More fun than fear evoked in zom-com ; giddy gulity pleasure

Rating: 8/10 (12 October 2009)

ZOMBIELAND (2009) *** Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Amber Heard, Mike White (**SPOILER** Cameo: as himself: Bill Murray) Giddy zom-com about a plague of zombies terrorizing the USA and survivors Eisenberg (all geeky neurotic nobility in a hoodie); tag-team sisters Stone (yummy) and Breslin (feisty); and bonafide redneck warrior Harrelson (having a field day chewing up the scenery) form an unlikely foursome en route to a California amusement park supposedly zombie-free (a yeah, right!). More comedy than horror (a small quibble but the few sequences of gore satisfies those-in-the-know) with middling yet overly entertaining results, with a comic highlight of a close encounter withyup Bill Murray himself (dead-panned – pun intended – to perfection). Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick's chummy screenplay delivers for the most part and Ruben Fleischer employs some neat set pieces (i.e. Eisenberg's Rules To Survive on prominent display) with homage to Romero and "Shaun of the Dead" to boot.