Movie Review: Zombieland (2009)

Film Review

Film Title: Zombieland (2009) 

Director: Ruben Fleisher

Genre of Horror: Comedy

Brief Plot Outline:  

The film is set in 21^st century America and it follows the four main characters; Columbus, Wichita, Little Rock and Tallahassee as they try to survive ‘Zombieland’, essentially a world taken over by zombies. The film is narrated through the thoughts of Columbus who is essentially the main character. The film follows their journey through Zombieland as they try to reach Pacific Playground, an amusement park which is said to be ‘zombie free’. 

Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why?

The supermarket scene in which Tallahassee searches for a Twinkie but is confronted by a couple zombies inside the store. He then proceeds to kill these zombies. This scene has incredibly realistic body horror, and the mix of close ups and low angle moving shots make the scene seem real and exciting. Tallahassee plays his banjo to lure the zombie; the music is pleasant which is juxtaposed to the sinister zombies that are lurking inside the store.

The scene set in the Western souvenir shop in another favourite of mine. The four characters have been driving for hours and are getting cooped up so decide to let off some steam inside a Western themed souvenir shop. They end up destroying everything in the store to let everything out and calm down.  The scene is filmed in super slow motion and features close ups, capturing the characters’ joy and happiness, as this is the first time they’ve all got along properly. There is parallel music featuring in the scene as well, it is a classical piece and works well with the slow motion filming.

How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of film making? Which features of the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?

The film includes body horror, quick montage, loneliness and an open ending off the horror genre checklist. Body horror is present throughout the film, with high attention to detail when a zombie is killed/a person is being eaten. Loneliness is present throughout the first fifteen minutes of the film, as our main character ‘Columbus’ is the only character we really focus on. The film also features slow moving monsters (zombies) and also collision cutting when Bill Murray appears.  However, taking this into account, although the film follows some of the genre checklist criteria, it sets itself apart from other horrors by having two final girls, and two male heroes. Also the film, although it has a happy ending because the characters have found friendship within each other in ‘zombieland’, doesn’t finish with an equilibrium that is present at the start.

Which aspects of the film would you like to INCLUDE in your own trailer? Why?

I would like to try and recreate how accurate, realistic and believable the film is in my trailer. This is because if a horror movie is realistic and believable then it is a lot scarier. This can be achieved through cinematography, using close ups, point of view shots and handheld camera shots to get closer to the action, and achieve a more intimate reaction with the audience. Enclosed locations and low key lighting will add to the suspense. I’d also like t try and recreate the realism of the body horror in my trailer as this will shock the viewer to a greater extent.

Which aspects of the film would you like to AVOID in your own trailer? Why?

I would like to avoid using comedy in my film trailer as I’d like to keep my trailer as realistic and serious as possible. The ‘zombie kill of the week’ scene in which a piano falls on a woman’s head is almost ‘too funny’ for a horror film, although in this instance it does work well. I’m also not sure whether I would like to make it a zombie film, although I haven’t ruled this out.

What was the best aspect/more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? Can you recreate this?

Some of the best aspects of the film are the various rules that come up on screen. These are 3D block writing that are edited in, but they appear to be almost physical parts of the diegesis as certain letters will fall over if a character runs through them (although the character can’t see/feel them) and they have their own shadows. This would have been made with very expensive special fx software which is not possible for my trailer, however I am going to focus on having good font choices.