I Survived a Zombie Holocaust (2014)
Starring Harley Neville, Jocelyn Christian, Ben Baker, Reanin Johannink, Andrew Laing
Directed by Guy Pigden
Chaos ensues when real zombies invade the set of a low-budget zombie flick in New Zealand splatter comedy I Survived a Zombie Holocaust. Trapped in the middle of the carnage is aspiring screenwriter and first-time on-set runner Wesley Pennington (Neville). As he wrestles with the shock of finding out just how much respect the on-set coffee boy is afforded during a shoot such as this, not to mention his growing infatuation with caterer Susan (Christian), mild-mannered Wesley is forced to build confidence and toughen up if he wants to get out of the woods alive.
We’ve seen this kind of zombie comedy a number of times over the years, and while writer/director Guy Pigden does stick strongly to the formula (including the unlikely love interest whose initial resistance blossoms into affection for the main character), he does it with a style that leaves much to be admired throughout I Survived a Zombie Holocaust. Most surprisingly, the weakest link in terms of character is actually Wesley himself, whose activity, coupled with the performance of lead Neville, feels much too manufactured for endearing effect in the early stages. That isn’t to say that Neville’s performance is particularly poor – the reality is quite the contrary, in fact – but as a character, his snivelling, weak-as-soggy-toilet-paper shtick is more grating than pleasing early on. This becomes much less of a problem as his character gradually opens up, though.
Thankfully, getting to that later developed stage isn’t a hardship due to the inclusion of a wide array of notable secondary characters, each with their own humorously hyperbolic personalities. The bimbo starlet; brain-dead (even before zombification) beefcake action star; gun-obsessed American effects guy and hilariously domineering director are all great – not to mention the rather brilliant touch of having an experienced ‘method’ actor involved as the film-within-the-film’s mad scientist, his particular approach to his craft leading to a laughter-inducing ‘boy who cried wolf’ scenario when the real zombies turn up.
Stealing the show, though, is Ben Baker as Tane, a tall-tale-spinning production assistant obsessed with regaling cast and crew with stories of his glory days on the rugby pitch. His earnest performance and likeable character make him the strongest audience connection; an eminently lovable sort who will work his way into your heart in short order.
Now, when you hear “New Zealand Zombie Comedy” you’re obviously thinking one thing only: how does it compare on the splatter scale to Peter Jackson’s classic entries Bad Taste and Braindead? The answer is not quite, but still favourably. Tonally, I Survived a Zombie Holocaust does feel much in the same league as Braindead but the focus is more squarely on the comedy and characters than the splatter show. There’s plenty to go around, though, with all sorts of zombie mayhem going on – the requisite headshots, disembowelling, decapitation, amputation and flesh-eating are all trotted out on good form, tying into the humour in various ways.
And when I Survived a Zombie Holocaust can be very funny indeed. For each joke that falls flat, there’s an equal number of laugh-out-loud moments to be had – none of which I’ll spoil – and some very smart, dark humour including a wonderfully edited, manic rant by director SMP (Laing) as he finally loses his shit. In terms of visuals, sound and effects, I Survived a Zombie Holocaust never really rises above its low budget foundations but there’s enough love on display to assuredly work around that. It may be a rough ‘n’ ready effort, but it offers enough sweetness, gore, comedy, and characters that you can really get behind to make it an overall success.
7 1/2 out of 5
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