To follow the imaginatively titled films such as Zombie Strippers and Aliens Vs Predators, yes the title says it all, it’s exactly what it says on the tin! It This film delivers us mad flesh eating zombies and some right Cockney geezers (and girls).
After the huge success of Shaun Of The Dead, we haven’t had a good fusion of comedy and horror, instead getting lacklustre films such as The Cottage and Burke and Hare.
When I first heard about the film I thought I’d avoid like the plague (get it?), but after hearing reasonable reviews, this piqued my interest somewhat. I was also somewhat intrigued by the cast, as it brings out some of our favourite actors including Dudley Sutton, Richard Briers and the Bond Girl herself Honor Blackman, as well as a young cast including Michelle Ryan (The Bionic Woman, Eastenders).
The premise is of course Cockneys Vs Zombies a group of plucky friends set up a bank job to help save their grandparents home from the greedy developers how noble! They then happen to come across the zombies, who have been released from an underground tomb. And let the slaughter commence.
The film does work, the humour is tongue in cheek and very well balanced, the characterisations are excellent and we do care about our plucky kids and octogenarians. The language is as coarse as we would expect from Cockneys none more than from Alan Ford, who F’s and blinds his way throughout the film but the sheer delight is seeing Honor Blackman uttering immortal lines such as ‘I’ll kill you stone fucking dead!’ as well as brandishing firearms is genius!
Yes there are lots of killings, the effects are pretty good, but some of the most memorable scenes include the baby zombie (hilarious) and the undead in the shape of Millwall fans taking on West Ham fans….are they zombies? Is there a difference? Like many Zombie films of the past, the Zombies are slow and sluggish and there is an excellent scene with Richard Briers trying to outrun them using a Zimmer frame.
Yes the film is riddled with East London clichés but it’s fun!! There is even an old Routemaster bus!
Overall Verdict: This film is as entertaining as a good old knees up, so do yourself a favour, instead of renting the well-worn Saw or Paranormal Activity franchises, get this for Halloween!
Reviewer: Stephen Sclater