Film Review: Zombie Ed (2011)

SYNOPSIS:

Loser Ed has a lame job, a crappy apartment and no hope of a girlfriend. None of this mattered to Ed until he woke up one morning to find he had “gone zombie”. Being a human loser is bad, but is being a Zombie worse? How does Ed become the Zombie he was always meant to be?

REVIEW:

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, a movie comes along like nothing you have ever seen before. That doesn’t exactly mean that it’s a great movie, nor does it mean that it’s bad. To say that there has been a saturation of zombie films over the last few years would be an understatement. So to come up with a new and innovative way to try and invigorate some life into a dying genre is commendable. “Zombie Ed” is not a great film, but what it does manage to do is be unique and fun. It sets itself apart from the rest by not focusing on the people that are alive, by focusing on the zombies themselves. There were several things within the film I had problems with (most notably the overly long runtime), but overall this was a really interesting idea.

Ed (William C. Cutting) is a slacker. He can barely keep a job and sounds an awful lot like Jeff Spicolli when he talks. One morning he awakens only to find out that he is now a zombie. He doesn’t take it well, wanting to end it all. Since he is already dead, that isn’t really an option. He calls a zombie suicide hotline for advice. The girl on the other line asks him out on a date. Things are starting to look up for Ed. In the zombie community, he is noticed and the female zombies all want him. He is wanted by fashion folks to model zombie clothes and he is wanted to run track, since he is the best and much better than anyone else. Almost overnight, Ed becomes a celebrity.

As relationship begins to progress with Teddy Bare (Kelly Petering), they both spill the truth about their lives (when they were alive). Teddy is an activist who wants equal rights for zombies. She also wants the zombie population to “go green”. That saying doesn’t mean exactly what you think. In order for zombies to be looked at as equals, people who are alive will have to cease being afraid of the flesh eaters. How is that possible you might ask? She wants zombies to go and only eat vegetables. The only way zombies will crave vegetables is if they are prepared properly. Ed is the man with the secret recipes that are making zombies CRAVE veggies instead of flesh.

The concept for “Zombie Ed” is a cool idea. It was something new and director Ren Blood took a risk on her first film. Hats off to you!! It is easy to jump behind the camera and to make a clone of an already proven formula. Blood decided to skip that route and jump into a much more risqué idea. It doesn’t always pay off, though it does mostly work. One of the main issues for me was the runtime. “Zombie Ed” runs an hour and forty five minutes, it felt much longer and there were many spots a trim could have benefited the end product. There were scenes where it just felt like they were beating a dead horse with some of the jokes that over stay their welcome. The film kept going for about ten minutes when it should have ended. Those final minutes would have been much more suited to the deleted scenes section of the bonus features on the DVD.

“Zombie Ed” was a fun film with some talented folks involved. The acting was solid and writer/director Ren Blood has an interesting voice when telling a story. I just felt that she needed to reel herself in just a bit. This was her first feature so it is only natural for mistakes to be made. “Zombie Ed” is good for a few laughs and has an interesting tale to tell. It’s far from perfect, but originality goes a long way with me. Maybe just re-evaluate your editing choices. I really think this film would play MUCH better if it was a bit tighter.

Zombie Ed (2011)