Puppets, Zombies and Aliens Run Amok in ‘Apocalypse Love’ [Review]

Like many others who fell in love with film at a young age, I used to make embarrassing home movies with whatever I had lying around the house. I’d usually cast toys (and the occasional pet) as my main characters and then narrate the action from behind a VHS camera, with everything done as sneakily as possible so my parents wouldn’t realize that I was using up their tapes. While these recorded play sessions never resulted in anything watchable, they did teach me something about humanity’s innate desire to extract meaningful narratives from inanimate objects.

That’s why I’m not surprised that puppet cinema is still alive and well even in the age of big-budget CGI animation, as there’s something downright fascinating about articulated toys being brought to life by human hands in real time. However, I’ve always thought that it was a shame that this kind of media never expanded into weirder genre stories. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Muppet movies and even Team America as much as the next guy, but I think horror is still in dire need of more gruesome puppet yarns.

Fortunately, it appears that I’m not the only one who thinks so, as genre veteran Vera Vanguard decided to combine her family-friendly puppetry skills with her love of schlocky b-movies, with the result being an oddball romantic comedy with a horrific twist. A decidedly emo love story that takes place during an alien-induced zombie outbreak, Apocalypse Love happens to be populated by handmade puppets roaming around very real locations in southern California.

In the film, we follow a 19-year-old emo kid named Tom (David Lorigo) as he digs up his deceased girlfriend BB so he won’t have to die alone during the ongoing apocalypse involving both alien invaders and the living dead. However, when his goth ex Izzy (Vanguard) reveals that she may be able to revive BB via necromancy, Tom embarks on a romantic quest that introduces him to a charismatic cast of zany characters.

While the story sounds like a fun little genre mash-up on its own, it really is the puppet gimmick that makes Apocalypse Love stand out from other horror-comedies – especially since these skilled animators (including Vanguard herself) have no qualms with exposing the artifice behind the production at every chance they get. The puppeteers’ hands are proudly and defiantly displayed onscreen throughout most of the movie, with this unconventional creative decision really leaning into the more playful aspects of puppetry. And while the crude “animation” may seem distracting at first, it actually doesn’t take very long for you to get used to the action, with this silly gimmick even resulting in a handful of laugh-out-loud visual gags later on in the feature.

Unfortunately, Apocalypse Love takes a few annoying shortcuts due to its low budget, with these hastily cut corners often getting in the way of a solid premise. It may be because 2004’s Team America established impossible puppet-film standards with its expensive hand-crafted sets, but Apocalypse Love’s arbitrary use of tiny handmade props alongside comparatively giant real-world objects seems a little lazy in comparison. The overall lack of wide shots featuring more than just a couple of characters is also telling of the film’s limited resources, and it’s a real shame that we never get a proper look at the zombie hordes pursuing our main characters (though I adore the cute little undead hands that constantly pursue Tom from off-screen). Hell, there’s barely even any gore here – which is especially disappointing when you consider the comedic potential of hand-crafted blood and guts made out of felt.

I respect the film’s lofty ambitions, but if the entire point of animation is to depict things that would otherwise be impossible to perform in live-action, it’s a shame that this apocalyptic adventure is still limited in many of the same ways as a standard indie horror comedy. That’s why a few extra details would have gone a long way in immersing us into this wacky world, with even simple additions like moving mouths or maybe even hand-crafted vehicles being capable of elevating the experience into something more easily digestible.

Thankfully, Apocalypse Love is more than just a one-trick pony thanks to its legitimately funny script. This would still be an entertaining picture even without the puppets, with the flick often feeling like an anything-goes Stoner comedy along the lines of Dude, Where’s My Car – albeit with a stylish emo twist. The humor may not be for everyone, with many of the jokes relying on the absurdity of silly visuals like pot-smoking grey aliens, but there are enough memorable characters (and an overall sense of low-budget soul) here to make up for most of the flick’s narrative faults. Plus, the entire thing clocks in at around an hour, meaning that the film is already over before you can tire of its quirky antics.

The soundtrack is also surprisingly charming, with an assortment of catchy yet atmospheric tunes that often expand the story’s emotional range while still feeling tongue-in-cheek enough to fit in with the puppet-focused hyper-reality. I’m not even a big fan of emo or emo-adjacent music, but the audio here really fits the tone and helps to establish atmosphere even when the visuals can’t keep up.

Apocalypse Love may be something of an acquired taste, with its bizarre aesthetics and retro-sci-fi setup making it something of a niche experience, but I have a feeling that this would have been a huge hit back during the “lol, so random” era of the internet. As it stands, I feel like the movie is a few million dollars away from mainstream appeal, but fans of weird cinema are sure to appreciate this cheeky zom-rom-com that often blurs the line between silly and disturbing.

Apocalypse Love will be screening at Los Angeles’ Dances With Films Festival on June 22.