Manuale scout per l'apocalisse zombie

Simply put, this is a future cult film for a new generation. The zombie sub-genre is one that is so incredibly saturated that it can be hard to find a decent new film as we have to wade through tons of sewage to find anything with some value. Thankfully, after a fair bit of digging, we have one with Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. It's a film that will appeal to the new generations of horror fans who were born into this nutty zombie infested pop culture, and it should also resonate with the well travelled horror fans who grew up on a diet of Evil Dead and Re-Animator. It's not going to be a mainstream success, and it's not going to appeal to everybody but Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a blast of fun from start to finish.

It's clear from the opening scene of the film that aims to be a bucket of bloody fun. As a foolish janitor messes around with some laboratory equipment and comes across a strange looking comatose patient, he accidentally causes the them to flat-line and awkwardly tries provide CPR. His efforts are clearly in vain as he pushes his hands through the patients chest and wakes up the living dead, thus causing the zombie outbreak.

The comedy in the film ranges from hilarious mutilation of corpses, wacky animal zombies to plain stupidity, but it is none the less entertaining every step of the way. Highlights include a scene involving a trampoline, which had my body cringing in disgust and almost laughing hysterically at the same time, and a surreal rendition of a classic Britney Spears song. The climax owes a lot to the gaming franchise Dead Rising as the boys use the scout skills to craft hand- built weapons from a hardware store for maximum zombie killing impact.

Despite the zombies being a primary part of the proceedings, it would have been a shell of a film had it not had the central friendship between the characters of Ben, Carter, and Augie. We can all relate to a group of friends on an adventure, and their dynamic has shades of 80s classics like The Goonies and Stand By Me. It isn't drawing on anything new but it doesn't pretend to either as it feels like a hokey sentimental tribute to cult favourites such as The Monster Squad. The 80s are very much beating in the lively heart of this horror.

I'm a horror fan through and through, and the genre needs feel good films like this, equal parts gore and laughs with a splat of gratuitous nudity for good measure. At the end of the day isn't that what fun horrors are all about?

If there's one horror movie you need to see in theaters this Halloween weekend, make it Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. Sure, the film won't win any awards for a great screenplay or nuanced performances, but sometimes you need to watch a movie that you can just sit down and enjoy. In that regard, Scouts delivers. It's totally over-the-top and ridiculously entertaining and the closest version of an American Shaun of the Dead there will ever be. I mean, if the zombie cats in the trailer didn't pull you in, then you're probably not the intended audience for this film. While there are some adolescent gags that don't quite work, most of the jokes are quite funny, some even inspired. There are things in this film that you've never seen in a zombie flick before, and considering the lack of originality in recent zombie fare in film and TV, that's quite an accomplishment. There's also an endearing quality to this film through the three boy scouts relationship that ground the film emotionally. Underneath all the gore and gross out gags, Scouts is a coming-of-age comedy with heart, and while it might not work for everyone, this viewer had a blast.

'Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse' is a fun little movie that has sadly been marketed rather poorly and was probably doomed to fail from the get go. It's been a box office flop but it isn't a fault in the quality of the film. It's a case of the main characters being scouts (most movies about scouts would generally be aimed at a younger audience) and yet the movie being R rated and alienating the people the title would suggest are going to enjoy it.

If they were going to go with the R rating then they needed to take full advantage of it, which they do in certain scenes but certainly not in an overall sense. This had the potential to be a 'Superbad' type movie with lots of clever and yet vulgar dialogue that would keep the audience (an adult audience) entertained throughout. Yet throughout the dialogue constantly feels like it's making its jokes for a younger demographic. The only time they really make use of the R rating is in the violence and the odd bit of graphic nudity. The dialogue was the key let down in this sense and the only way they could have pulled off the R rating to make this a box office success, and even then it would have been far from a sure thing.

Box office failure aside though it's actually a rather enjoyable film for the most part. While most of the humour might be a little bit tame in nature, it is still often funny enough to keep you chuckling if you buy into it. It never really works as a genuine horror movie (I don't think it was ever meant to either) as there never really feels like a genuine threat to any of the characters. Plus I think most people accept slow moving zombies are rarely scary to anyone in this day and age. There's nothing "must see" about it but if you do find yourself in a position to watch it I think you'll be pleased enough with what you see.

Horror films in recent years tend to be in the found footage vein, and Zombie films have been in decline since filmmakers could knock them out on low budgets with large amounts of CGI hordes of the undead for the straight to disc market.

Scouts Guide is a modestly budgeted comedy horror with lashings of gore with plenty of raucous laugh aloud.

The film does open up with a truly cringe worthy two minutes of inept nonsense with a janitor doing his job, but quickly changes its pace with the introduction of D.O.D. Christopher Landon (son of Highway to Heaven actor/director Michael London) has the guts to run with the laughs and some decent splatter for the next 90s minutes.

The cast of unknowns are capable and do have the charm and skill to carry the film over its 90 minutes running time. The film does not lag or waste any time introducing parental relationships and defining the social structure of high school culture it exists within its own universe of undead, scouts, strippers, boobs and pussies of all sorts. It's well edited, the script is tight,the photography is bright and clean and is definitely worth a viewing.

I just hope the producers don't plan a long series of low budget pointless sequels and just let the film find its own appreciative audience over the coming years.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse lacks any sort of novelty and it doesn't quite flourish its ultimate conceit. But isn't this the most enjoyable zombie movie I've seen in a while? There hasn't been much zombie movie in a while that's as brutal and deliciously violent as this one. And zombie cats! Why not? Maybe it's just my hangover from last Halloween. Either way, it's somewhat like a relic from the 80's, specifically from its tropes to its aesthetics (albeit some lens flares and digital blood.) It won't change your life or anything, but if you seek for some dumb adventurous schlock (with some teen comedy vulgarity,) then this movie knows how to deliver that kind of pleasure.