Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
Directed by: Christopher Landon
Written by: Carrie Lee Wilson, Emi Mochizuki, Chrisopher Landon, Lona Williams
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan
Synopsis: Three scouts, on the eve of their last camp-out, discover the true meaning of friendship when they attempt to save their town from a zombie outbreak.
This is an exciting, brilliantly written film. The dialogue was superb, splicing intelligent humor with great special effects, reminiscent of such films as Scream and Hatchet. The film opens up with a fun song and dance scene in which a janitor stumbles upon a quarantined man lying in a bed. He dies and comes back to life as a zombie and biting the janitor, setting off the chain of events accumulating in the climax. The jokes were strategically placed and cleverly written. The entertaining score sets the mood for every scene, even the transition shots.
**PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD**
Driving and discussing how they are going to quit and leave their best friend as the sole scout, main characters Ben (Tye Sheridan) and his sidekick Carter (Logan Miller) hit a deer. They wave down an oncoming vehicle, whose occupants just happen to be Carter’s sister Kendall (Halston Sage), her boyfriend Travis (Lukas Gage) and her best friend Chole (Niki Koss) and get an invite to attend a senior party. Enthused by the invite, they leave. Ben takes one last look only to see that the deer has disappeared, thinking nothing more of the incident.
While Scout Leader Rogers (the wonderful David Koechner) is getting ready to set up for a campout the scouts are having later that night, he gets into an altercation with the same deer that Ben and Carter hit earlier, only to be bitten by a zombie inadvertently. Ben and Carter then try to purchase beer for the party. But since they are minors, they ask a homeless man to purchase it for them at the local convenience store.
Here they run into the strong supporting female lead Denise (Sarah Dumont), a long-legged girl in a tank top and cut off jean shorts who works as a cocktail waitress in the strip joint across the street. Later that night, they tell their friend Augie (Joey Morgan) they quit the scouts. They head back into town for the party, realizing the town is deserted. On their way, they swing back by the convenience store, where Ben discovers the smashed glass from the front doors. Carter notices that the bouncer from the strip club is nowhere in sight and pulls Ben into the club, where they run into a zombie stripper.
Meanwhile, Augie goes to the scout leader’s house for help and is attacked by Scout Leader Rogers, lighting him on fire to stop him from attacking. Ben and Carter fend off zombies in a hilarious fashion as Carter uses a broken bottle to stab the stripper zombie in the head, causing blood to pour out all over his face.
Along the way, they have to battle with a zombie cop who fires his gun unloading on the survivors, culminating with the characters locked in a jail cell while the undead surround them. Augie draws the attention of the zombies away from the police station and Ben, Carter and Denise use a broom handle and a pack of condoms to try and fly fish for the keys to the cell, managing to escape just in time. From there, they head out to save Carter’s sister and friends from an unsuspecting zombie apocalypse. They have to fight off the mean old lady neighbor (Cloris Leachman) who tries to bite Carter in the ass but doesn’t have her dentures in.
**END PLOT SPOILERS**
The chemistry between the actors really helps you believe their bonds of friendship are unbreakable. The scene where they sing Brittany Spears with a zombie is a riot, with the classic one liner “Okay, did I just drop acid or are they really singing Brittany Spears with a zombie?” From zombie boobs, to zombies on trampolines, to zombie cats, to a zombie actually going down on a girl…this film packs a punch that is not to be missed.
We even get an outstanding “save the world” speech, which concludes as the scouts gear up with new and completely original weapons. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is chock full of original classic scenes. This is what all zombie flicks should strive to be.
The only thing I found disappointing about this film is the speed of the zombies. I’m more a fan of the Romero slow moving zombies. My favorite parts include the homage to the film Halloween when you see a road sign that reads “Haddonfield 40 miles” and the handicapped zombie lady in pink driving her motorized scooter.
Overall this is an ultimate zombie film with hysterical catchy one liners that prove there’s nothing like best friends — a must have for all zombie fans and fans of the genre.
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