At a horror convention, filmmaker Alfonso Betz is onstage discussing media being blamed for real-life violence.
Russell awakens with a girl named Karen in a cemetery, dressed as two leads from “Night of the Living Dead” and without a memory of how they got there.
Keith points out that they are unwitting participants in a recreation of “Night of the Living Dead.” The original movie plays on an old television set in one of the rooms.
Duane sneaks out from a top floor window and makes a run to the shed out back for tools.
A female zombie bites the leg of Karl’s wife before Keith stabs her through the back with the shears.
The zombies are actually psychopaths that are playing a role-playing game to live out a horror movie instead of simply watching one.
The zombies plan to stage a murder-suicide so that the film director will be blamed for the massacre as if he broke from reality and went insane.
The lead zombie gives an unremorseful speech before Judith approaches him with a kiss and then uses the metal teeth to bite his throat.
Director Douglas Shulze conceived the idea for the film after attending horror conventions and seeing costumed fans who took their in-character roleplaying too far.
[2] Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead premiered at the Blue Water Film Festival on October 7, 2011.
[3] Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote that the film is "just sporadically scary, yet the plot's twists and turns keep viewers hooked.
"[4] Rod Lott of the Oklahoma Gazette called it a pointless, shoddy remake of Night of the Living Dead.
[5] Steve Barton of Dread Central rated it 3/5 stars and called it "a movie with an excellent premise that's executed in the most standard of ways.
"[6] Adam Tyner of DVD Talk rated it 3/5 stars and called it "an uneven but surprisingly effective homage".
[7] Patrick Naugle of DVD Verdict called it "a movie with a semi-interesting plot but uninspired execution.