Review of Doghouse (2009) by Arleen E — 14 Aug 2010

I hate to use descriptions like these, but this film reminded me of a mashup between The Hangover and Shaun of the Dead. Quite genuinely scary in parts and funny all the way through, it's a remarkable balance and it must be hard to achieve. So this film gets extra points for getting it bang-on. It's a great setup for a film: seven buddies (one of whom you can just tell is the friend that nobody likes. Just as well then that he spends most of the film in absentia), none of whom have a very good understanding of women, go on a gents-only retreat to cheer up thier friend who's about to get divorced. The village that they pick for thier R&R - Mikey's childhood home of Moodley - has most unfortunately been struck with a curious sort of plague: all the women have durned into zombie-deadites thus creating a significant problem for any male wandering through the streets. Enter our knuckleheads.

I love every character in this film. I have a real soft spot for Danny Dyer, who I also loved in Severance, another favorite british horror-comedy, but all the buddies were unique and great in their own way. I love Matt, the ineffectual comic book hermit who uses toys to fight the undead, I love Mikey, the guy who has a hard time dealing with a zombie he used to go out with, Graham, the gay dude that likes calling his mates fags, Vince, the guy who is the slowest to accept the crazy shit into which everyone is plunged, and Patrick, the guy who drowns out the world with Podcasts espousing serenitude. I even liked Neil the slutty clod, especially when all his buddies expect his casual misogyny to make him an expert in bashing in zombitch noggins. I think that anyone calling this film sexist is totally missing the point. In fact, the difficulty the main characters have in combatting female assailants plays for huge laughs. I love this movie.

Heeheehee, "birdflu". And yes, I know that serenitude isn't a word.