Gangsters, Guns & Zombies

Okay, first off, "Gangsters, Guns, & Zombies" isn't as fantastic as Edgar Wright's "Shaun of the Dead" (2004), but few horror comedies can top that Simon Peg masterpiece. The first half-hour of this epic is pretty tiresome because our quartet of hoodlums are packed into an SUV with one of their minions flat on his back in the rear of the vehicle with a nasty looking belly wound. My first thought was it's a homage to "Reservoir Dogs," because the poor guy's a bloody mess. Eventually, the hoodlums stop and provide him with a shallow grave. No matter where this foursome go, they are either followed by ravenous, bloodthirsty zombies or run into these undead fiends. The road trip comes to a halt when the gangster exhaust their supply of gas and find themselves out in the country. They are at a house with a windmill and when they try to steal a small sedan, they are confronted by a shotgun wielding grandmother with no qualms about blowing them to smithereens. Interestingly enough, her granddaughter packs a pistol, too. Eventually, they reach a truce and hole up in the house. No sooner do they take refuge in the house than the zombie congregate around him and lay siege to it. Writer & director Matt Mitchell stages a few interesting scenes and the upbeat, happy ending is nice. The token African American gangster of the crew hooks up with the grandmother's white daughter, and they steal a boat and ply their way off the island. As the movie ends, we see them cruising away, and then we see zombies swimming after them. A nice, tongue-in cheek touch. Half-baked rot that gets by on bites & pieces--zombie bites that is--with a modicum of just enough humor to make it worth watching up until fadeout. British zombie movies--at least for this Southern Yank--are fun because the cast utters everything with those harmonious British accent and the profanity is fun.

...DON'T BOTHER. A rubbish, not-even-student-grade film. Apparently, given its only synopsis here which seems to be written by one of its overly enthusiastic and underly talented 'creators', it hopes to ride on the coat-tails of 70s B schlockers. Even if you enjoy badly done crap as a source of humor, don't waste your time. It's even more boring and banal than it is amateurish. I can't believe I wasted even these last five minutes of my life reviewing this. All I can say is, I watched this so that YOU DON'T HAVE TO. Now making up this timewaster's undeserved but obligatory Ten Lines Of Text.. Done.

I found this movie to be highly entertaining even with its low budget. It had everything you could want in a zombie flick. Random death scenes in the midst of character and situational development, decent gore given the budget, good use of cg, and the wholesome family fun a UK made for US comedy. It has blatant racism, giant English bank robbers who steal your heart, back stabbers, and pretty boys who have a touch of insanity. The situation is thrown in your face without reason similar to how things would really go down and have gone down in other zombie movies. The whole romance part this other person is complaining about isn't until you feel the need for it and I am guessing that they are just alone in life and cannot tolerate passion in times of crisis even though that has been proved time and time again in reality. I mean if I am gonna potentially get eaten by zombies and a decent looking English babe comes my way, far be it from me to try to woo her into going heels to Jesus....just saying. Come one, I mean what more could you ask for??? The people who gave this a low rating have a different taste in zombie films, or films in general. Give this a shot, have a shot, and enjoy!

Briefly said, a van full of bank robbers have their getaway complicated by the oncoming zombie holocaust. This movie was a pleasant surprise for me. I was expecting a B movie. Especially since I found the title on a list of 'B' thrillers. What I found was a very well done flick that fit my mood to a tee. First thing to note is this is clearly in Guy Ritchie style (as in Lock Stock or Snatch). Now there is a fine line between cheap knock off, spoof and tribute. It mostly depends on how faithfully a style is recreated and it's underlying quality. The Ritchie style hits you right from the opening credits. Slick graphic credits interrupting brisk action sequences while the protagonist narrates, followed up by a by a cast of stereotypical British gangsters, each introduced by the narrator. It's a good imitation and I rate it a tribute. If you aren't fond of Rithchie's style you won't like this one either. I found the characters amusing, original and endearing (you gotta love grandma). Moreover, I was pleasantly surprised at the overall quality. Direction, cinematography, acting, writing, sound all above par. Well, one exception. If you are making a zombie movie, it might be judicious to employ the services of a make-up artist. Or, at the very least, insist that your extras pay a visit to the local costume shop at their own expense. It would be easy to criticize the finale which seems more like a cast party than a conclusion. But, think about it, there's only one end to a zombie flick. The zombies kill everyone. Isn't that what's meant by Apocalypse? If you took the trouble to search for this title, the answer is "Yes". Well worth a look see.

I was looking forward to see this UK zombedy. Comedy coming out of the UK is mostly always big fun. Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009), Doghouse (2009) were fun but sadly this one here I can't add to that list. It all looked so well from the start but the further you move into this flick the worser it get. The funny parts just doesn't work and adding a bit of romance made it all boring too. The first minutes did work when a bunch of gangsters are confronted with zombies but after a while we do see the same again and again. The acting was mediocre. Things what should be funny (the part with the grandma and stepdaughter) wasn't funny at all. I must say that some shots were nicely done like the camera added on a gun while shooting a zombie looked great and even reminded me of The Evil dead (1981). What bothered me the most was the use of CGI for blood in some shots. When the end credits are running you can see that they had fun making this flick, sadly it wasn't funny for the viewer. It did had all elements to make it absurd but it never did. It's like the title says, it's about gangsters, they do use guns and sometimes there are zombies running around and attacking but the cohesion between the three wasn't there. Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 1/5