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster.  It’s both a sad and visually stunning ending to a terrific short film.

The short looks beautiful from start to finish. Horwitz relies on small moments to convey the decimation of the Z-Virus, such as an opening rendered shot that shows a collapsed Golden Gate bridge, or a brief nrewsradio snippet reporting that New York City has reopened to the public. For the eagle eyed, there are also nods to the two Georges of geek film: Romero and Lucas. The film is stunning, and provides more impact than many of the full legnth films that will come out this year. Hopefully Alice Jacobs will lead to more work for this talented young director.

More information about Alice Jacobs is Dead can be found at www.strange-case.com. The film will be making the festival circuit in 2010, so make sure to see where it is playing in an area near you. It will screen as part of the All Things Horror Presents film series at a future event pending the film maker’s approval.