Review of Fido (2006) by Paul B — 27 Jul 2010

Extremely clever film that falls just short of brilliance. Set in a candy-colored, exaggeratedly idyllic 1950s suburbia, this is the story of a young boy and his loyal, brave, friendly, helpful, undead... zombie. Of course, it's not just HIS zombie, it's the entire family's -- because every family has (at least) one.

How? you may ask. Well, you see, the story takes place after a big, apocalyptic, Zombie War, which we (the living, that is) won by superior technology. Technology that shuts down a zombie's taste for living flesh, and renders them passive and placid -- ideal for manual labor and light housekeeping.

Along the film's meandering way, there are lessons to be learned about kindness and patience and acceptance. We also learn what to do if your zombie kills and eats your neighbor.

"Fido" is hugely funny, with a knifelike satirical edge under its relentlessly sunny disposition. It's not really scary, nor is it overly violent, but it is a zombie movie. And that means some degree of flesh eating will be on display, as well as the requisite splattery head shots that are the only way to kill the monsters. Carrie-Anne Moss ("The Matrix",) nails her performance as a "typical" clueless 1950s housewife, who learns something about independence and love from the shambling dead guy kept chained in the backyard. Dylan Baker, as always, shines as a perfect asshole of a father and husband -- simultaneously spineless and authoritarian. And Billy Connolly turns in his best performance ever as the titular zombie, wonderfully conveying confusion, hope, anger, love, concern, and -- God help us -- seductiveness, using only his eyes, body language, and the occasional grunt.

Zombie comedies are becoming their own subgenre, to the point that they're colloquially referred to as "ZomComs." But this is one of the earliest, and one of the best.