Review: Zombie Cheerleader Camp (2007)

Review by Disgruntled Monkey

Director: Jon Fabris

Starring: Jamie Brown, Chris White, Nicole Lewis

Writer: Jon Fabris

A non-existent budget, a story so thin it could be used as a wafer and not a competent actor in sight. Knowing all this before I even started the movie meant my expectations were pretty low. Unexpectedly, the movie began with a pretty rocking song and a cartoon prologue. Sure, it wasn’t animated – this being a sign of the low budget - but there was a certain charm. As the film went about its business I found I couldn’t help but be entertained. So what went right?

It sure wasn’t the acting, it was damn abysmal. I have never seen this much wooden acting before and those that weren’t overly stilted were over the top. Despite this, everyone seemed to be having a good time and enjoyed what they were doing. It was this genuine love that managed to hold my attention and kept me watching even in the more tedious stretches.

I guess this is where the movie peeks above a lot of other, similarly horrid, films - it has a heart that is very hard to ignore. This is an exceptionally cheap film but no body seems to care. The scene that stands out the most in this regard is the zombie squirrel attack. Yes, really. The zombie squirrel is stuffed and an actor has to wrestle with the inanimate object for a good five minutes. It’s hilarious, it’s stupid, but damn it I believed that actor was being attacked by a zombie squirrel.

Yet a film with a big heart can only push the picture so far. In the last ten minutes or so the movie really starts to strain under the weight of having no story to tell. Also, the ending seems to suddenly become oddly serious and this certainly doesn’t gel with the overall tone. I’m not sure what the thinking was behind it but it really ended the whole on a bad note.

The future of Glee.

While there were scenes that had me laughing my head off, a goodly amount of the humour just doesn’t work. Some may even find parts of it offensive - but only mildly so. Honestly I feel that everyone was chucking as many ideas at the script as possible and just leaving what stuck. Some lines might have even been improvised on the day.

There is a charm to this movie and one that might actually appeal to people who don’t mind venturing into the valley of low budget horror. It’s truly not for everyone and in no way am I saying that this is a good movie. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t smile or laugh during the course of the film. GO TEAM ZOMBIE!