Damn it.
The film centers on three scouts (making sure not to show, in any feasible fashion, an association or affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America©): awkward every-teen Ben (Tye Sheridan), snarky and infuriatingly offensive Carter (Logan Miller), and sheltered, clueless Augie (Joey Morgan). The trio became childhood friends through scouting, but Ben and Carter want to quit, in order to save their quickly-waning high school popularity. Carter's older sister, Kendall (Halston Sage), for whom Ben has the goo-goo eyes, invites the duo to the coolest party of the year (full of seniors!); unfortunately, this is the same night as a special scout trip, where Augie will receive his final badge. Ben and Carter hatch a plan: they'll go camping, but sneak out in the middle of the night and have the greatest night of their sophomore lives.
Oh, yeah. And a scientist does science, it goes wrong, due to a bumbling janitor's (the aforementioned Anderson) antics, and zombies are let loose.
It's surprising how much the zombies feel like an afterthought. The movie starts with their creation and release, but switches gears for almost forty minutes into a semi-knockoff of Superbad (with none of the charm). When the zombies finally show up, the movie isn't consistent with what kind it wants to parody. At times, the zombies lumber slowly a la Night of the Living Dead, then with no warning, they'll race after the scouts like the remake of Dawn of the Dead. The zombies will sit around, brainless, chewing on a limb, but in another scene, a zombie will sing, remembering every lyric and melody. The movie makes the cause seem like a viral infection, but if so, how would zombies survive decapitations, or being burned alive? Am I putting more thought into the mythology than the screenwriters whose idea of a joke is having a zombie cop's breasts flop in slo-mo?
Films like George A. Romero's Dead series looked at zombies with a satirical eye, as representations of consumerism and Communist paranoia, focusing on the tension between survivors and their makeshift societies. This film, the collaboration of three screenwriters, including director Christopher Landon (Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones), features none of this commentary. The penis jokes are a welcome replacement.
Miller plays an obnoxious, truly hateful character; Carter is an idiot, a bully, and an insulting caricature of Generations Y and Z. If we're supposed to hate the character, Miller does a decent job, but falters when compared to the extremes Daryl Sabara took his character in World's Greatest Dad. Tye Sheridan, an otherwise highly promising actor, with great performances in Mud and Joe, goes on autopilot here. I can't blame him too much, but as someone who's currently getting praise for his role in Entertainment and will be featured in next year's X-Men Apocalypse, he should know better. Halston Sage, curiously enough, has made a name for herself in films like Paper Towns and Goosebumps, as the dweeby guy's love interest. She's not a bad actress, persay; in Paper Towns, some charm shone through, but she's never given enough to do in a role to really stand out. I hope the typecasting stops soon.
I don't think this premise is brain-dead (embrace the pun); there's potential for a funny horror-comedy. With a Peter Jackson or Sam Raimi at the helm, this could turn out an irreverent, balls-to-the-wall jokefest. And honestly, some of the effects have a D.I.Y. low-budget charm, reminiscent of B-movies of 30 years ago. The filmmakers have seen these horror films, as nods to Halloween and Re-Animator show, but showcase none of the atmosphere or playful tone.
In the end, I can get as mad as I want, and rage about how I wanted the movie to end in the first ten minutes, but the movie will be gone by the second week of November. If the filmmakers, studio, and distributors don't care, why should I?
Thank you all for reading; I'm the Man Without a Plan, signing off.
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