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Making its way to Canadian theaters for a limited run beginning today, director Casey Walker's rom-com/horror flick A LITTLE BIT ZOMBIE recently won the Gold Remi Award for Best Dark Comedy at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival and Best Feature Film at the Canadian Film Festival.
The movie starts off with the classic zombie-hunter setup of older, rough-looking, trigger-happy Max (Stephen McHattie) and young, sexy scientist Penelope (Emile Ullerup) fighting off a group of attacking ghouls. During the altercation, a mosquito draws some blood from one of the flesheaters; the film then imaginatively switches to the point of view of the infected insect looking for a victim, ultimately encountering four young people going to a cabin retreat for the weekend. The group consists of mild-mannered groom-to-be Steve (Kristopher Turner) and his Bridezilla-to-be Tina (Crystal Lowe from BLACK CHRISTMAS and WRONG TURN 2), joined by his best man Craig (Shawn Roberts) and his sister Sarah (Kristen Hager). Craig and Sarah basically hate Tina, but are trying to be good sports for the wedding and the weekend getaway. Soon Steve is infected by the mosquito and starts to turn into a zombie…but just a little bit. He still is very much alive, he's just developed an overwhelming need for brains. Soon his friends are in on what has happened to him and do their best to help him find a freshly dead human meal; after all, nothing is going to stop Tina from getting the wedding she wants!
Some people might be thrown off by the intentionally hammed-up performances, but if you can get on board with the broad comic tone, you’ll have a good time with A LITTLE BIT ZOMBIE. There are no big surprises in the performances, but they each hold down their corner of the film well, with Roberts given the best lines and pulling them off with great comic timing. McHattie is terrific but generally underused as the zombie hunter, and it would have been nice to see his part beefed up more. The film's best sequence by far sees the two young ladies sexy themselves up to try and find some brains for hubbie-to-be at a local bar; former wrestler Robert Maillet (300, MONSTER BRAWL) shows up here in a great bit part as a drunken hillbilly.
What's great about this particular zombie film is that it actually makes a good date movie, especially if your date isn’t into typical flesheater fare. A LITTLE BIT ZOMBIE doesn’t break any radical new ground, but the clever script by Christopher Bond and Trevor Martin makes for light, fun entertainment...even for a little bit. Click here for showtimes in Canada; U.S. dates are to be announced soon.
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