Little Bit Zombie, A (2012)
Serena Whitney
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Starring Kristen Hager, Stephen McHattie, Neil Whitely, Crystal Lowe, Kristopher Turner, Shawn Roberts
Directed by Casey Walker
A Little Bit Zombie is a lot like previous zombie comedies horror fans have been enjoying for years on end. Reminiscent of the Evil Dead series, the film follows two couples on a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods. The unlucky protagonist Steve (Kristopher Turner) is a typical, albeit friendly suburbanite who is engaged to ball-busting, high maintenance Tina (Crystal Lowe), a woman who seems more in love with her wedding than to her fiancé. Steve’s sister, Sarah (Kristen Hager), and her beer-chugging “Moose-like” husband, Craig (Shawn Roberts), tag along for the trip despite the fact that Sarah hates her brother’s bride-to-be with a passion.
Unbeknownst to the group, there is a zombie hunter and expert duo (respectively played by Stephen McHattie and Emile Morkov Ullerup) eliminating a zombie epidemic right near their cabin. The pair kill all of the zombies but fail to kill a zombified mosquito (that just drank zombie blood), and it unfortunately goes for seconds by biting Steve repeatedly. Like Jeff Goldblum’s character in Cronenberg’s The Fly, Steve starts to exhibit some weird behavioral and physical changes such as profusely drooling anytime the word “brains” is uttered, skin decay and having the need to eat his fiancée’s bunny rabbit. Ear stapling, projectile puking and brain chomping ensue.
First-time director Casey Walker and writers Trevor Martin and Chris Bond deliver not only an unexpectedly superior Canadian horror indie but also a satirical comedy with cheeky and unsubtle analogies to death and marriage for viewers that like a little “food for thought” with a raw serving of bloody brains on the side.
Like Dead and Breakfast and the early 90’s bomb My Boyfriend’s Back, A Little Bit Zombie emphases more laughs than scares; and even if that disappoints you, hilarious set pieces involving a black and white “Leave It To Beaver”-like dream sequence, Stephen McHattie’s absurd cursing rants and the film’s Hangover style end credits sequence will definitely put a smile on your face.
All of the actors are competent in the roles, and although Shawn Roberts (an actor who is very familiar with the zombie sub-genre) steals most of the scenes with his high energy and uproarious lines, everyone adds to the insanity with their own comical contributions (be it physical or verbal) on-screen.
On the downside the film offers very little zombie action, and although is to be expected from an ultra-low budget film of this caliber, it definitely felt like the film would have benefited from adding more zombies to the mix. It also slightly suffers from the fact that horror aficionados have seen this type of movie done time and time again—and despite the fact that it is amusing to watch, it doesn’t bring as much ingenuity as it does heart.
Even though A Little Bit Zombie is nowhere as groundbreaking as Canadian cult film Fido, it is entertaining, cute and admirable, which is something quite rare to say about a film involving the putrefying undead.
3 1/2 out of 5
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