Night of the Living Deb

While I wouldn't call it flavor of the month, the last couple of years saw a bit of a rise. Not only of the dead themselves but a rise in zombie comedies with a romantic touch. Some worked better than others, some just try to be a bit funny. And that is what this movie is. It's not an instant classic or anything, but it does what the box says and it's entertaining enough to watch.

It starts off innocently enough, just to turn things up and speed things up a bit. The main actress is what either will draw you into it or appall you. I thought she was really funny and did a great job. Of course it's silly, it's meant to be that way. I mean the title along indicates that (how come no one thought of that before I wonder?) ... It's actually pretty easy to decide if you like this or not, but something I can't do for you of course

At least for what it is. It's no "Shaun of the Dead," of course, but given that "Shaun of the Dead" is the de facto "Godfather" of zom-com (and horror comedy in general, for that matter), it's hardly fair to compare this movie to it.

The movie lives and dies by its lead actress, and more so than most -- she's clearly the standout performance (which is a shame when a movie has the great Ray Wise) and she handles the comedy, physical and verbal, very well. Not to mention being able to pull off cute even with the trite "beautiful girl playing plain by having messy hair and unflattering clothes" dynamic. (I almost said "beautiful young girl" but a look at her IMDb page reveals that she was *40* when this movie came out. Unless there's an error on IMDb or this movie was shelved for a very long time before release, she's aged really, really well. I mean, good Lord, I would have guessed mid-to-late 20s, tops.)

The movie's main flaw is that it doesn't seem to know whether it wants to be straight-up comedy or camp, something independent/low budget comedies occasionally suffer from. It vacillates between the two, which can cause abrupt changes in comedic tone. Trying for both just hurts the flow and coherency of the movie. Overall, though, while it wasn't the greatest movie in the world and I did find the comedy/camp comedy transitions jarring, I quite enjoyed it, and it was solidly written and acted (primarily by the lead actress, as noted above), so I have no complaints about the time spent watching.

Chompcrc here. This is actually a pretty good movie. It hits all the major plot points, and I laughed out loud on numerous occasions. The lead actress is a revelation, and should definitely be way more famous than she is. Sure, a bigger budget Hollywood production would have looked and felt better, but this is as good as anything Hollywood heavy hitters are doing in the genre. Good job folks.

Better than I expected remake (of sorts) of 'Shaun of the Dead' starring Thayer playing an awkward but plucky camera operator trapped with her one night stand (Cassidy) after the State is overrun by a water-borne virus that turns victims into flesh eating zombies.

Ray Wise co-stars as Cassidy's connected father, partially responsible for the outbreak, and then Brister is a scene stealer as Thayer's indecorous best friend, in some ways reminiscent of Nick Frost's character in SotD. Sacca is also amusing as the sarcastic military contractor hired to prevent the virus from escaping Maine.

Despite being a loose translation of SotD for American audiences, Thayer is likeable, the pace is constant and although low budget, it's technically well-made with witty dialogue and plenty of visual gags to keep the audience amused. Low on the romcom factor, higher on the gore and better for it overall.

Night of the Living Deb (2015)

** (out of 4)

Deb (Maria Thayer) wakes up after a night of drinking in the apartment of Ryan (MichaeL Cassidy). The two quickly try to play off their night but soon they're back together when they realize that a zombie apocalypse has broken out.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEB isn't the greatest horror spoof ever created but there are a couple nice laughs that help keep it moving but there's really not enough here for a feature-length film. I think this here would have worked much better as a short film because there's really no plot here as we basically see Deb, a rather nerdy person, falling in love with the good looking Ryan and the majority of the film has her being mistreated or taken advantage of. Oh yeah, the other thing is that she is very sarcastic and this is where the majority of the laughs come from.

Thankfully both Thayer and Cassidy are good in their roles and this certainly helps since we spend the majority of the running time with them. Thayer is the star here and she turns in a nice performance but I still felt that only twenty-percent or so of her jokes actually worked. The film could have benefited had there been something more going on. Perhaps more in-jokes or at least something more to hold the viewer's attention.

As it stands, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEB has a creative title but it's too bad the film itself wasn't more creative.