“no more room in hell” is a masterclass in how to make a horror documentary without skimming copyright and licensing fees. Rebecca Shapass directs a de-construction of the Romero movie series by taking a deeper more abstract look at how environmental and ecological elements contributes to the rush of the dead, and the downfall of society. Shapass includes snippets of dialogue from the various scripts and spends a lot of the documentary’s time peeking in to various industries including excavation, as well as the rule of capitalism.
So many of the shots in the film are obvious, sneaky winks and nods at the various Romero films, but what ends up becoming so haunting is the utter bleakness of the idea of a zombie apocalypse. Although much of the zombie apocalypse fiction is often sensationalized, Shapass paints a picture that’s relentless and bleak. It’s a picture of a society where we’re nothing but blips and shapes on camera consuming one another and destroying each other. It’s a world where almost nothing will survive, and those that do just might continue the horrible cycle.
Director Shapass creates a very unique aesthetic that straddles the line between horror and science very well. She looks at both the very complex machines that the human body and human brain are, and what deadly consequences an actual zombie apocalypse could pose. “no more room in hell” is an original look at the concept of Romero’s vision of the zombie apocalypse, ending on a delightfully eerie final sequence.
This project has been supported by funding from The Carnegie Mellon University Frank-Ratchye Further Fund and Graduate Small Project GuSH Research Grant.
This year, the 5th edition of Film Maudit 2.0, Highways’ showcase and celebration of outré films, runs Thursday June 12th to Sunday June 16th.