Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies

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".

What would you get if you took elements from "The Thing", "Shaun of the Dead", "Cabin Fever" and "Night of the Living Dead" and mixed it all together? Well, I would say that you'd end up with something like "Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies".

This is a zombie comedy that takes place in the Alps. Here you have two snowboarders and one of their girlfriends stuck at a mountainside tavern, unable to reach the bottom of the mountain and thus not being able to get to transportation, as night falls upon the mountain. However, an experiment to create fake snow has unleashed a deadly infection which turns people into a ravaging zombies, and the night has just begun...

Right, this is a fairly straight forward, albeit a bit too generic storyline. Sure, it was entertaining, especially because of its originality. But it just didn't really bring anything new or exciting to the zombie genre, and that was sort of a hindrance to the movie.

The acting in "Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies" was quite alright. They had a group of fairly diverse talents on the cast list, so there is bound to be something for just about everyone here.

As for the special effects, which are all-important to a zombie movie. I will say that the special effects team behind "Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies" stepped up to their task and delivered quite well. The effects were good, and the zombies looked good. And there was just enough gore here as well to keep most gorehounds happy as well.

"Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies" did suffer from being a quite generic zombie movie. And by that I mean that you will not see anything here that you haven't seen in other zombie movies already. On that account, the movie lacked creative thinking, and that permeated into all layers of the movie. However, don't get me wrong here, "Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies" is still an enjoyable and watchable movie, it just didn't stand out in the genre.

I really enjoyed the zombie deer, they were hilarious, and they looked quite cool as well. I think it was a real shame that they didn't opt to utilize them more and incorporate them more into the movie and give them more screen time.

"Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies" scores a mediocre five out of ten stars rating, because of its generic nature. It was a shame that they failed to bring anything new and refreshing to the zombie genre, because "Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies" really had a bigger potential.

Two words that you've probably never heard together: Zombie deer – a concept as wacky as is it entertaining, which coincidentally is how I would describe Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies. This film continues the tradition of movies such as Shaun of the Dead and Cabin Fever, which show the humorous escapades of a group struggling to survive the zombie apocalypse.

Set in the Austrian Alps, three teenagers are left to fend for themselves after a falling out with their snowboarding sponsors over a prank gone wrong. Trapped on top of a ski resort during a failed science experiment, they must find a way down the mountain to safety before being consumed by the zombie horde. The films emphasis on the origin of the outbreak really stood out to me as most zombie thrillers ignore or breeze over this crucial event.

Where Lederhosen Zombies really shined was through its creative use of special effects and gore. Whether it was disembowelment by wood chipper or decapitation by snowboard, I was constantly on the edge of my seat, wide-eyed, and thirsty for the next unexpected kill.

In a nutshell, Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies it a flick that excels in the entertainment factor and shouldn't be taken too seriously. Filled to the brim with comedic one-liners and eye-brow raising violence, this movie branches out into its own genre: ZomCom. I really enjoyed the unique spin on one of my favorite genres as well as the colorful cast. This was a great addition to last Friday's fright night. Careful! It might just take a bite out of your funny bone.

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!

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.