Die Nacht der lebenden Loser

A German horror comedy that successfully spoofs all possible clichés of zombie films without ever paying any disrespect to the real genre classics or ending up as a retarded 90 minutes joke itself??? It's almost impossible to accept such a thing exists and yet here's Mathias Dinter's "Night of the Living Dorks"! I swear, unless you absolutely have no sense of humor in you, you can't but enjoy this silly story about three typical German high-school nerds that suddenly move up the social ladder because they have the strength and advantages of the living dead. In a desperate attempt to conquer a girl's heart (and body), Philip and his friends Konrad and Wurst (what's in a name) undergo a voodoo ritual and become soiled by the ashes of a dead Haitian zombie. There's no result at first but, after a car accident, our jolly trio is immune to pain and has developed an insatiable desire for raw meat. While Konrad and Wurst are having the time of their lives abusing their zombie powers, Philip turns to his loving neighbor girl for a cure. This light-headed and spirited production contains all the necessary ingredients to guarantee brainless entertainment and yet a lot more, too. Whereas other German movies are frequently uptight (no offense to any German readers...), "Night of the Living Dorks" specifically focuses on laughing with stereotypes and even the country's own national history. All the gags and references towards classic films in the script already featured in previous zombie comedies and yet this movie still feels fresh and innovating. Even the jokes that aren't zombie-related, like soft-drug usage or the "crush on teacher"-syndrome, are effective and will make you chuckle. The acting of the boys is pretty good, while the girls all look ravishing and show quite a bit of naked flesh. The gory situations aren't as outrageous as I thought, which is probably due to the German rating system, but there certainly is some nice sloth to enjoy. Many will disagree, maybe, but I think this pleasant German surprise doesn't have to yield much to similar movies like "Shaun of the Dead", "Return of the Living Dead" or "The Dead Hate The Living". Bring out the six-packs of beer!

I saw this film as part of the Cinemuerte Horror Film Festival in Vancouver recently, and I have to say that I did enjoy it, as silly as it was.

The characters were affable, the zombie and gore effects were solid, and the storyline was good fun. You actually got to like the three "losers" and the preppy-rich kids were fun to hate. Don't listen to the person who commented on "bad acting", because they don't know what they're talking about. There was no bad acting in this movie at all. The actors were all very natural, and seemed like real teenagers, despite the fantastic situations they were in.

Anyway, when this film will reach DVD on North American shores is hard to tell, but if you like 80's-style teen comedy flicks, and are a fan of zombies and gore (there are some gross and violent scenes, but nothing as extreme as what you'd see in a Romero film, and they're mostly played for laughs), then this film is good for a laugh and worth renting. It's certainly better than most teen flicks coming out of Hollywood these days!

The film's underlying connection is obviously the lot of zombie films which have filled the last decades since Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" (1968). Although its approach is rather a different one. Not horror or the paranoid feeling of being enclosed by undead is the theme, but the problems and boons that come with being transformed to an undead. So you get the feeling of what's like to be one of the "evil" kind. And in this it's pretty funny, because there are many scenes in which the teenage actors are reacting unexpected, but never miss the point to be what they are: a bunch of maturing youths, whose only interests are in women, booze and party! So you better won't expect to find any trace of subtile character-play or the tragic evaluation of one's unforgiving fate - what doesn't mean that there are no interesting story-bends in it. You bet they are! The cast is fine with me, with the special appearance of Sissi Perlinger, a more or less well known comedian, as way-to-cool mother. Moments of blood & gore are limited, for which it's not the film's intention to shock you out of your skin and also the brief nudity is way too normal nowadays. The German rating is 12+ (PG) and nothing to discuss about. Interestingly there this a similar film out now with the title "Shaun of the dead" which takes on the funny sides of zombie-films, too, although it has a better making and the puns are more precise than in this one. But hey, it's a German film, alright? What else should one expect from a small budget and trivial story? So lean back, enjoy the film ...and remember the horrid times when there were films with the name "Zwei Nasen tanken Super"!

OK, out of the previews I knew this was a pretty funny movie. The topic on it was obvious.

This movie is made in Germany, obviously out of the title and it probably won't ever come to the US. There are only German actors in it who fit their characters pretty well. The special actor in this movie is Collien Fernandes. It's not a usual movie for her to be in though she's looking veeeery nice, even in this movie.

'Die Nacht der lebenden Loser' is not a real Horror-Movie, rather a Horror-Comedy-Movie with more comedy in it than horror. There are no real scary scenes and just a few slightly shocking moments. So even your girl should be pretty amused by it.

I could imagine that it's related to the bunch of zombie movies which came out (more or less) recently, like Resident Evil 2 and 28 days later. Though without being like them at all. It has got a whole bunch of funny scenes in it like when parts are falling off of the characters, flat comments and dark humor. I really enjoyed watching it and laughed a lot at several moments. Though I need to mention that I really like this kind of humor.

The characters are done well and the zombieteenagers look really freaky as the movie goes on further.

The Plot outline describes all you need to know about the story of this movie.

This movie is not necessarily one of the top (comedy) movies you might have seen, though I still recommend watching it!

First and foremost: this movie really rocks. I am a native German speaker and I quickly took a gaze at the English pretty horribly dubbed trailer which does not come close to the original German version. My review is based on me experiencing this awesome comedy in German language, so it might be a bit biased for you English speaking folks out there.

If you enjoy a laugh along with a bunch of stereotypical characters then you better fasten your seat belts as this movie takes upon lots of clichés from the Zombie movie genre as well as teen comedies - with a German twist, though. There are boobs, butts and drugs, but not much gory violence as you'd expect from a classical Zombie movie. Nonetheless this movie also contains one of the most-closely to real-life teen party scenes I've ever witnessed on screen.

This movie is best watched with a couple of friends and plenty of beer for even more entertainment - and if you're able to: do so in German. I whole heartedly recommend this movie to anyone sporting a good sense of humor. Enjoy!