American Zombieland (2020)
“How Are We The Only Guys in Texas Who Don’t Own Guns?”
It’s no Bikini Valley Car Wash, but ehhh, it’s all right.
We usually try to avoid Spoilers unless it is something that shows up in the name of the movie (I’m talking to you Mr. The Invisible Man) or the first two minutes of the film, but we’re going to kick this one off with three.
First: The poster for American Zombieland doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the movie.
Second: The poster is probably the scariest thing about this film.
Third: AZ won’t win any Oscars, but it’s pretty good for a Saturday Night Drive-In.
Ok, those aren’t too spoilerish, but we did want to get them out up front because this movie is not the cheap gorefest that you might think. It’s actually a relatively fun film with a little blood (but much, much less than you’ll see in five minutes of The Walking Dead), and a few clever ideas.
Originally titles Fat Ass Zombies (before the producers decided to release as a “serious” film), the movie takes place in a small Texas town, where Sam (Dave Mussen from Trafficked) plays a monumentally unsuccessful filmmaker who wants to break into the world of zombie films. He is surrounded by a colorful cast of friends, enemies, frenemies, love interests, and later shambling undead, including his best friend, Popper (Johnny Dowers, The Bridge), and his maybe girlfriend, Pam (Samantha Walker).
When the people of the town begin to turn into zombies, most people stay home and watch tv or hit the local bar for a drink, but Sam sees an opportunity to make his big movie. Now…most people would think trying to film the zombie apocalypse is a phenomenally bad idea…and they would be right…but Sam has an idea: he’s only going to do scenes with “low risk” zombies (overweight, disabled, and otherwise slower than the average 28 Days Later fiend).
We won’t get into how that works out, but will say that it is reasonably entertaining, tosses in a few original ideas, and 100% worth the price of the movie on Amazon Prime (Free is you are a subscriber).
So how is this movie…really…?
It’s not bad. Giorgio, the director (whose only work seems to be this movie), is decent and although some of the shots are a little crowded and dark, it’s not bad technically. The script has several credits but most of it seems to have been written by George Bennett, who delivers some good lines. And the cast is above average - and seem to be having a lot of fun making this film.
Most zombie movies, going back to Romero’s black and white ghouls, are used to symbolize some sort of social issue - racism in the original Night of the Living Dead, consumerism in the first Dawn of the Dead, and so on. American Zombieland does the same, but doesn’t go for subtle. You’ll get what they are poking at pretty quickly. One of the most interesting (and depressing?) things about the film from my perspective is that if there really was a zombie outbreak, I think it really would play out a lot like the movie…at least if it started in a small Texas town.
You can catch American Zombieland HERE on Amazon.
Two Out of Five Freedom Cakes (but two very tasty ones).
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What’s you favorite Drive-In zombie flick? Let us know at movies@bigmovieblog.com!
Don’t be frightened! It’s only a trailer!
