While so many are concerned with the zombie apocalypse after
the huge number of zombie movies in the past few years we now have a
horror/comedy that poses the possibility of a bigger threat involving an
apocalypse involving all kinds of creatures. Is it possible to mingle these
concepts together and get a movie that’s not only relevant but fun to watch as
well?
Welcome to Dillford, a town known only for its riblets. Yes
the one thing this town is known for are those rib type concoctions that grace
sandwiches with no quite clear definition of what they are made of. Myself I
would have thought the town was known more for the fact that the inhabitants of
the town are a combination of humans, vampires and zombies. Who knows though,
perhaps the entire world is this way now though that’s never addressed.
Apparently a way has been found to get each of these groups
to co-exist. The zombies have what appears to be shock collars and the vampires
don’t bite anyone who doesn’t want bitten or at least coerced into requesting
that bite. In the midst of these groups is young Dag (Nicholas Braun), a teen
in love with the popular girl Lorelei (Vanessa Hudgens) who of course never
notices him. While Dag is the center piece of the movie two other characters
revolve around him until all three are joined together.
Petra (Mackenzie Davis) is a young girl attracted to one of
the vampires. Instead of the usual “come on baby you know you want it”
referring to sex, Petra ends up being bitten and turned into a vampire,
something she’s not quite thrilled about.
Then there is Ned (Josh Fadem), a loner and target of
bullies, vampire and human alike, and the ex-best friend of Dag. Alone and with
no one to turn to, Ned eventually opts to become a zombie and allows himself to
be bitten. But it is Ned and Dag who discover that while zombies crave brains
those that do without eventually have the ability to use their own rather than
be senseless stumbling creatures.
The three friends are tossed together one night after all of
their changes have occurred as an alien invasion takes place. It seems the
aliens are attacking Dillford for some unknown reason, taking out everyone be
they humans, zombies or vampires. When the three friends are brought together
only they can solve the problem of the alien attack.
Sounds like an interesting movie, right? Well the concept
certainly does and when reading the box you might think so. But the reality is
that it only comes off so-so. It becomes difficult at first to walk into the
film as if you’re already well aware of the world in which it takes place, sort
of like watching the third episode of a series. Then there is the pacing which
only slows down on rare occasions but for the most part rushes so fast that as
you’re contemplating what just happened something else happens and then another
before the first is processed.
I have to assume everything was played tongue in cheek
because everything here is painted with such broad strokes that it comes off
cartoony at best. The bad guy (Dennis Leary) might as well be Bluto with what
little depth is given to the character. But that holds true for most of the
characters here. All seem cardboard cutouts rather than real people. There are
no characters to root for or sympathize with which makes the events taking
place around them less horrific or important. Had the movie been made in all
CGI it would not seem much different than the end product we have here.
That may seem harsh but it’s true. And yet if that’s the
sort of thing you enjoy then you may end up loving this movie. It has its
moments but they are few and far between. Perhaps there are enough to make this
movie one that would play well on a late Saturday night but for regular viewing
it is lacking. Teens may love it, beer fueled party goers might love it but for
the rest it doesn’t deliver on the promises of the concept.
Click here to order.
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