Horror Favourites – Holly Soriano

Although the holidays may be a distant memory quirky horror drama MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING is available now and we spoke to filmmaker Holly Soriano about what horror she loves the best.

MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING tells the story of a zombie-obsessed, special needs adult who searches for his absent mom while a Korean family and gang compete to be his family. But he teaches everyone forgiveness with the help of his favorite zombie television show.

Directed by filmmaker Charles B. Unger, MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING was written by Richard Soriano, and produced by Holly Soriano, Richard Soriano, and Charles B. Unger. The ensemble cast includes Joshua Warren Bush (‘Marcus’), Ray Chang (‘Jung’), Chris Wu (‘Kim’), Grace Shen (‘Me Young’), Walker Haynes (‘Frank’), Ciera Foster (‘Nicole’), Byron Vazquez, Jr. (‘Alfredo’), Paul Tully (‘Luis’), Callie Gilbert (‘Andrea’), and Lisa K. Crosato (‘Ma’).

“This film is a love letter to the special needs adults that have become my family as well as the caregivers and their families and the adults without loved ones in their lives,” said writer/producer Richard Soriano. “We had a blast watching the WALKING DEAD together, dressing up for Halloween, and celebrating Thanksgiving together. Yes, Jesus was a zombie.”

“We dedicate this movie to the special needs adults, who have enriched our lives. This also includes their families and the caregivers who serve them, said producer Holly Soriano. “Our hope is to show a more realistic view of balancing their rights and humanize them, as we are all lovable in God’s eyes regardless if we are different or similar.”

Below MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING filmmaker Holly Soriano talks about a favorite Zom-Rom-Com:

“Confession time: We love the horror film SHAUN OF THE DEAD! In fact, we love it so much that it inspired the TV show within our indie feature MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING… Rewind for a moment: Our main character Marcus has autism AND a zombie obsession. So, we included his favorite zombie TV show for everyone to watch along with him. And what does its leading lady Andrea want in the middle of the zombie apocalypse? To charge her cell phone, of course.

Kind of like how Shaun just wants to get to the Winchester Pub in SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Yes. Total spoiler alert except you haven’t lived if you haven’t seen it at least three times. Cough, cough, we can’t discuss how many times we’ve seen it. We’ll just chalk it up to a… few.

And why not? SHAUN OF THE DEAD looks like a simple comedy horror on the surface. A favorite scene is when Shaun and his friend Ed debate about what records to throw at the zombies. Never mind the zombies want to eat them. They’re more worried about their limited editions like they’ll carry the same weight post-apocalypse.

Several other hijinks with campy zombies ensure that this film lives up to the old adage: A good time was had by all. Okay. This isn’t necessarily true when Shaun’s mom and stepdad die. But these deaths are pivotal in helping the audience realize: Shaun is the real zombie in real life. Little details of all the cashiers at the grocery store scanning items in unison hint at this prior to the clear arrival of zombies.

Clarifying the clear arrival of zombies is important since Director Edgar Wright finds subtle ways to announce them prior to this. He has things ranging from radios talking about the impending apocalypse to zombies lumbering in the background. As a way to reinforce Shaun being a zombie, the real ones need to basically get into his face for him to notice. Our regular story with Marcus watching his favorite TV zombie show with Andrea is akin to Shaun hanging out at the Winchester with his buddy Ed.

It’s also the death of Marcus’s group home “mom” that also sends him on his real journey. Marcus wants to find his absent mom to complete his family. This is like Shaun thinking everyone is safe at his favorite Pub called the Winchester. As with any good story, Shaun learns what he thinks of as a “safe space” is anything but. Marcus’s biological mom isn’t what he thought that she would be either.

As this allows men to shed their zombie ways, they enjoy their original safe spaces instead of escaping into them. And with campy zombies along for the ride!”

MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING is available now. Find out more about the movie on its WEBSITE as well as TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK