I could slap myself in the face for breaking a promise I know I shouldn't. I swore to myself I would stop watching any more new zombie comedies because they're basically all the same. If you're a young and aspiring, but largely untalented director nowadays, all you have to do is write down the five page scenario of a zombie comedy! And yet for some reason, I always get tricked into watching yet another one, especially when they're programmed at my country's annual Fantastic Film Festival. In case of "Zombie Fever" I thought it would be worth a look because it's made in Russia, but it predictably turned out to be the same nonsense in a different language. Every single zombie comedy features the exact same cast of characters, and apparently even the Russians know about all the dreadful clichés and irritating stereotypes. There's the pathetic nerd who eventually becomes the day-saving hero, his lowlife drug-addicted best friend and the popular but nonetheless sensitive hot chick who will fall for the hero in the end. Then we have the supportive cast members, of which you can exactly predict at what point during the movie they will get devoured by entire hordes of hundreds – even thousands – badly disguised zombie day players. There's the handsome but cowardly high-school jock, a couple of random bimbos parading around in tight tops and short skirts, the elderly wise and tough military veteran and the lunatic scientist responsible for the mayhem outbreak. What else is there to add? Yes, there's tons of blood and buckets full of gore, but the make-up effects are cheap and cheesy (and not even in a charming kind of way) and perhaps one or two bizarre plot gimmicks. In this case, the writers claim that zombies are attracted by the smell of fear rather than living flesh and functioning brain, which results in a few downright retarded sequences. I read in the press brochure that lead actress Julia Volkova gained a bit of international fame some fifteen years ago, as she was one of the two singers in the semi-controversial punk band t.A.T.u. I'm not familiar with her musical talent, but it can hardly be any worse than her acting skills. And I swear to all that is sacred, from now on: no more zombie comedies!
