Plot: 3 Scouts, 1 stripper and the zombie apocalypse.

Cast/crew: Directed by Christopher B. Landon, starring Tye Sheridan as Ben, Logan Miller as Carter, Joey Morgan as Augie and Sarah Dumont as Denise.

Thoughts on the film:

• Immediately you see it’s a crowd-pleasing, light-hearted horror comedy – something that’d be perfect for a film festival audience. There’s big laughs like seeing big zombie tits, and getting a quick squeeze, and singing Britney Spears to a zombie (to see it mimick you). There’s also gross-out humour like hanging on via a zombie’s dick (this takes forever!) and having a zombie -whose jaw is torn off- go down on a girl.

• The cause of the outbreak is not known apart from seeing how it broke out in the prologue, as a janitor mistakenly ‘awakens’ a zombie. It’s Blake from Workaholics! Hilarious bit where he tries to administer CPR but the zombie’s breath smells, so he fills the mouth with tic-tacs and meekly blows into the side of the mouth. I also liked seeing David Koechner (WHAMMY!) as Scout Leader Rogers for a couple scenes. Loved his toupee as well.

• Zombies are inconsistent here, (do you see any upset zombies about? Just the one!) as sometimes they shamble, other times they literally jump through windows to get you. They can become ferral like dogs (something that’s not revisited) kick in doors and leave 3 humans when they hear loud music (which is bollocks!).

• Our protagonists are three friends (2 of which have outgrown Scouts, and also want to go to parties); but that’d be a bit embarrassing for a film so they add a gorgeous tall stripper (sorry, cocktail waitress!) with a heart of gold, whose sick of the type of guys she previously dated. Give us (and everyone) hope she gives life advice (“you need to be more assertive… kiss me!”)

• The Scouts do show how useful they’d be in a zombie apocalypse but it isn’t the thrust of the story here (it could’ve been an awesome learning tool like in Zombieland!); it’s more about the relationship of the three lads, ditching him initially and becoming better friends. They do however do a couple of scout things, like tying knots, fixing a tyre quickly, whittling a mop handle into a shive, using condoms to grab keys, and jerry-rigging a bomb (“what are you, the Taliban?!”). They do use a weed-whacker as a weapon which I’m suspicious wouldn’t get instantly jammed if used to fight a zombie!

• Zombie stripper is pretty hot. Surely there’s a market for this?

• There’s some sweet gratuitous gore that goes hand-in-hand with the almost slapstick comedy, of both CG and practical effects. Some lovely headshots including one that bursts a head in half like at the end of Terminator 2!

• The lads are determined to save the party goers (mostly because Carter’s sister Kendall is attending) so they look for the location in her diary. His buddy Ben immediately checks her underwear drawer, hilarious.

• The party is in a large building with dark blue strobe lighting – like a strip club, this must be the worst place to fight zombies, with such a visual impairment, you could barely make out who’s healthy and who’s not.

• A small point, but Kendall (the sister) causes dozens, perhaps hundreds of deaths by opening the fire doors, seeing the zombies, screaming and leaving the doors wide open for them to rampage.

Overall: A light-hearted zombie gore-splat film with a bit of a tale of friendship in there. Watch with friends to cap off a night watching horror, but you wouldn’t be missing out.



