Set in a small town called Port Gamble (in 2003 I might add), which harbours somewhat conservative townsfolk, the majority of whom view the town’s minorities with a degree of suspicion and disapproval. When a zombie outbreak appears to have struck the town, the townsfolk’s fears and ignorance are amped up by the closed-minded mayor (James Mesher) seeking re-election, and the local preacher (Bill Johns). These minorities include sarcastic Iranian-American Janette Armand, a gay couple played by Doug Fahl and Cooper Hopkins, and a lefty female school teacher played by Cornelia Moore. Moore is trying to run for mayor, the gay guys are New Yorkers back arriving in Port Gamble so one of them can come out to his mother, and Armand is just sick of everyone referring to her as Iraqi and an immigrant (she was born in the US). Oh and did I mention the zombies? Well, they’re here too. And gee, the mayor sure looks as though he’s seen better days…
I’ve never been a zombie comedy fan and the subgenre is far too plentiful these days. This flick from director/co-writer Kevin Hamedani at least piqued my interest with the title. Seriously, that’s one of the best titles I’ve heard in years. Such a shame then that the film is so spotty, with particularly heavy-handed satire that isn’t nearly as clever as it seems to think it is. For instance, the whole segment involving Janette Armand’s Iranian-American character is just too heavy-handed, and only has one or two genuinely funny gags. Her douchy boyfriend complimenting her on her ‘I-rack’ is hilarious, as is the revelation that her antagonistic redneck neighbour is a Canadian immigrant (‘But not anymore!’ he protests). The best actor of the bunch is Bill Johns as the preacher, who in an hilarious bit where he needs to consult religious texts on what to do in the situation at hand….goes to Wikipedia. Now that just about explains my entire philosophy on religion right there. He also gets the film’s best line; ‘Have no fear, because we have history’s greatest zombie on our side- Jesus Christ!’. Awesome, though I’m not sure if religious folk will take kindly to such a description of their deity. Unfortunately, even Johns can’t save the utterly moronic scene where he tries to convert a couple of gay dudes with some kind of weirdo machinery. Hamedani and co-writer Ramon Isao really didn’t need to add a whole ‘gay conversion’ thing to the film, if you ask me. The whole film is like this, half good, half mediocre (at best), with the US-Iranian stuff particularly on a “Degrassi” level of sophistication. The gay satire stuff has its moments, especially with one of the gay dudes’ profane way of ‘coming out’ to his mother. It’s really unsubtle, but in an amusing way, especially given that the bug-eyed, hefty mother makes for a terrific zombie.
Where the film really excels is in the gore department. Early on we get a nice bit to the neck (and a great ‘boo!’ scare that nearly gave me a heart attack) and lots of blood. Once the gay dude’s mum starts to get really messy, things get to be a bucket load of fun, with an eyeball popping out, which she then proceeds to eat! There’s a brilliant visual gag as Armand tries to comfort a scared little girl, and then as they cross the street holding hands, the little girl gets hit by a car and Armand is left holding the disembodied hands! A little girl getting hit by a car folks, and it’s hilarious. There’s another great bit where Armand shoves a knife through someone’s head from under his chin and we see it through his open mouth and sticking out at the bridge of his nose. No idea how it was done, but it’s great. We also get a nice shotgun blast blowing ¼ of a guy’s face off. I also like that Mr. Hamedani was unafraid to get a little blood on the camera lens at one point.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Unfortunately the positives aren’t plentiful enough to make up for a film that shoves its political and social issues right down our throats (even if, like me, you agree with the agenda). It simply isn’t consistently funny or clever enough. It has its moments, but overall, this is really spotty.
