Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies

Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies is an exhilarating, fast paced gore-fest that plays with the troupes of a classic genre and elevates them to delightful, satirical bliss. The classic set up all horror fans love are here! The director playfully twists them into an entertaining, high wire act of comedy-horror that real horror film fans will surely appreciate.

The film is about a cocky ski star who must step up to do what's right when a zombie outbreak begins in the Austrian Alps (no thanks to a well meaning Austrian scientist) and simultaneously tries to win his strong willed girlfriend back. Director Dominik Hartl wisely takes advantage of his snowy locations with the assistance of his cinematographer, using anamorphic lenses to add gorgeous scope to his setting with care that aspiring cinematographers will surely take copious notes of. The actors have A-game with their willingness to take every situation their characters experience with levity and appreciated focus. This film has some surprising delights that range from classical music appreciating dancing zombies (reminiscent of Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers) to the chic and sleek snowboarding of Steve (Laurie Calvert) that will having you cheering for the heroes and excited for the winter olympics!

I thought this was a great addition to my ever expanding film collection. Any REAL fans of cult and retro horror films looking for something new and fresh with incredible visuals, hilarious fast paced action, and of course, hungry Austrian zombies should definitely check this one out. It's killer!

As a horror advocate I found this to be a refreshing new take with the hilariously-disgusting features such as witnessing a zombie being gouged with ski poles in the eyes. I was able to laugh while still cringing. It isn't so much of what is being done but how its done. Imagine it to be a parody of it's own original zombie comedy. The reason I think this movie falls under the horror category is because of all the guts and gory action. On a more lighthearted note, it is oozing with bloody-fantastic puns, something that sets the tone for this epic satire. See the irony here.

The plot follows three young quirky snowboarders abandoned on a mountain in the Australian Alps as they get caught in a science experiment gone horror-bly wrong which sets up a unique plot twist for the whole zombie apocalypse theme. I was highly amused by the montage of these snowboarders savagely-destroying mutant zombies. In addition, I must acknowledge the mutant wild life and how no one has thought of including that in a zombie film till now. This movie had me dying of laughter, figuratively speaking.

As someone majoring in film I found the cinematography to be very inspiring. When working on a low-budget film, it can be very difficult to create practical visuals that make you feel like you're apart of the movie. Everything from the lively sound effects to the lighting and camera angles played a major role in creating realistic and more believably scenes. Also as a sports fanatic I really enjoyed the wicked aerial shots of the snowboarding stunts. The director, Dominik Hartl, did a fabulous job of incorporating many different movie genres in order to capture the interests of a wide variety of movie fans. There's even romance between characters. Credit goes out to this film for already winning two awards. One award for Best Special Features and another given by the audience for Best Feature.

I'll admit that the movie really captures a specific crowd for those drawn in by dry humor and an appreciation for ridiculousness. The delivery of this movie is meant to be sarcastic and that's a big reason why I was entertained by it. The best way to explain the expectations for this movie, in my opinion, is a combination of "Shaun of The Dead", "Warm Bodies", and "A Million Ways to Die in the West." This one wins my vote and is worth the watch!

If there's one horror sub genre that truly outstayed its welcome for far too long by now, it's undoubtedly the zombie-comedy. Particularly since Edgar Wright's fantastic "Shaun of the Dead", there's an oversupply of literally hundreds of wannabe refreshing and original zombie flicks in all kind of shapes, settings or specific situations. We've had Nazi zombies, zombie boy scouts, zombie beavers, Cuban zombies, Russian zombies, Aussie zombies, zombie strippers, retired zombies, baby zombies, intelligent zombies, mockumentary zombies, space zombies, ex-girlfriend zombies, drug-addicted zombies, football zombies, political zombies, cowboy zombies, zombie nerds, handicapped zombies and I could probably list another few dozen of zombie variations… The thing with these flicks is that they are light- headed and easily watchable, but gradually becoming so damn mundane and tiresome. Personally I have decided to skip 99% of the 'zomedy' spawn and only still watch the occasional one at a festival or together with friends while getting drunk. Zombies in traditional Austrian garb and roaming around in an après- ski resort are gimmicks that hadn't been done before yet, so here's the movie with the all-summarizing title "Attack of the Lederhozen Zombies". The worldwide premiere took place at the Brussels' International Fantastic Film Festival around midnight, so ideal place and circumstances for me to switch off most of my brain functions and enjoy the bloodshed along with the rest of the outrageous festival crowd!

High up in the Alps of Tyrol, Austria, the megalomaniac resort owner Franz has developed a monstrosity-machine that supposedly turns liquid into pure and fresh snow regardless of how warm the outside temperatures are. His plan is to beat global warming and make the skiing season last all year, and thus he invited a Russian industrialist over to give a demonstration and hopefully receive financial support. The demonstration goes horribly wrong – or what else did you think – and the Russian inhales green fumes that almost instantly turn him into a zombie. Meanwhile, three stunt- snowboarders are stranded atop of the mountain as well and Rita's après-ski hut is getting ready for the end-of-the-season party that will last all night. They all come together for one hellish night of bloody mass annihilation and schnapps! The film doesn't feature any gag or kill that you haven't seen numerous times before in other movies, except now the massacres are done with the sharp edges of a snowboard or ski poles instead of the more conventional armory. According to writer/director Dominik Hartl, the concept idea comes from observing drunken winter sport tourists at the après-ski parties in Tyrol. People drink too much schnapps or beers, lose their dignity and stumble around the snowy landscapes as if they are drooling, brain dead zombies. My family and I go on skiing vacation in Tyrol every year and I can definitely confirm that the comparison is very accurate. Heck, I probably even wandered around there looking like a zombie myself! What Dominik Hartl does quite well is referring, both obviously as well as subtly, towards legendary sequences of other genre milestones. The opening sequence is a beautiful homage to John Carpenter's "The Thing", the artificial snow liquid looks exactly like the green goo in Stuart Gordon's "Re- Animator", the mingling of the zombies between the regular party- goers is a big fat wink towards Edgar Wright's "Shaun of the Dead" and Rita's bloody stroll with the forage chopper is very reminiscent to the lawnmower scene in Peter Jackson's "Braindead".

Horror/comedy fans can rest easy knowing that Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies director Dominik Hartl pulled off an incredible feat: delicately walking the line between horror and comedy. The humor in this film is truly humorous (slapstick is not the name of the game here, thankfully, but there is a little thrown in for good measure). Likewise, the horror is truly horrendous in the best possible way—dramatic character deaths, gory zombie dismemberment, and painful moral decisions see to that. As the film is foreign, it also possesses a unique trait that further distinguishes it from less inspired contemporary films: the humor is intellectually funny. It is evident that actual thought went into not only the jokes themselves, but also their timing and story integration. It is entirely possible to laugh out loud without even looking at the screen; listening to the words is often simply enough. Lederhosen Zombies earns the "comedy" in its horror/comedy genre label; if you like other cerebral horror comedies (like Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead or Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness) this film deserves a spot on your list.

OK, maybe I am a little biased, because I am from Austria (hello Rainhard Fendrich...), but I don't get the negative reviews. So I would like to raise the attention to an overlooked point.

This is a horror comedy and I fear that either the dubbed version lost a lot of the funny moments or maybe the sense of this typical Austrians humor wasn't broad enough.

E.g. the drinking scene with the Russian investor: If you know a little bit about the country's history AND the actual consumption of alcohol it is perfectly set up.

So if you don't get the laughs it leaves you with a very simple story and solid handmade SFXs.

For me it's the perfect mix of humor, gore, fun and nice ideas.

I hope for more genre movies (action, thrillers, horror) made in Austria.