Cholo Zombies: Monstro (2024)

-Written by John Cajio. 

Cholo Zombies: Monstro is an independent comedy horror film that mostly does not suck. The premise is absurd on its face: a family of zombies going through a family squabble while casually living amongst humans in southern California. But everyone in the cast and crew buys into the premise wholeheartedly, and that’s why it largely succeeds. Poor editing in particular holds it back from being a truly great comedy horror film. 

After being revived by Vampz (Loretta Vampz), his zombie lover, Monstro (Vince Romo) is just happy to be back from the dead (again!). He spends an absurd (and thoroughly entertaining) montage engaging in his favorite pastime: consuming the flesh of the living. But the party ends when Monstro’s extended breakfast buffet causes the local sheriff (Brian Eric Johnson) to crack down on the bad behavior of the local zombie population, and then Vampz announces that she’s pregnant with a zombie baby (Writer Mark Newton and Co-Directors Newton and Eric Raphael Ibarra wisely decide to leave those mechanics up to the imagination of the viewer). Little Monstra (Lilith Vampz) is born not long afterwards in a ridiculously hilarious scene, and Vampz demands that Monstro start providing for both of them. He winds up turning to illicit activities. It’s not long before he lands in jail. Vampz and Monstra (growing up oh so fast) pay him a visit while he’s locked up to tell him she’s leaving him. The rest of the film is devoted to Monstro engaging in increasingly risky behaviors to win Vampz back and see his daughter. He goes to counseling. He takes Vampz to court overseen by a judge who truly embraces Solomonic solutions to domestic disputes. He trains at the gym. He confronts and threatens the humans that Vampz dates. He loses his mind while skydiving.

Romo is incredibly funny as Monstro, and is easily the highlight of the entire film. He anchors the film with a strong performance that is possessed of both grace and absurdism. He may be a zombie, but he’s a family man first. The rest of the performances range from fine (Loretta Vampz) to awful (several of the one-off characters). Most, thankfully, are at least perfunctory. 

The comedy almost always lands, with some great laugh-out-loud moments. A recurring joke throughout the film involves Monstro’s poorly stitched on head, always played to great effect (oftentimes thanks to Romo’s engaging performance). Another joke that is set up early in the film doesn’t get its pay off until the end of the film, and it’s easily one of the funniest moments. 

The editing, on the other hand, is the thing that holds Cholo Zombies: Monstro back. The editing is oftentimes awkward, leading to weird and uncomfortable pauses in dialogue that, at times, appear unintended. I found this most apparent during shots framed in a back-and-forth, over-the-shoulder style, usually for dialogue. There appeared to be little, if any, color correction done to scenes to ensure continuity of appearance when pulling footage from a different camera on the same scene or when using a different take, creating jarring discrepancies in appearance. Much of the composite editing is obviously terrible, with elements of the shots being combined weaving in and out of existence in ways that they clearly should not (the shoulders of law enforcement officers, for example, freely bobbed in and out of existence in one scene). 

If you can embrace the premise of Cholo Zombies: Monstro, you will probably have a good time, in spite of some of the obvious performance and editing issues. It’s got a great lead in Romo, uproariously funny moments, and plenty of heart. 

Directed by Mark Newton & Eric Raphael Ibarra.

Written by Mark Newton. 

Starring Vince Romo, Loretta Vampz, Lilith Vampz, etc. 

6.5/10 = WATCH IT FOR FREE