Main cast: Kristopher Turner (Steve), Crystal Lowe (Tina), Shawn Roberts (Craig), Kristen Hager (Sarah), Stephen McHattie (Max), and Emilie Ullerup (Penelope Pendleton)
Director: Casey Walker
How cute, a Canadian low-budget horror comedy flick. A Little Bit of Zombie has a completely idiot plot full of black holes that suck in all logic, but it delivers enough laughter to make it worth a watch.
Steve is going to marry Tina, and before the wedding, he brings Tina to his family cabin for a holiday. He guilt-trips his sister Sarah to come along, just like he guilted that woman to become Tina’s matron of honor. Guilt is necessary because Tina and Sarah absolute loathe one another. Sarah is married to Craig, who is Steve’s best friend, and hence, Craig comes along too. Craig too cannot stand Tina, and both he and his wife cannot understand why Steve is a walking doormat when it comes to Tina. Meanwhile, Tina is so engrossed in wedding preparations that she is showing signs of becoming a Bridezilla from the worst kinds of hell.
In fact, when a mosquito, having fed on a zombie, bites Steve and subsequently infects him with some kind of zombie virus, not even Steve’s increasing hunger for brain will discourage Tina from calling off the wedding. She has starved herself to fit into a $5,000 dress and planned so hard for a wedding party for 300 guests, so she will be damned before anything, even Steve becoming a zombie, will prevent the wedding from taking place. So there!
Meanwhile, the zombie hunter Max, who just wants to kill those things with extreme violence and glee, and the zombie researcher Penelope Pendleton, who just wants to find a cure for the zombie virus, is hot on Steve’s tail.
As I’ve mentioned, the plot doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. If the zombie virus can be spread by mosquito bite, and the result is an unusual human-zombie hybrid, then how come there isn’t more of such things, rather than just one, with Steve being the first? Fortunately, this movie has a solid cast that can bring on enough humor to carry it to the finish line. The characters start out as one-note stereotypes, but as the movie progresses, they become a bit better. Craig is a complete meathead, for example, and when he learns that Steve can’t feel pain anymore after his zombification, he delights in smashing car doors into his buddy. The thing is, though, Steve likes that too, and it’s easy to see how these two are friends despite being what seems like polar opposites at the surface. Tina is a complete psycho, but she’s actually funny, as is Sarah, initially a one-note cynical bitch. The two of them do try to be cordial for Steve’s sake, but it’s not easy. All four play off one another very well, making this movie a most watchable one. Kristopher Turner is especially hilarious and adorable as Steve – he has the facial expressions, tics, and comedic timing all down pat.
Unfortunately, the movie also contains some missteps, such as some overlong gags involving dream sequences and brain-buying at a butcher’s shop. These scenes are either just flat unfunny, or could have been hilarious if they haven’t been dragged out for so long. As a result, there are as many moments of awkward silence from me as there are moments where I am laughing out loud.
All in all, I do like A Little Bit Zombie as a fun, silly diversion. If you like silly zombie comedies, it’s most likely worth a look if you come across it either on TV or on some rental service.
