Attack of the Herbals

With Zombie inducing Nazi tea, axe wielding old age pensioners, a gun toting lobster fisherman and a belligerent alcoholic in a wheelchair what is not to like about this comedy? The fact that this was made on a budget of just £15,000 is astounding and the fact that the amateur actors and crew performed far better than any of the SyFy and Asylum garbage being released speaks volumes about the ability of the cast / crew (Which is often one and the same)...

I was seriously expecting to just skip through the DVD with the usual eye rolls and cringes that low budget movies generally provoke and ended up watching it straight through and found parts absolutely hilarious...

Cerebral comedy it is not but it put me in mind of Peter Jacksons "Bad Taste" which has become somewhat of a cult movie and spring boarded Peter Jacksons meteoric career and I suspect that this might just spring board the career of David Ryan Keith in the same way...

Ordinarily campy acting grates on the nerves but in this movie it accentuates the comedy (I suppose because the film does not take itself seriously at all) and the comedy is further enhanced when in comparison to the over the top eccentricities of the other characters the main character "Jackson McGregor" is a drab and dreary character with little personal charisma which surprisingly is refreshing against the backdrop of eccentric characters (Much in the same vein as the character Shaun in "Shaun of the Dead" is meant to be a bland character placed in extraordinary circumstances)...

Like I say it may not be everybody's cup of tea (Pun intended) but it certainly tickled my funny bone...

Problem is: As you go along, you make a better movie in your own mind as the movie progresses. It never does. Your slightest expectation of any forthcoming scene enriching anything to be built upon is constantly diminished. Rather dull from beginning to end after the last scene. Never even decent in its attempt to show 'Comedy' that fails beyond miserably. Seems this movie was written, shot, edited, and directed by 'interns' of those who were involved with 'Sean of the Dead'

Drama, Horror, blood-lust or even sex, let alone relationships, never quite evolve here. I can't condemn it and I would not recommend it by any means.

It's...perfectly fine if you are on the phone while writing poetry

Right, first let me say that the DVD cover as sold from Amazon brandishes this proclamation on the cover: "Hot Fuzz meets Shaun of the Dead". And that was the selling point for me, that raised my interest in "Attack of the Herbals".

But that was false advertising in my opinion. Because I was expecting something of a zombie comedy. Now, don't get me wrong, "Attack of the Herbals" is a good and entertaining movie, but it is hardly a zombie movie. At best, the tea in the movie turned the villagers into raving madmen, not zombies.

"Attack of the Herbals" has a lot of humor, not much unlike that you would see in "Hot Fuzz" or "Shaun of the Dead", true, but it never really raised itself up to that particular level of entertainment.

For a Scottish comedy, then "Attack of the Herbals" was actually quite nice. Lots of laughs here, funny situations, hilarious characters, odd dialogue and just outrageous craziness. And despite it being a fairly low budget movie, then the movie makers actually managed to pull this off extremely nicely. The movie had top notch production and didn't really lack anything (well, aside from actual zombies).

The acting in the movie was nice as well, and I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress at all, so that was a nice change of pace for once, to see a movie and not compare the actors in it to previous roles in other movies.

"Attack of the Herbals" is a good laugh and good entertainment. Just don't sit down to watch it under the false advertising as I was mislead by, then you will be sorely disappointed. And of course, being somewhat familiar with the Scottish accent is an advantage to watching this movie.

You can see they had a lot of fun making it, sadly the fun doesn't really get to the viewer. There are some nice moments and I smiled here and there, but overall it feels to amateurish to be really appealing. The value production however was surprisingly good for a lot budget movie and I've seen worse acting in Hollywood.

Horror comedy movies have been given a new lease of life in recent times with Shaun of the Dead leading the way for the likes of Black Sheep & The Cottage being made with the same sense of humour in mind.

Debut director David Keith's "Attack of the Herbals" doesn't shy away from its influences, it embraces them. Strong performances from a cast of complete unknowns and a professional, well shot movie that takes the audience on a fun, thrilling and exciting journey as two friends accidentally poison their entire village by selling them 60 year old tea! The ridiculous plot only adds to the movies charm.

Look forward to seeing more from this team of Scottish film makers.