The undead that have overrun Earth, turning it into “Zombieland,” aren’t scary so much as disgusting.
They lumber around looking for prey. They gulp and rend, mouths agape, entrails and viscera smeared on their unholy mugs.
For this scaredy cat, they didn’t terrify. But that doesn’t matter. Neither, really, does the cause of the zombie population explosion: an engulfing virus carried in tainted meat.
No, the monsters don’t matter so very much. Because “Zombieland” is actually about the ethics of survival.
That might sound heavy. In a sense it is. But in this horror comedy, starring Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg as two very different men making their way in a world gone mad, the existential turns out to be funny and weighty.
Eisenberg is Columbus, a lanky, curly haired young man toughing it out alone in Texas. As the narrator, Columbus shares the many rules that have kept him alive. Some, like fastening your seat belt, seem beside the point, until, of course, they don’t.
Director Ruben Fleischer has fun with those codes, flashing them across the screen in witty ways. It’s droll stuff. And at 82 minutes, the film is fleet and breezy.
On one of America’s ruined roadways, Columbus meets Tallahassee (Harrelson). If flight is Columbus’ M.O., then fight is the gunslinger Tallahassee’s raison d’etre. We pity the foolish zombie who runs afoul of the slayer.
In a world in which loved ones (or the cute girl next door) turn ravenous, trust is an issue.
It’s hard enough for Columbus and Tallahassee to negotiate their own uneasy alliance. When they meet Wichita and Little Rock, faith in others becomes even more vexed.
Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin play the savvy sisters who rely only on each other — damsels, hardly.
What keeps one living is central in a world where surviving could seem overrated.
“Zombieland” is a road movie in which the sojourners head for places rumored to be free of the living dead. Only those meccas’ safety turns out to be apocryphal. The fantasy of haven makes the apocalypse seem less final.
Wichita wants to get to an amusement park her baby sis remembers fondly. Tallahassee wants the last Twinkie.
If one had to hazard a guess, Columbus would like to discover love. And the movie makes good use of his confused hankerings for Wichita.
“Zombieland” invites comparisons with 2004’s brilliant zomedy “Shaun of the Dead,” a gold standard in the subgenre.
Screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese aren’t as deft handling grief, humor and the scary stuff. Nothing here rivals the heartbreak of Shaun dispatching his loved one.
But they’ve fashioned a clever good time. And “Zombieland” has one of the great cameos of all time. (Up there with Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts in “The Player.”)
We won’t ruin it. Let’s just say that if laughter distinguishes humans from zombies, then you’ll know just how human you are after the quartet’s visit to a mansion in Los Angeles.
Film critic Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@ . Also, blogs .denverpostcom/madmoviegoer.
“ZOMBIELAND.”
R horror violence/gore and language. 1 hour, 21 minutes. Directed by Ruben Fleischer; written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick; photography by Michael Bonvillain; starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. Opens today at area theaters.
Still craving more from the dark side?
Well, October is your month. Here are three more horror-tainted offerings coming soon to a ‘plex near you:
The Stepfather “Gossip Girl” star Penn Badgley plays a suspicious son in this remake of a cult fave from 1987. When Michael returns home from military school, his mother’s new boyfriend has moved in. Lovely Sela Ward is Mom. Dylan Walsh, above, is her new guy. When someone’s seemingly too good to be true, well . . . (Opens Oct. 16)
Cirque de Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant Anne Rice’s Lestat would surely appreciate that this film was shot in his old stomping grounds of New Orleans. Talent abounds in the story about a suburban kid who unwittingly finds himself in the midst of battling vampires, based on Darren Shan’s novels. It’s directed by Paul Weitz (“About a Boy”); written by Brian Helgeland (“L.A. Confidential”); and stars John C. Reilly as a bloodsucker named Crepsley. (Opens Oct. 23)
Saw VI We long ago lost interest in puzzling over the Jigsaw saga with its death traps and faux morality. Some argue the series (launched in 2004 — at the Sundance Film Festival, of all places) is an example of the “torture porn” genre. (Think “Hostel.”) Fans argue otherwise. The debate, we think, says it all. (Opens Oct. 23)
