Will explain after announcement.

THE TRAILER FOR “UNDEAD” IS ON THE APPLE WEBSITE.

UNDEAD. FROM LIONS GATE FILMS. UNDEAD. WHICH TAKES PLACE IN BERKELEY. PETER AND MICHAEL’S MOVIE.

omgomgomgomgomgomgomg.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/undead/

I am h y p e r v e n t i l a t i n g. I’m SO EXCITED for them.

Okay. Calm. Caaaaaalllllmmmm.

My brother had a really good friend in high school. Peter Spierig. Peter’s dad had one of those international-travel jobs, and he and his twin brother Michael, despite being born in Germany and considering themselves Australian (accent and everything), lived for a long while in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. They were in Jeff’s class at school. For many years Peter was Jeff’s best friend.

Peter and Michael made movies. They made shorts about a little cartoon guy named Merv McFuddle. They made a feature called “The Garden.” Peter directed, Mike did special effects, and they both did a lot of the other stuff.

They went to college in Australia. They got jobs making commercials and short films in Australia. They won an Australian Academy Award for a short. Their parents (John and Marianne) sent Christmas newsletters to my parents keeping us abreast of these developments.

When Jeff graduated from grad school in 2001, he moved to California.

Around that time, Peter and Michael made a feature called “Undead.” It had a budget. It had at least one actor who’d acted before. And, like all their original work, it prominently featured the name BERKELEY. Because of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. Where we grew up.

In 2002, my family and I went to Las Vegas. At the same time, Peter and Michael were in L.A., where they were shopping their movie (which you’ll recall is called “Undead”) and being signed by (I think) William Morris. Big. Time. Shit.

They came to Vegas and we all (including several of Jeff’s other friends) spent an enjoyable evening in my parents’ timeshare living room watching a tape of the movie. This screening, on about a 27“ TV, in a condo in Vegas, with an audience of about 12, was the American premiere of ”Undead,“ and don’t let anyone tell you different.

It’s a hilarious movie. It’s uneven, or it was then, but the effects and the writing and the acting were far above anything the Spierigs had done before and far above what you’d expect from their budget (maybe $200,000; I don’t recall, but it was more than a hundred grand and way less than a million). There are (or were) a couple of moments in this movie that made you stand up and cheer, even if you weren’t Australian. One involves the trenchcoat guy and a stunt, and the other involves a flag. Upon seeing the movie, you’ll know them.

And now, when I FINALLY have a moment to myself to seek out the trailer for Serenity online, I can’t find it, and I flip through the trailers on apple.com for ages. I see a tiny poster for a movie called ”Undead.“ I laugh. ”Another zombie movie. Funny how it’s the same title as Peter’s zombie movie.“

And, of course, as we all know by now, it IS Peter’s zombie movie.

I used to drive them around, that one year before college when I could drive and they couldn’t. I believe I was a party to their delinquency, as they (especially Mike) were skateboarders and tended to buy things like fireworks then ask to be driven up to the high school.
I’m so proud of these boys I could just spit.