Sometimes a movie comes along you didn’t even know you needed. The beauty of film festivals is finding them a little faster. In a climate where times have forgotten how to be precedented, art feels just a little more important. For escapism, on the one hand, and to make a statement, on the other. I’m not quite sure the Argentinian zombie fest PUSSYCAKE, written by Maxi Ferzzola and directed by Pablo Parés and making its North American premiere at this year’s Chattanooga Film Festival, is out to make any particular statements, but a movie about an unapologetically queer all-girl rock band facing off against zombies feels like something the world needed.
Elle Cake (Maca Suarez), Sara Cake (Aldana Ruberto), Julieta Cake (Sofía Rossi), and Sofi Cake (Anahí Politi) star as the titular struggling band kicking off a new tour with their manager Pato (Flor Moreno) in the hopes of putting themselves back on top. While on the way to their next gig, car trouble leaves them to split up and walk among a suspiciously abandoned street at night and arrive at an even emptier looking venue. Upon investigation, they find bodies in the house…and zombies wandering the street, bodies buried up to their necks at the beach, and a gnarly creature from another dimension on the prowl for their next meal. If they want to survive they must do everything they can to stick together.
Probably the best thing about PUSSYCAKE is how much it throws you into its story without the need for any background or much development. In all of its 82 minutes, it does not matter where the creature or the zombies came from. It does not matter what sort of checkered history the band Pussycake has. All that matters is the moment. And in the moment, you have a gloriously grotesque mashup of JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS and EVIL DEAD. If that sounds like an unnatural or unusual mix to you, I promise it is nothing short of a match made in midnight movie heaven.
PUSSYCAKE is a testament to the power of playing up other elements when you have a bare bones story to work off of. Loli Boer’s costume design is automatically envy-inducing. Personally, I’m still lusting after the lead’s fluffy white, light-embedded jacket. Each member of the band has their own unique style that brings something about them to the surface, yet they still come across as a cohesive unit. Marcos Bertas’ special effects makeup—and the work of the entire art and special effects teams—is stomach-churningly good and more than earn those inevitable EVIL DEAD comparison points. I’m all for movies that let their central femmes be absolutely disgusting, and PUSSYCAKE seems to delight in the delivery.
Amid all the projectile-zombie-vomiting and the gruesome creatures and the glamourous weapons there is centered a queer love story wrapped in the romantic language of undying dedication to protect. Lead singer Elle’s traumatic relationship history comes back to haunt her in the band’s introduction, in the form of a groping fan, and her partner, drummer Sara, immediately swoops in to defend her. Her promise to Elle to be there for her as long as her heart is beating both immediately sets the tone for both characters and, of course, leads us to puzzle what such specificity means for their fates.
No spoilers here, though; PUSSYCAKE is better seen and experienced than told about. The only drawback worth mentioning is that there just weren’t enough Pussycake original songs sprinkled throughout. It makes sense, plot wise, but there’s just something about having an all-girl rock band in the middle of a zombie showdown for survival that makes you wish they had time to break out their instruments and beat some undead down.
Catch it for the rest of the Chattanooga (Virtual) Film Festival with a half price pass now and look for PUSSYCAKE this August exclusively on Bloody Disgusting’s Screambox.
Tags: Aldana Ruberto, Anahi Politi, Argentina, Bloody Disgusting, Chattanooga Film Festival, Evil Dead, Film Festivals, Foreign Films, Josie and the Pussycats, Loli Boer, Maca Suarez, Marcos Bertas, Maxi Ferzzola, Pablo Peres, Pussycake, Sofia Rossi, Zombie Movies, Zombies
Awesome movie. I got to see it on its theatrical premiere in Argentina and it was a blast for the audiences.