Director Vera VanGuard Explains Her Puppet Alien RomZomCom, Apocalypse Love

Puppets Can Be Scary

By Carol Pinchefsky

The clip below explains it all. Writer-director-puppeteer Vera VanGuard’s film is about aliens who plan to reanimate the dead for their evil schemes. It’s up to our protagonist Tom Benson (a hat-tip to famed puppet master Jim Henson) to save his newly deceased girlfriend. But–and this is a source of the film’s tension, as well as its off-the-wall humour–the only person who can help him is his witchy and vengeful ex-girlfriend. Or as VanGuard sums up the story, “It’s necrophilia meets lady scorn.”.…

It’s not the first romzomcom. It’s not the first film with puppets. But it’s the first puppet-based romzomcom.

It’s also the first feature film that employs the technique of “Play-Motion,” a type of puppetry that flaunts, rather than disguises, the hands of the puppeteer. (After a few minutes, as Tripwire as can attest, the hands recede into the background as the story kicks in.)

That said, VanGuard believes the film’s uniqueness is coincidental. As she tells Tripwire Magazine, “I’m not trailblazing by any means. Puppet Master, Gremlins, Dark Crystal and so many other movies inspired me. I’m just proudly following in the footsteps, or in my case, the hands, of creators before me.”

Other inspirations she cites are Scott Mitchel Rosenbaum’s 2006 graphic novel, Cowboys & Aliens, which ropes aliens into the Wild West genre, as well as the OG horror/sci-fi mashup, Plan 9 from Outer Space. “I don’t mind citing my sources at all. I will honour other creators all day long.”

But where Apocalypse Love stands alone is through VanGuard’s mordant humour, honed by a life filled with “a love of the macabre, including vampires, Renn Faires, LARPing, goth, rock, metal, cosplay and comic book conventions.”

Also, she admits, “Puppets can be scary. I have the entire puppet cast of my movie on a shelf, and they all stare at me. Thank goodness they don’t talk to me…

…Yet.”

VanGuard’s direct-to-video film will have its cinema release at TCL Chinese Theatre on 22 June 2025. Can’t attend the Los Angeles screening? Apocalypse Love is available for streaming for free on www.mometu.com and www.fearpix.com, or you can get physical media or stream it on Amazon Prime.

Check it out here