It’s a simple formula. I don’t know why so many movies can’t figure it out. The new comedy-horror hybrid, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse gets it, though, and the results are terrific. The difference between its gross out humor and that of so many others is that the gags are genuinely funny. Now, that could be a matter of taste, but I guarantee when there are three dimensional characters for which you care, you’re bound to be more invested in the emotions of the movie, whether they’re funny or sad.
Let’s credit the writers for creating the characters: Emi Mochizuki and Carrie Lee Wilson & Christopher Landon and Lona Williams. I’ll call out Williams because she also wrote a great comedy that is often forgotten, Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999). Landon also directed, but while it moves along at a brisk pace, it’s not particularly stylish or unique. His resume includes (as writer) Disturbia and Paranormal Activities 2 through The Marked Ones and (as director) Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones.
Together they’ve created an engaging trio of high school boys on the verge of outgrowing scouting. Two are ready to move on to bigger and better things, but have been postponing announcing that news to the third, Augie (Joey Morgan). Augie would be a lifetime scout if he could, but he’s the chubby goofball holding the other two back. Carter (Logan Miller) is eager to graduate from Friday night campouts to senior raves. Ben (Tye Sheridan) doesn’t want to hurt either of his friends’ feelings; besides potentially hurting Augie, he’s also secretly in love with Carter’s sister.
They are the heart and soul of Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, a movie that has a lot of heart and soul. They’re reminiscent of characters from a John Hughes movie, but the gore in the movie is more reminiscent of George Romero: it comes by the bucketful. This isn’t a Monster Squad or Gremlins for the entire family. For example, a zombified stripper twirls naked on her pole, then flips upside down… where her head pops off her naked body. And one of the boys must hang on to… uh… a certain appendage… to keep from falling out the window.
In other hands, these scenes could be considered tasteless or unfunny. However, like I said, in this movie they are hilarious because there is substance behind them. There’s something sweet about the fact that the under aged boys are in a strip club for the first time only because the bouncer is now a zombie and is not watching the door. Likewise, you want Ben to hang on to whatever he can rather than fall into a swarm of zombies growling at him below. Not every gag is a home run, but most are solid base hits.
The supporting characters are played more for laughs than the leads. For example, Scout Leader Rogers (David Koechner) is dispatched early on (by a zombie deer, no less), but keeps coming back no matter what happens to him. Denise (Sarah Dumont) is a stripper… no, “cocktail waitress”… who’s wise beyond her years and encourages Ben to go after Kendall (Halston Sage). But, let me tell you, no one tops Cloris Leachman as neighbor Miss Fielder who becomes a zombie and tries to eat Augie’s bare posterior.
I realize none of this sounds like it should work, but you’ve got to trust me. Against all odds, it works delightfully. While it’s not for everyone, it should be a real surprise for those who do see it; it seemed to catch everyone at the screening I attended off guard. When the scouts enter Kendall’s pristine pink room, Augie says during a rare moment of silence amidst a town gone crazy, “It smells like Pixie Sticks and hope.” Well, compared to many other similar movies, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse also smells like Pixie Sticks and hope.
