Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)

A cack handed mess of a comedy/horror offering or whatever else you want to call it. Zombieland/Shaun of the dead/Planet Terror all day. It was just weak, didn't care what happened to any of them enough to want to sit through it all, I only did becuase there was nothing better on TV. If you want a horror comedy with zero laughs or thrills this is for you.

Once upon a time a zombie film was a rarity after the millennium. Now it seems that the genre has been done to death and distorted and blended with every other genre in an attempt at keeping it fresh. Here, in 'Scouts' Guide to a Zombie Apocalypse' we have a comedy/horror (or 'zomcom' as I'm informed they're referred to as). However, a gory undead outing with laughs is nothing new – and it hasn't been since about 2004's 'Shaun of the Dead.' And, in short, it doesn't even come close to 'Shaun of the Dead.' This isn't a bad film. It just offers absolutely nothing new. If you're a fan of zombie films then you've seen better. If you're a fan of zombie-comedy films then you've seen better. If you just like gore there's about as much gore in the average episode of 'The Walking Dead' as you have here.It's about a group of geeky scouts who get caught up in an undead uprising. Pretty soon you have all the tropes you'd come to expect with the genre, i.e. boarding up windows, headshots, have-sex-and-die moments and characters turning into zombies after being bitten. There's the obligatory hot girl and geek will they/won't they subplot and the only really memorable actor (David Kochner) is woefully underused. This film kind of reminds me of both 'Dance of the Dead' and 'Deadheads' in tone and feel, only they're both better! There's about one really funny (if a little gross!) moment involving what someone is forced to hang on to when about to fall out of windows and the zombie animals made me smile, but that's about it really. The ending tries to be exciting, but – guess what – I've seen people using hedge trimmers to slice up zombies with before (Peter Jackson's 'Braindead') and I just got annoyed when no one noticed a zombie attack on a crowded dance floor (surely someone would have filmed and uploaded it to Instagram?!).I can only recommend this if you really love zombie/comedy films and you've never seen one before. Otherwise, just put your DVD of 'Shaun of the Dead' in – I know you've got a copy somewhere!

I imagine that there is an audience out there for a movie like this - namely immature adolescents who are tickled by the mere mention or display of violent and sexual material. Older viewers like myself will probably find the movie a non stop display of desperation by the screenwriters and the director. It's possible to make a funny, gory and outrageous zombie movie - check out Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive", for example. But you have to be clever and imaginative, and this movie simply isn't for the most part. It all feels very labored and heavy handed. Another big problem is that all the characters - including the scouts - aren't all that likable or sympathetic. You won't care about them, and will wish that they'll all be killed quickly so that the movie will end early. The movie also has some telltale signs that it was severely cut down in the editing room, given a number of plot points feel rushed and/or incomplete. It's easy to see why this performed very dismally at the box office.

This movie is not a subtle parody of zombie movies. It's a teenage comedy that also has decently thrilling action. The humour is lowbrow but still funny enough. The action is a bit silly but still fun to watch. Thankfully, the movie is consistently faced paced, exciting, and never boring. The comedy certainly helped.I'm unsure to whether to state that this is more action or comedy, but it contains both. Just think of Resident Evil with lowbrow comedy if you want a rough idea.+ Funny+ Decent actionScore: 8. Worth watching, but not great.