DEADHEADS - ***

Directed by The Pierce Brothers. Starring Michael McKiddy, Ross Kidder, Markus Taylor, Thomas Galasso, Natalie Victoria, Benjamin. USA 2011 90 mins Certificate : 15.

Release Date 2nd January 2012. RRP : £9.99 (DVD), £14.99 (Blu Ray).

Like the recent (and, honestly, superior) TUCKER AND DALE VERSUS EVIL, the feature debut of The Pierce Brothers offers a neat comic reversal on the conventions and characters of an over-populated horror sub-genre. While TUCKER AND DALE found a genuinely original slant on the familiar backwoods-slasher archetype, DEADHEADS follows the recent likes of FIDO and WASTING AWAY in offering a depiction of an undead onslaught from the perspective of a pair of sympathetic zombies.

Lovelorn twentysomething Michael McKiddy wakes up with mortal flesh wounds in his Colorado town, unwittingly finding himself part of a zombie epidemic. Just as a generic group of living survivors are holing themselves up NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-style in a cabin in the woods, McKiddy teams up with fellow zombie Ross Kidder – whose life ended thanks to a spot of ill-judged autoerotic asphyxiation – to locate the love of his life. This, naturally, involves a road trip to Michigan, peppered with banter (who discovered vampires are repelled by garlic?), getting high, watching THE EVIL DEAD at a drive-in, noting what they’ve missed since being dead (mostly just the TRANSFORMERS movie, so no great loss), a sojourn at a redneck bar and various encounters with villainous military personnel with their own agenda.

With its assorted fan boy references to benchmark pictures as diverse as THE TERMINATOR, THE GOONIES and (inevitably) STAR WARS, DEADHEADS is a good natured labour of love. At its best, it delivers witty riffs on expectations, including a no-nonsense Duane Jones-inspired zombie-bashing “hero” and recurring fake only-a-dream shocks from a zombie’s perspective. If some of the running gags are a little weak and some of the incidental characters too self-consciously quirky for their own good (notably a dirty talking old Vietnam vet who gives our heroes a lift), the slapstick and gore gags are often deftly executed and there are some cute Zucker Bros-style background sight gags.

The Pierce Brothers gamely attempt a SHAUN OF THE DEAD-inspired combination of Romero homage, splatstick and sincere moments of genuine pathos. It doesn’t quite come off, perhaps because the laughs ebb and flow while the characters are never as funny or appealing as you hope. Though undoubtedly uneven, it’s still tough to dislike on any level, even when it gets unapologetically mushy at the very end. An excellent class reunion sequence in which old friends / enemies catch up on what’s happened since leaving school (“I’m a zombie…”) hits a spot that the rest of the movie tends to miss by a whisker. DEADHEADS still comes recommended as a breezy Saturday night rental, though be sure to tune out before the typically rubbish outtakes play during the end credits.

Steven West.

GORE IN THE STORE
REVIEWS BY FANS FOR FANS
5 STAR FAB - 1 STAR RUBBISH