Orgueil et Préjugés et Zombies

I had very low expectations before I see this film, mainly because of the raving bad reviews, 5.7/10 puts this movie in between bad and horrible. When I was watching it, I kept expecting the movie turn bad or boring ... never did, I mean, it is not Oscar worthy, but fairly entertaining and at times convincing. The visuals are beautiful, action sequence decent, even dialogue was made in "Pride and Prejudice" fashion ... I really don't understand where such low rating comes from. This makes me wonder how many of the reviewers have actually seen the film. IMO truly one downside of this internet age is everyone just blindly follows everyone else. No one seems to have his own opinion, or it is subject to be influenced easily at any given time.

This movie is so fun and so campy. Is it winning any awards?...no. But the acting is good. It's got a great cast and they do a really good job. I was very pleasantly surprised with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

It's a romance. It's horror. It's comedy.

Go for the fun of it and don't take it seriously. This is not a classic Victorian novel and this is not a true tale of zombies like most die hard zombie fans think of them (ie. The Walking Dead or the more classic Night of the Living Dead). I am a true zombie lover. I loved "28 Days Later", "The Walking Dead", "Zombieland", etc. This is not one of those, so if you don't expect to see that when you go to this movie, I think you will enjoy it.

Greetings again from the darkness. For those high school Literature teachers struggling to get their students to embrace the classics from writers like Jane Austen, this movie won't help much. However, chances are good that those same students will enjoy this blending of 19th century British class warfare with "The Walking Dead" – likely one of their favorite shows. The zombie apocalypse has landed in the middle of Austen's prim and proper story, including the repressed attraction between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy.

Anyone expecting the serious undertones of Ms. Austen's1813 novel will be disappointed … but the title should have provided a pretty solid hint. While her characters and general story line act as a structure here, it's really based on Seth Grahame-Smith's YA hit novel … delivering zombie battles and often zany humor. Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down) directs his own adapted screenplay and seems to really be having a great time – right along with his talented cast. The sets, costumes, dialogue and fight scenes work together to create an unusual movie experience that will generate plenty of laughs while not dwelling on the zombies or violence (it is PG-13). Expect most critics to destroy this one because it's made simply for fun, not for art.

Of course, any Pride and Prejudice spin-off (even one with zombies) must pay particular attention to Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. It turns out that Elizabeth and her four sisters are highly trained warriors raised to survive against the undead. It's even clearer for Mr. Darcy as he is billed as a zombie hunter and protector of Mr. Bingley, the rich bachelor hooked on Jane Bennett. Things get muddled by the devious Mr. Wickham, a focused Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and especially the flamboyant fop Parson Collins. The interactions between these characters bounce between loyalty, romantic attraction, emotional turmoil and hand-to-hand combat … with enough comedic elements that most viewers will find plenty of opportunities to laugh.

The talented cast is all in. They play it mostly straight (with one major exception) to achieve the balance between somber and silly. Lily James ("Downton Abbey") and Sam Riley (On the Road, 2012) are both fun to watch as Elizabeth and Darcy. They are the film's best fighters … both with swords and words. Bella Heathcoate (Dark Shadows, 2012) is "the pretty one" Jane, who is wooed by Douglas Booth (Noah, 2014) as Mr. Bingley. Lena Headey ("Game of Thrones") makes an impression in her limited screen time as an eye-patched Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and Jack Huston ("Boardwalk Empire") is well cast as Wickham. Screen veterans Charles Dance and Sally Phillips take on the role of parents to the five Bennett daughters, but it's Matt Smith ("Dr Who"), who turns the film on its ear with his unconventional twist on the oddball Parson Collins, who pretty much steals each of his scenes. He had those in the theatre laughing out loud more than a few times.

Pity is the word that comes to mind for any young man who takes these Bennett girls to the prom … or more likely to one of the societal balls. The weapons hidden under their formal gowns offer fair warning to zombies and handsy suitors alike. It's this element of strong women (physically and emotionally) that might even allow Ms. Austen to appreciate what's happened to her characters … were she alive to see it.

Even though the film offers plenty of fun with laughs and action and romance, let's hope it doesn't kick off a new zombie-adaptation trend. Here are a few titles that we hope never see the big screen: Sense and Sensibilities and Zombies, War and Peace and Zombies, Crime and Punishment and Zombies, The Old Zombie and the Sea, Wuthering Zombies, Romeo and Juliet and Zombies, and Alice's Adventure in Zombieland.

This honestly surprised me.

It goes without saying I was not expecting much from this movie. I have seen various Pride and Prejudice movies before today and did not enjoy any of them out of sheer boredom. Nothing against those movies or their quality but it just wasn't my kind of movie. I assumed that this would be no different and that it would just be the same exact story with a few zombies sprinkled in.

And to an extent, it was exactly that, but there was much more depth to the zombie plot than I anticipated. The zombies were a very large part of the story and even when there was romantic drama there was still a close focus on the zombie aspect. There is always that underlying tension that zombies will strike.

The visuals were not the best but were still very well done. The make-up and effects for the zombies were much higher quality than I thought they would be. And the atmosphere kept a good mix of an old Pride and Prejudice feel while also adding a new element of dark zombie-apocalypse tension that I loved seeing.

There were a few parts that I rolled my eyes at, especially when things got a bit too dramatic between the lead characters Darcy and Elizabeth, but all in all it was a good movie that I enjoyed.

Very surprised to say I give this movie an 8/10.

Genreally, I like zombie movies a lot because of their post- apocalyptic vibe.

Normally though, I find the genre comes in 2 distinct flavours; serious stuff like "28 Days/Weeks Later" or campy B flavoured offerings like "The Scouts Guide To The Apocalypse".

This movie however defies the genre. The closest comparisons I could make would be "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" or "Penny Dreadful" but with more humour. It follows the story of Pride and Prejudice so closely I kept looking for Keira Knightly to appear.

The production quality however is what surprised me the most; it's incredibly high with great sets, realistic costumes, lighting and cinematography. There was a lot of attention to detail.

This is a very unique and interesting mash-up which I quite enjoyed. I am surprised it's not rated higher on IMDb but I believe it deserves a watch regardless.