Podcast: Aimee Kuge on ‘Shatter Dead’

When a filmmaker steps in for an episode of the podcast, we can often see whispers of how their latest film and their podcast selection are in dialogue with each other. But for writer-director Aimee Kuge, the connections run more than just skin deep. Kuge joins Certified Forgotten to talk about Cannibal Mukbang, the latest entry in the cannibal movie oeuvre, and Shatter Dead, a nineties cult classic for fans of zombie movies and shot-on-video films.

From voodoo ceremonies to rage-infected monkeys, you may think you’ve seen every flavor of zombie movie produced in the past three decades. You’d be wrong. Shatter Dead opens with the end of death, where those who have been killed simply pick back up and carry on with their everyday lives. The film follows Susan (Stark Raven), a human survivor who – inasmuch as this could be a thing – harbors a deep prejudice towards the not-dead. But as Susan makes her way across the country to return to her partner, she soon learns that dead just might be better. The debut film from Scooter McRae, Shatter Dead is sex, surrealism, and immortality in all their VHS glory.

In this short excerpt from the episode, Aimee explains how Cannibal Mukbang's best scene – a flashback sequence involving Ash (April Consalo) – came together almost by accident:

I knew that it couldn't be in New York or New Jersey, it had to be somewhere down south. And thank God April's family let us film in their backyard, because they weirdly had everything we needed. The hog trap was there, the trailer was there, the pond was there, that random abandoned house was in the back. There was so much stuff that we just got there, and I didn't have to spend any money.

The Shatter Dead episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast with Aimee Kuge is now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, or the podcast platform of your choice.