Faux Trailer Dawn of the Planet of the Zombies and the Giant Killer Plants Packs a Blockbuster in 3 min

At least on the horror side of things, the fictive and faux trailers that hit online are often of the nostalgic or “grindhouse” variety. Alf Lovvold’s Dawn of the Planet of the Zombies and the Giant Killer Plants on Some Serious Acid however has feet firmly planted in contemporary blockbuster scope. The result is an accomplished, slick short/VFX reel that also gets at the sameness of our giant movies, no matter what the apocalyptic scenario.

Lovvold is the co-founder of Gimpville, a 3D house based in Oslo, Norway. Dawn of the Planet of the Zombies… is a personal project of the filmmaker’s, one which blasts through an utterly devastated, ravaged city now inhabited by zombies (spurred on by the end of social media) and overgrown, killer flora. The environment, achieved through VFX, is terrific; its awesome realization explored in a brisk, accompanying Making-of clip.

Its cheeky title points to something else, however. Lovvold is displaying how contemporary blockbuster iconography takes on an atmosphere simultaneously sweeping and generic, with the ability to switch in-and-out various world-ending scenarios. Zombies in The Walking Dead and World War Z, earthquakes in San Andreas, killer plants, aliens, etc. You might see blown out buildings, overgrown plant life on elevated trains and so forth in any of these films. It’s partly why Mad Max: Fury Road is so thrilling— a colorful, vibrant, different view of a post-apocalypse. 

DAWN OF THE..STUFF. FULL LENGTH TRAILER from Alf Lovvold on Vimeo.

DAWN OF THE..STUFF. MAKING OF / BREAKDOWN from Alf Lovvold on Vimeo.