Attack of the Vegan Zombies!

This movie is a poorly written, poorly directed, poorly acted, micro-budget horror film. The attempts at comedy fall incredibly flat. The plot, such as it is, takes forever to pick up, and when it finally does things just get worse.

With a name like "Attack of the Vegan Zombies!" it's obvious that the film does not take itself too seriously. However, even with that in mind this movie fails on every level.

The special effects are laughable, character motivation jumps randomly from one scene to the next, the comic relief is forced and unfunny, the horror elements are clichéd and not even remotely frightening.

The positive reviews posted here that suckered me into believing that this was potentially a clever horror spoof must be written by people involved with the film. You have been warned.

With a silly title like that I assumed that this would be yet another "zomedy" but having just endured this rubbish I'm not sure whether it was played for straight or for laughs. There were two nerds who were obviously there to add humour but they weren't funny, just irritating. The fact that they - and most of the cast - can't act didn't help. We also get two "sexy cheerleaders", who are actually chubby & very plain looking. We don't get to see a "zombie" until 55 minutes in, bearing in mind that the film (thankfully) only runs 76m. The zombie make up consists of green body paint, which if you look closely has patches missing. The dialogue is terrible with the line "vegan zombies crave red wine" being one of the worst lines. An abomination.

I'm going to start out here saying that this is a low-budget movie, and if you want the dazzling special effects or the awesome gore effects of a Romero movie, you will be highly disappointed. If, however, you are more like me, you might come to appreciate the movie as one that is campy, light-hearted twist on the zombie movie that manages to rise above the muck that is typically low-budget fodder.

First, the acting is actually decent. Not awarding-winning by any means, but decent in that it can pass as plausible. The lead couple (played by Jim Townsend and Christine Egan) and do a tremendous job keeping a sense of sincerity in their roles. They are very "normal" people you could meet at the grocery store, and their sincerity adds to their likability. This is one movie in which you actually like the lead characters. Further into the movie, we're introduced to a couple of nerdy students and a couple of cheerleaders. The nerds are a bit over the top, but they definitely add some comedy and light-heartedness to the movie, reminding us that the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. The cheerleaders do add sex appeal (there is a very brief topless lesbian scene - nothing beyond a PG-13 rating), but it is refreshing that the actresses are attractive as well as "normal." Again, the cheerleaders are like a couple of girls you'd meet at the mall, not sultry models who have nothing in common with the rest of the average world. These young women are attractive in a normal sense.

Basically, the plot involves a winery being the site of a zombie attack, zombies who thirst for wine and not flesh. I will not give away any specific details about the plot (you will have to see the movie yourself to see how it ends!), but I will say that I found the movie an enjoyable viewing because of its slightly different take on zombies.

I give the movie 8 out of 10 stars. If you do not enjoy campy low-budget movies, you will probably think I'm being too generous. But I write these reviews with the overall fun factor in mind - how pleased I was with the viewing experience. The movie is an original piece, the location is memorable, the characters are likable, and the movie is nicely paced with appropriate moments of drama, humor, and camp. The movie is not without gore, but it is limited to pretty much what you can find in make-up kit you'd buy at the Halloween Store. The violence is also minimal and often implied. Again, there is a brief topless scene by both of the cheerleaders, but surprisingly it works well within the context of the story as well as remind us that the movie is campy and light. I am looking forward to seeing what Mr. Townsend will come up with next!

The two best things you can say about this movie is that it is original and also pretty well acted for an indie horror. I usually can't sit through movies with practically zero budget and unknown actors. I was into this though the whole way. The reason was as I mentioned above is that the zombies were different and the acting held up.

There were two pretty cute girls in it and also a really funny pair of "nerdy" guys who worked well together and made me laugh a few times. It's a pretty fun movie and you should check it out if you can. I would like to see what the director could do with some cash at his disposal to make the effects and makeup better.

If you're looking for a life changing thrill a minute movie by all means go elsewhere. This movie is fun and quirky