Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Zombie gimmick has become so redundant in recent time, even the mockery of it created another actual subgenre as it has spawned many clones this year alone. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is as juvenile as it sounds, some of the jokes are either downright bizarre or blatantly aggressive. Still, its simple theme and full commitment to awkward crudity are surprisingly effective on creating a few laughs.

Story is incredibly straightforward, it's basically written in the title. Three scouts find themselves in a zombie outbreak, and with the help of a hot chick they form some silly version of A-Team. Characters are not original. Maybe the main lead is pretty likable, but most of the characters are absolutely simple minded and comical or stereotypically comical. Its use of friendship tone is decent, it may be the only working drama angle here.

The entire movie is satire made out of cliché and some freaky stuffs way outside the box. Don't bother with logic or continuity, since they are admittedly flawed, at some points the plot seems shaky at best. As for the jokes, they are simply brash. This is definitely a visual clobbering as well as a jab at genre's silliness. Those wanting maturity or deep psychological study will find themselves lost.

It's similar to humor from gag website or forum comment threads, coupled with mandatory bloody gore and obtuse use of breasts and buttocks for viewer's pleasure. Normally this kind of overwhelming sensory overload can be appalling, yet the movie is unapologetically bizarre that the comedy works more than it falters.

This is a juvenile showing in purest form, using primitive jokes, nudity and even random singing. It should not be this entertaining, yet surprisingly it is.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse lacks any sort of novelty and it doesn't quite flourish its ultimate conceit. But isn't this the most enjoyable zombie movie I've seen in a while? There hasn't been much zombie movie in a while that's as brutal and deliciously violent as this one. And zombie cats! Why not? Maybe it's just my hangover from last Halloween. Either way, it's somewhat like a relic from the 80's, specifically from its tropes to its aesthetics (albeit some lens flares and digital blood.) It won't change your life or anything, but if you seek for some dumb adventurous schlock (with some teen comedy vulgarity,) then this movie knows how to deliver that kind of pleasure.

A reckless janitor accidentally releases a zombie from a laboratory of research. Meanwhile, the teenagers scouts Ben Goudy (Tye Sheridan) and Carter Grant (Logan Miller) decide to camp for the last time since they are too old to be scouts. The problem is that they do not want to harm the feelings of their friend Augie Foster (Joey Morgan) and the Scout Leader Rogers (David Koechner). They have a flat tire after hitting a deer on the road and Carter's sister Kendall Grant (Halston Sage), her boyfriend and her friend Chloe (Niki Koss) stop their Jeep to see whether they need a ride. They invite Ben and Carter to go to a party in the night. The two scouts leave the camping during the night to go to the party. When they drive through the town, they do not see a living soul and they decide to visit a night-club since the bouncer is not at the door. They discover that people have turned into zombies and they team-up with Ben's recent acquaintance Denise Russo (Sarah Dumont), who is bartender in the nightclub, and Augie that was left alone at the camp and came to the town. Soon they discover that the non-infected inhabitants have been evacuated and the town will be bombed by the government. They decide to rescue Kendall but they find that the address her boyfriend gave to them is wrong. What can they do to save Kendall?

"Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" is a silly and funny combination of comedy and horror that entertains and make laugh. There are scenes of the annoying Carter that should have been deleted during the edition, but the film in general works. The scene with Ben hanging on the window is hilarious preparing to jump on the trampoline. If the viewer is not an intellectual, he or she will certainly laugh a lot with the stupidities and adventures of this scout group. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Como Sobreviver a Um Ataque Zumbi" ("How to Survive to a Zombie Attack")

Note: On 17 March 2017, I saw this film again.

'Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse' is a fun little movie that has sadly been marketed rather poorly and was probably doomed to fail from the get go. It's been a box office flop but it isn't a fault in the quality of the film. It's a case of the main characters being scouts (most movies about scouts would generally be aimed at a younger audience) and yet the movie being R rated and alienating the people the title would suggest are going to enjoy it.

If they were going to go with the R rating then they needed to take full advantage of it, which they do in certain scenes but certainly not in an overall sense. This had the potential to be a 'Superbad' type movie with lots of clever and yet vulgar dialogue that would keep the audience (an adult audience) entertained throughout. Yet throughout the dialogue constantly feels like it's making its jokes for a younger demographic. The only time they really make use of the R rating is in the violence and the odd bit of graphic nudity. The dialogue was the key let down in this sense and the only way they could have pulled off the R rating to make this a box office success, and even then it would have been far from a sure thing.

Box office failure aside though it's actually a rather enjoyable film for the most part. While most of the humour might be a little bit tame in nature, it is still often funny enough to keep you chuckling if you buy into it. It never really works as a genuine horror movie (I don't think it was ever meant to either) as there never really feels like a genuine threat to any of the characters. Plus I think most people accept slow moving zombies are rarely scary to anyone in this day and age. There's nothing "must see" about it but if you do find yourself in a position to watch it I think you'll be pleased enough with what you see.

"Yep, zombie." Ben (Sheridan) and Carter (Miller) are about to graduate high school and are ready to leave the scouts. When they decide to skip their final camp out and go to a senior party instead they think they are in for the night of their lives. What they find when they head back to town is something neither of them could have imagined. It is now up to them to save the town from zombies. This movie is just a ridiculous and fun as it sounds. The movie is mindless but entertaining. That is what makes this one so fun to watch. Gory, comedy, a pretty funny idea and great timing make this one of the better horror comedies to come out in a while. There really isn't a whole lot to say about this movie other than if you are renting this for your teenager I would preview it first. Overall, if you like movies like Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and Cooties you will love this one as well. A movie you can easily watch over and over. I give this a B+.