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Reviewed
by: Dave Murray
Directed
by: Justin Channell
Starring:
Josh Lively
Zane Crosby
Sarah Bauer
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| Benny (Lively) likes Stephanie (Bauer). She's just been dumped by her cheating boyfriend. So Benny throws a party with the help of his best bud Smalls (Crosby) to woo said lady. However, a viral outbreak is turning the town's inhabitants into arm munching, flesh eating zombies, and the kids are on the menu! It's a tale of best friends, betrayals, murder, zombified mayhem, and belly laughs! |
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I've always loved this sort of no-budget, low brow horror comedy. You know the kind: most of the actors are friends of the filmmaker, everybody is pulling double or triple duty to get the flick made, there are numerous tribute scenes to other horror classics...and the end result is entertaining, gory, original and a hell of a lot of fun! I'll admit, I was quite wary when I popped this one into the machine, but surprisingly the flick had me through every scene, and even had some tasty beverages squirting out of my nose with glee.
The main thing that makes this movie work is the chemistry between the lead characters. While not accomplished or known actors, the cast portrays their broadly written roles well and with a seriously professional level of comic timing. In particular (and a this is a fine case of pulling double duty) was the performance by Zane Crosby as the buddy sidekick Smalls. Not only did he steal every scene that he was in, his jokes were dead on (pun intended), and he was also responsible for the sweet sweet gore that was displayed on screen. Most of this consisted of arm bites, some cool zombie makeup and a wicked chest pulling scene, but all said the gore was cool and nicely done for an indie zombie flick. And horray to these guys, and director Justin Channell in particular, for sticking to the Romero tradition of slow ass zombies. Nicely done.
The script was hammy in a Dumb and Dumber mixed with Shaun of the Dead sort of way, kind of like the bastard love child of Return of the Living Dead and Can't Hardly Wait, and despite the lack of budget or impressive set pieces (or maybe because of those things) I was seriously digging the movie and the jokes (the whole bit about the running shoes, and the montage of "best friend" scenes were absolutely hilarious), and all things considered this was a surprisingly fun ride. It gets all the right laughs at all of the inappropriate moments, which is always a good thing in my book. Hell, there was even a cameo by Lloyd Kauffman of Troma infamy (director Channell is an up and coming Troma guy, and a director to watch out for). I mean, you've got sweet ass gore, great laughs, a seriously messed up plot, and some more wicked laughs, seriously, what's not to love. High school melodrama and gut munching shenanegans...now this is one fine mix.
And listen to the bloody "Fanny Pack" song at the end of the movie....now that's brilliance. |
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Video: Full Screen - 1.33:1. For a screener and an indie flick, this one was one the better looking discs I've seen in awhile. Nice job, guys!
Audio: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) with a killer soundtrack.
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| Not much here, but we do get a workable Trailer and a cool but short look at the flick's Premiere. |
| This flick made me sore, had me glued to the screen, and never let up in pounding me into submission. It was such an unexpected treat, I'm convinced it has the makings of being a b-grade cult classic. Definately a must see for fans of horror comedies, and for zombie fans everywhere. Nicely put together, well acted with excellent comic timing, and a good gory display that splashes the screen with red and never lowers itself to wipe the red off again. For an indie flick to go head and shoulders above any hollywood zombie or fright/funny flick is rare feat indeed. I can't wait to see more from Channell, Crosby and company. Keep it up guys! |
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Episode #32
