Zombies of Mass Destruction   Starring: Janette Armand, Doug Fahl and Cooper Hopkins Optimum Home Entertainment RRP: £15.99 OPTD1870 Certificate: 18 Available 18 October 2010

When a closeted gay boy returns from the big city to the quaint town of Port Gamble, with his pushy boyfriend, he soon finds the place overrun with flesh-eating zombies. However, the pair discover that different townsfolk have individual ideas about what is going on. The mayor only cares about being re-elected, the evangelist priest sees the disaster as a biblical plague, and an American-born Muslim girl has her own problems when a sadistic paranoid accuses her of a viral attack. These people and more will need to work together if they are to survive the onslaught...

In my review of Dance of the Dead I described how the zombie sub-genre has been reduced to parody. Of course, this can be quite a compliment; it proves there is something popular enough to be made fun of. Return of the Living Dead - Part II, Shaun of the Dead, and Dance of the Dead have all enjoyed varying levels of success, so it's no surprise that yet another should pop up.

Although the title rather gives it away, it isn't immediately evident from the first five or ten minutes that this is supposed to be a black comedy. Long moments go by when it appears events should be taken seriously, before a set piece hits the viewer like a wet fish around the chops. Admittedly, other film moments are being referenced or paid tribute to, but a mainstream audience wouldn't necessarily recognise these. The darkly humorous moments, when they come, are pretty effective. One example is when a key character comes across a hysterical little girl; she reassures her, telling her that she is safe and that she won't let anything harm her - before, seconds later, a truck thunders through the frame and the girl is no more.

Another scene which works well is when the timid gay boy and his more forward partner are having dinner with the former's mother. She slowly changes into a zombie and attacks them at the precise moment his sexual connotation is revealed. The partner states quite matter-of-factly that this was what happened when he told his dad.

There are less funny situations than Dance of the Dead, but the jokes are much harder hitting. I didn't think I would enjoy this initially, but it quickly grows on you, so it's worth giving it a chance.

6

Ty Power