Zombieland

 

Year:  2009

Director:  Rueben Fleischer

Cast:  Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Bill Murray

Review by featured writer David Harlequin, Editor-in-Chief of STIFF Magazine

So yes, actually living through the zombie apocalypse doesn’t sound all that amusing or entertaining... but I assure you, in Zombieland it absolutely is! This bloody, gruesome, and highly innovative horror-comedy revolves around four main characters; Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson: Natural Born Killers), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg: The Social Network), Wichita (Emma Stone: Easy A) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin: Little Miss Sunshine) who end up reluctantly working together to find a place where the “infection” hasn’t spread. Along the way they encounter many random misadventures, conflicts, hilarious moments and of course, plenty of good old-fashioned zombie-killing mayhem!

The characters, rather than using names, decide to refer to each other by where they're from so as to not become too attached to one another in the event of one of them "turning". This is of course all part of the "rules for surviving Zombieland" which Columbus had come up with. Columbus' list goes down to rule #31, with Tallahassee coining the final rule #32. I won't spoil the rules here, I'll simply say, if you don't already know the rules of surviving the zombie apocalypse, watch the movie! In addition to the rules, Zombieland also features other special segments such as the hilarious "zombie kill of the week".

The basic plot of the film starts us off with Columbus, who is walking across (what once was) the United States to get to Columbus, Ohio in order to reunite with his family when he comes across Tallahassee. As you can tell by the name he is driving to Tallahassee, Florida. They both agree to travel together, which is great for the fearful and paranoid Columbus because Tallahassee "sets the standard for zombie killing", but there is only one problem with Tallahassee- he is food motivated and stops at stores in hopes of finding the last Twinkie. While in search of a Twinkie, they come across two sisters Wichita and Little Rock who end up being experienced con artists. As you probably guessed, they end up teaming up with the sisters, who are headed to an amusement park they have heard is "completely zombie free". As you also probably guessed, they're wrong, and thus the movie reaches it's finale with one last showdown against the legions of the undead.

Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have already mentioned the possibility of a sequel after the film's huge success at the box office, revealing that they have plenty of ideas for the film, which was originally conceived as a TV series. Paul Wernick, according to sources, went on record saying, "We would love (a sequel), and everybody involved creatively wants to do another one" though sources also tell us "this is dependent on the studio – not the cast and crew." Given the fact that Zombieland pulled in a reported $102,391,542 at the box office, and holds the record of “top-grossing zombie film of all time” - I’d wager it’s pretty likely we’ll be seeing a sequel or two in the future!

Overall, Zombieland is a highly entertaining, over the top hilarious splatter-fest with an excellent cast (including a very special cameo from none other than Bill Murray), fantastic special effects, and of course, plenty of action, which will leave you wanting to watch it again and again. Undoubtedly, this is one of, if not the best horror-comedy of all time.

Fright Meter Grade (Courtesy of Dave Harlequin):