Zombies of Mass Destruction (2010) – Review

Over the past few years parodies have dominated cinemas. Whilst some have provided laughs, some have only provided headaches after pondering just how they got into production. Unfortunately for anyone who has pre-ordered or bought Kevin Hamedani’s Zombie flick, ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction falls into the latter category.

Setting out to parody the over-done Zombie thriller genre, ZMD never quite achieves its goal and instead provides an hour and a half of bad acting, awful effects and even worse clichés. Although the inclusion of such atrocities usually adds to the enjoyment of such spoofs, ZMD ultimately fails to produce any laughs whatsoever.

All the usual stereotypes are alive and kicking in the small town of Port Gamble but all fail to breathe life into the film. Instead they meld to create a clunky and rather boring amalgamation that joins lifelessly with the zombies that tear their way through the town. Although no parody is ever expected to be outstandingly original (something that will always allude a film mocking another), the inclusion of the gay couple, the Muslim family, the environmentalists and the God-fearing reverend all make for a rather crowded film that falters when combined with the script. Instead of ridiculing such clichés, it only succeeds in tiring them further.

Some films glory in their appalling special effects (films ranging from 80’s classics to recent spoofs) but unfortunately ZMD doesn’t. The ridiculous scenes that inevitably work their way into such parodies lack any humour or ingenuity here; an early scene sees Frida (Janette Armand)’s potential boyfriend’s face get ripped off with neither reason or comedy.

Billed as a ‘political zomedy’, ZMD includes neither politics or comedy; the repeated mention of terrorism is laboured (its simplistic jibes at Islam lacking any real thought) whilst the mayoral battle is lost amongst the gore and uninspiring jokes. Despite its many flaws the film has, surprisingly, not had the worst reception.

A parody that fails to inject humour into its supposedly funny interpretation of the genre, ZMD cannot even be described as a film that is ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ and is instead a poor man’s Shaun of the Dead as it lacks the wit or the reference-base.