Brian Blum
April 14, 2011

It’s a plotline tailor made for the next Israeli entry into the Oscars: IDF soldier holds down menial job and shirks responsibility wherever possible. When he meets the girl of his dreams, he is set upon by ruthless enemies and must overcome his conflict-avoiding tendencies to save both country and his true love.

There’s just one twist: zombies.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kIdCwnhH9w&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Poisoned” is a new film by Didi Lubetzky that aims to be a “coming of age” slash Zombie comedy cult classic. According to the film’s synopsis, the protagonist, Danny, is the son of a legendary Israeli war hero. But the lazy Danny serves as an assistant custodian in a remote base that’s home to an elite combat unit. When his high school crush, Maya, arrives to deliver vaccines to the soldiers, she mistakes Danny for one of fighters and shows an interest in him for the first time.

But the vaccine turns the soldiers into flesh-eating zombies who kill everyone in sight. The uninfected Danny must save the day.

The film began as an idea that Lubetzky had as a student at Tel Aviv University Film School. It’s mostly self-financed and was influenced by other zombie comedies such as “Shaun of the Dead.”

But, this being Israel, social parody is never far behind. So to give “Poisoned” an even more Israeli twist, it all takes place on Passover. “Why is this night different from all other nights?” the film’s promo material asks? Zombies at the Seder, of course (and don’t give me any the lip about my Seder being so boring, all the participants turn into zombies anyway).

Happy Pesach to all you matzah-munching zombies. I wonder what’s for dessert?

Read more: