Although we live in a digital age where anyone can make a film if they want, it's still not easy to make a proper film: one where you actually get financed to produce it.

It's easy to take the whole film-making process for granted; after all, there are still countries on this planet that aren't exactly democratic.

One such place is Cuba. Sure it's opened its doors in recent years to middle class tourists with money to spend on cheap booze and cigars, but Castro's shadow still looms large over his people. But if this film is anything to go by, there's definitely a thriving underground movement waiting to rise.

There aren't that many opportunities to make a fast Cuban Peso on the island, but it doesn't stop Juan (Alexis Díaz de Villegas ) and his friends from trying their luck. Juan is beginning to feel his age a bit now, and when he learns that his daughter has returned to the island, he's keen to meet up and attempt to prove he's a different man.

Just as he does meet up with her, something strange appears to be happening to the Havana community. A lot of them look a lot paler for a start, and there seems to be a lot of moaning from passers by.

Juan and his friends don't think that much of it - no doubt stranger things have happened on the island - but they certainly get curious when people start attacking others on the street. Are they vampires? Werewolves? Juan and his crew aren't sure. The official government line is that they're dissidents, and that they will be treated accordingly in good time. And yet more people are killed and more of the 'dissidents' show up.

Anyone else may run in fear of their lives, but not Juan and his pals; Juan believes that they could actually make some money from this dire situation by providing a service: for a small fee Juan and Co will turn up and dispatch any family member who may have turned into a 'dissident'.

At first it looks like they might be on to a nice little earner, but they soon find that despite killing a large number of these things, more and more just keep coming at them. It tranpsires that it’s not just about making money for Jaun and his friends anymore, but survival.

I'm just a little concerned that everyone else at the fancy dress party just won't get who we're supposed to be. Did you really see Duran Duran dress like this in Rio?

It's obvious that a small Cuban film isn't going to have the same kind of budget as a big Hollywood number. But despite this, director Alejandro Brugués has produced a ghoulish comic gem, for quite possibly a budget equivalent of that used to cover the catering on bigger films, that can proudly stand severed head and shoulders alongside its peers.

The name may pay lip service to 2004's classic Shaun of the Dead, but it also transfuses its comedic charm. Is it Cuba's answer to Pegg and Frost's film? Most certainly. But homages don't come much better than this.

It may well not have a huge budget at its disposal, but it doesn't stop it from being a creative force when it comes to dispatching its foes; the zombies in particular look suitably undead, and many of the effects manage to really impress.

The fact that it's Cuba's first zombie film means that the following will no doubt be said about it on The Late Review: clearly the film is an allegory towards its political state; the zombies represent both Fidel and communism. To all intent and purposes communism is dead. But the problem is, it hasn't been told that it's dead, and is intent on keeping this dead dream alive. Obviously Paul Morley would be sharper and far funnier getting his point across, but you get the picture.

And yes the film does work on that level. Brugués litters the script with enough socio-political dialogue that its difficult not to see the bigger picture. And yet the film is hardly preaching. But let's face it, there are far worse ways to get your political message across, and using zombies gets our vote.

But Juan of the dead is more than a non party political broadcast. It's a film made by filmmakers with a love of the zombie genre. It would have a huge heart, if, you know, it had one that was still beating.

Some of the gags may well get lost in translation, but the hits far outweigh the misses.

Juan of the Dead just goes to prove that you don't need to have a huge box of cash to produce a sharp and funny zom-com. Hell, you don't even need to be in a democracy. Viva the undead revolution!