Marina Antunes [DVD News 08.20.12] zombies comedy



In 2006, long before sites like Kickstarter and Indie GoGo made crowd sourcing a common occurrence, director Casey Walker had an idea. He wanted to raise funds for his movie and figured that people might want to help him so he set up a website called My Million Dollar Movie in which he sold frames of his movie for $5 a pop. The venture was a success but by no means the be-all-end-all of fund raising for his movie and now six years later, his little movie, a romantic comedy with a zombie twist, is making its way onto Blu-ray and DVD.

A Little Bit Zombie stars Kristopher Turner and Crystal Lowe as Steve and Tina, a soon to be married couple who head out for a weekend away at the family cabin with their best man and matron of honor in tow. Steve is a quiet HR manager and his fiance is a bridezilla who finds comfort in controlling everything and everyone but she's about land in the middle of a situation that she can't control.


Shortly after their arrival, Steve is bitten by a mosquito carrying zombie blood. He quickly figures out that something isn't quite right and when he reveals to his travel partners that he's turning into a zombie, the group hatches some interesting ways to keep Steve fed and happy. Meanwhile in another part of the forest... Stephen McHattie and Emilie Ullerup play a duo of zombie hunters whose magic orb delivers them to the cabin where the half zombie Steve is trying to fight off the infection.

The story is a bit ridiculous as are some of the situations in A Little Bit Zombie but then the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. The acting, though nothing to scoff at, is overplayed in classic B-movie style, some of the characteristics of the story (like Steve drooling uncontrollably when anyone says "brains") and the fantasy aspect with the spectral ball that tracks down zombies, all scream schlocky goodness and Walker and his team play it up for more than a handful of laughs.

It certainly helps that the script from Trevor Martin and Christopher Bond has some pretty funny dialogue and moments of gleeful bliss. A Little Bit Zombie is reminiscent of Sam Raimi's early work and though there aren't a whole lot of zingers (and lets face it, Turner is no Bruce Campbell - but then who is?), both Evil Dead and A Little Bit Zombie embrace their ridiculousness and play it up for maximum effect. It certainly helps that the movie has heart and the characters, particularly Steve, are likable and those that aren't, *cough* Tina *cough*, are at the butt of a few jokes (and occasionally even end up dead).

It's certainly not going to be everyone's cup of tea but A Little Bit Zombie more than delivers on its promise of a few laughs. The movie's opening scenes, which include a few POV shots of the mosquito with the infected blood hunting for its next victim, beautifully set up the tone of the story that is about to unfold and those that laugh will find much more goodness inside (including some excellent practical effects of which the mosquito is the crowning achievement).

A Little Bit Zombie is available on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, August 21st.

Blu-ray Extras: This release is crammed with extras including feature commentary with director Casey Walker and stars Shawn Roberts and Kirstopher Tuner, director diaries, bloopers and outtakes, a fake commercial and cable access show, photo galleries, trailers and a thirty minute making of featurette that goes into a lot of detail on the special effects.

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