Ninjas Meet Zombies in Naugatuck Filmaker's First Feature Flick

Ninjas and zombies.

Seems like you cannot get away from them in modern fiction and pop culture. Their imagery — of stealth, masked, sword-swinging assassins and the George Romero-esque lurching undead — have been embedded in our collective psyche for decades.

So what happens when you combine them?

Well, obviously, you get “Ninja Zombies.” And that’s the title of the self-described “bromaction horror comedy” by Naugatuck-native Noah Cooper, a 28-year-old aspiring indie film director and editor, who recently finished directing “Ninja Zombies” as his first full-length feature film.

The movie will premiere this Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Tribeca Hotel in New York City, with the proceeds from the premiere going to the charity, Healing the Children.

Shot entirely in Connecticut — mostly in New Haven and Hamden with some shots in Old Lyme — the film’s plot follows a “young twenty-something year-old slacker,” Dameon Kim, who suffers nightmares involving samurais on the run and a sword that can raise the dead, Cooper explained.

The dreams lead Kim to discover a chest containing clues about his family’s past, and proof that the evil sword Kim dreamed about is real, according to the film’s description. A roommate then finds the mythic sword, and in an attempt to bring her recently deceased brother back from the grave, instead awakens a long-dead ninja clan bent on finding the evil sword.

From that point, Kim and his roommates are forced to confront a ravenous horde of undead samurais, the film’s description stated.

“I didn’t believe we could actually pull off a zombie movie because I didn’t think we could pull off a big enough budget,” he said. “But there’s all these zombie tutorials that show how to make zombie movies on the cheap.”

The film’s budget was modest. Cooper raised $2,500 through the website Kickstarter.com, which allow supporters to contribute donations to independent projects. He said he was able to assemble a crew of volunteers pretty quickly, as many jumped right at the idea of working on a film titled “Ninja Zombies.”

Cooper, now a New Haven resident, has been involved in filming and productions for the better part of a decade, ever since he was a student at Naugatuck High School. Crediting Naugatuck for it’s “really good arts community,” he said began acting in the Naugatuck Drama Club, which he joined on a whim.

“I had no idea I was interested in performance art and theatre,” he said. “And that’s why I am into directing and visual story telling. The best actors in Ninja Zombies were in drama club with me.”

Naugatuck residents Chris Kulmann and Robert Young both have roles in the film, Cooper said.

After graduating NHS in 2001, Cooper went on to earn a degree in film studies from Yale University, a time when he realized being behind the director’s camera was “the ultimate combination of all his interests,” according to his biography.

After graduating Quinnipiac University with a Juris Doctorate — a degree he “hopes to never put to any use” — Cooper continued making his own films despite the challenges of funding and resources, his biography stated.  

After working on the film “Underground Sonata” with other producers, Cooper said he started percolating the idea of creating a ninja movie. At the same time, a fellow producer and friend tried to talk him instead into doing a zombie movie.

And then, the two worlds collided.

“We argued about it a little bit and then decided to combine them,” he said.

Recently, Cooper said the film got its first distribution deal in the United Kingdom, where “Ninja Zombies” will be available on television and home video. And for a director like Cooper, the sky's the limit.

“Also, there’s a possibility of remaking ninja zombies with a bigger budget also trying to adapt it to a graphic novel,” he said.

For more information, visit Cooper's website, www.ninjazombiesfilm.com.