2015 - IN REVIEW: GUILTY PLEASURE

SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Until the trailer for this film played in front of my screening of “Crimson Peak”, I didn't even know of its existence. However, I thought the trailer was hilarious and showed the film in a really good light. I was impressed and amused by it and was determined to now go and see it. Then came the reviews which were scathing. Unoriginal, not funny, boring, offensive; these were just some of the adjectives thrown around to describe the film. I was a bit disheartened by the apparent universal disgust for the film and just assumed that it must have been one of those (all too frequent) cases where all the best bits of the film, were in the trailer. The release came and went almost as quickly, barely being on screens for over a week and after I suddenly realised this, I rushed out to try and find a screening before it was gone for good. I am so thankful that I did too because I had an absolute blast with “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse”. All of the adjectives I had seen used to describe the film seemed to be my complete opposite reaction to it. I thought the film was fresh, original, very funny (in places), had some great inventive gore set pieces and it had a heart to it too. Whilst it is true that not every thing works in the film, with some of the jokes falling very flat, but there were more hits than misses here. In this day and age where zombie films are a dime a dozen, “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” manages to do the impossible by standing out from the pack and creating its own identity. It also has a fantastically funny scene involving a room full of zombie cats that is just brilliant. One aspect of the film that I really appreciated was that it relied heavily on practical make up effects rather than CGI, which benefits the film greatly. The other great benefit this film has is its terrific cast, who all work so beautifully together, but particularly Tye Sheridan. I am a big fan of this young actor, and as of yet, I have yet to see a bad film that he has been cast in. He just has a fantastic screen presence and always brings an honesty to any situation, even in a silly horror/comedy like this; he is just so believable. It turns out he also has a knack for great comic timing, even though he plays the straight man in this film. The main reason that I am even calling this film a “guilty pleasure” is mainly due to the critical drubbing it copped and because it is so silly at times. However in saying that, since I have seen the film, I have noticed that it is actually being reviewed a lot more favourably by “normal” folk, so I say take no notice of the critics here folks and just sit back and enjoy the fun of “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse”, even if it turns out to be just a guilty pleasure; it is well worth it.