Despite its meager $70 budget, the zombie flick "Colin" is finding true life at the 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival.

Japanese and American distributors are quickly vying to acquire rights to the feature, which chronicles an apocalyptic outbreak from a zombie's perspective.

Marc Price shot and edited "Colin" during an 18-month period, aided by friends and volunteers. This is the first feature for the 30-year-old British director.

With its no-budget origin, the film's leaving many in the movie industry stunned in its wake. Helen Grace of Left Films, who is assisting Price with publicity at Cannes, is also scrambling to come to grips with the furor.

"We were almost fainting at the list of people who were coming [to the final market screening of the film]," she said. "Representatives from major American distributors -- some of the Hollywood studios.

"When we say it's a low budget film, people presume a couple of hundred thousand [dollars]. People can't figure out how it's possible. What Marc's achieved has left people astonished."

Price's inspiration for "Colin" grew from his realization that a low-budget film was beyond his resources.

"A couple of friends were round a few years ago watching Romero's 'Dawn of the Dead,'" Price said in an interview with CNN. "And we were lamenting the fact that we could never make a zombie film -- we wouldn't be able to acquire a budget.

"Then I just woke up before everyone else -- I was probably a bit hungover -- and I wondered if a zombie movie from a zombie's perspective had been done before."

Guided by DVD director's commentaries and making-of featurettes, Price mapped out his filming template and taught himself the art of special effects. The next step was using social networking sites as a zombie recruiting tool.

"We went on Facebook and MySpace and said 'Who wants to be a zombie?'" Price said. "We managed to get 50 brilliantly made up zombies and stuff them into a living room.

"The approach was to say to people, 'OK guys, we don't have any money, so bring your own equipment.'"

In fact, many of the make-up kits and the zombie appliances were lifted from other films.

"One of our make-up people came off 'X-Men 3,' so we were having the same latex that was put on Wolverine," he said.

With Price only spending $70 for "Colin," the money's use is attracting understandable curiosity.

"We bought a crowbar and a couple of tapes, and I think we got some tea and coffee as well -- not the expensive stuff either, the very basic kind," he said. "Just to keep the zombies happy."