I Survived a Zombie Holocaust
A meta zombie film set on a movie shoot.
I Survived a Zombie Holocaust is a 2014 horror film that also serves as the feature-length directorial debut of its writer-director, Guy Pigden. It first screened on 16 August 2014 in Dunedin, New Zealand. According to producer Zoe Hobson, the production was the first feature backed by the New Zealand Film Commission to be shot in Dunedin with a local cast and crew in fifteen years.
The story follows Wesley, a would-be writer who shows up late for his first day as a runner on a zombie movie set. He is sent to take an actor to a doctor in a nearby village, unaware that a real zombie outbreak is already underway there. Later, Wesley ruins a sex scene shoot, causing the actors to fight, and is forced to stand in. When he gets an erection, the actress Jessica bails out, humiliating him. Wesley nearly quits the film industry, but Tane tells him a story about winning a championship game to encourage him to persevere. During another shoot, actor Greg tries to warn everyone about the zombies, but his method acting makes no one believe him. Jessica demands to use the village toilet and mocks the locals when a long drop is suggested. The director, SMP, angrily tells her that her career has only advanced because of her breasts, that they won’t last, and that she should stop acting like a diva if she wants work past 35. She goes into the long drop, where a hand scares her. Wesley is then forced to dig a hole in the woods for her, but she is surrounded by zombies and bitten offscreen.
Wesley wakes from a nap and cannot find Jessica. She returns to set as a zombie, though SMP thinks she is on drugs. She is taken to a trailer after biting a worker. Wesley meets Greg and some “props,” which turn out to be real body parts; he kills the zombie Greg. When Wesley sees a corpse wake up and eat itself, he realizes the zombies are real and goes to help Susan. The village zombies arrive and eat the zombie actors, causing a bloodbath. Wesley and Susan kill attacking zombies. As they try to escape, zombie actors beg for help, but prop master Randy Bateman kills them, thinking they are zombies. He arms himself with a machine gun but accidentally blows his own brains out. Harold is killed and eaten when he stops for his notebook.
SMP reveals it took him ten years to get funding because the film commission refused to help.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Guy Pigden
- Producer
- Gallien Chanalet-Quercy / Zoe Hobson / Zane Holmes
- Starring
- Harley Neville / Jocelyn Christian / Ben Baker
- Music
- Mike J. Newport
- Cinematography
- Jon Wilson
- Editing
- Tori Bindoff
- Production Companies
- 38 Pictures
- Runtime
- 104 minutes
- Country
- New Zealand
- Language
- English
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film follows Wesley, an aspiring writer who arrives late to his first day as a runner on a zombie film set. His tasks lead him to inadvertently leave an actor in a village suffering from a real zombie outbreak. As the production continues, cast and crew members are attacked and turned into zombies, blurring the line between fiction and reality. The director, SMP, becomes increasingly obsessed with completing his film, even as the undead swarm the set.
Reader's Guide
I Survived a Zombie Holocaust received positive critical reception, with Grolsch Film Works and Nerdly praising its self-referential commentary on zombie movie tropes. SciFiNow offered a more mixed review, noting the film's amiable tone but criticizing its length and reliance on meta jokes. The film is significant as a low-budget New Zealand horror comedy that successfully integrates behind-the-scenes filmmaking humor with zombie horror, and for being the first NZFC-funded feature shot in Dunedin in 15 years.
Did You Know?
- The film was the first New Zealand Film Commission-funded feature made in Dunedin with a local cast and crew in 15 years.
- Director Guy Pigden also wrote the screenplay for the film.
- The film's world premiere was on 16 August 2014 in Dunedin, New Zealand.
- The film includes a scene where a character's penis is horribly mutilated offscreen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who directed I Survived a Zombie Holocaust?
Guy Pigden wrote and directed the film, and it marked his first feature-length project behind the camera. He also handled the writing, making it a fully personal creative statement.
What is I Survived a Zombie Holocaust about?
The film is a meta-horror story set on the production of a zombie movie, following Wesley, a struggling writer who arrives late to his first day working as a set runner. He is dispatched to drive an actor to a village doctor, only to discover that a genuine zombie outbreak is underway rather than a scripted scene.
Where and when did I Survived a Zombie Holocaust first screen?
The film had its premiere on 16 August 2014 in Dunedin, New Zealand. It was shot locally there with a Dunedin-based cast and crew, a first for an NZFC-backed feature in that city in roughly fifteen years.
What makes I Survived a Zombie Holocaust different from a typical zombie film?
Rather than simply depicting a zombie outbreak, the movie frames its horror within the world of a film set, blurring the line between the characters' scripted roles and the very real undead threat they face. This self-referential layer gives the story a comedic, behind-the-scenes texture alongside its scares.
Was I Survived a Zombie Holocaust funded by the New Zealand Film Commission?
Yes, the production received backing from the NZFC, which helped make the shoot possible with a local Dunedin crew. Producer Zoe Hobson noted it was the first Commission-supported feature to use a local cast and crew in the city in about fifteen years.
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