Review of Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) by Dave M — 30 Oct 2015

The first scene in "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" (R, 1:33) makes pretty clear what this movie is going to be like. Ron (Blake Anderson), a slacker after-hours janitor in a research lab, is singing an Iggy Azalea song into the handle of his mop. Dr. Morris (Theo Kypri) is working with test tubes in a locked room. Ron sees Morris through a hallway window and proceeds to lick and rub against the window, but fails to catch Morris' attention. Ron enters the room to mop and Morris leaves, warning Ron not to touch anything. Ron touches things - including what turns out to be a zombie lying unconscious on a hospital bed behind a curtain. As Morris struggles with a vending machine just outside that window, Ron inadvertently rouses the zombie which proceeds to toss Ron around like a rag doll. After succumbing to the zombie's attacks, Ron becomes a zombie, walks out of the room and approaches Morris, who now has his arm stuck in the slot at the bottom of the vending machine. You can guess what happens next.

Although it establishes the movie's tone, that first scene has little to do with the rest of the movie (and, therefore, is not a spoiler - don't be mad at me). We soon learn that the zombies in this movie are more agile than those in "The Walking Dead", but don't work together as well as those in "World War Z". That'll give this movie's humans a fighting chance, right? Well, yes, but we also soon learn (as we noticed in the movie's trailer), that this virus that turns humans into zombies can also infect animals. Then, of course, there are the scouts, who are the center of the story once the zombies leave the lab.

This is a small, generic scout troop (with the specific term "Boy Scout" nowhere in the script), led by the cheesy, up-beat, Dolly Parton-obsessed "Scout Leader Rogers" and made up of the hedonistic and relatively rebellious Carter (Logan Miller), the sweet but very nerdy Augie (Joey Morgan) and the loyal but insecure Ben (Tye Sheridan). All four love scouting... more or less. Carter and Ben ("less") feel like they've outgrown the organization, but stay in for the sake of their buddy Augie. Meanwhile, Augie and Scout Leader Rogers ("more") are all in. Their efforts to attract new members are failing miserably, but the guys go ahead with their plans for a camp-out during which Augie is to receive a prestigious badge.

It turns out that deep in the woods is a good place to be as a zombie apocalypse starts. (Well, for most of the troop it is.) Carter cajoles Ben into sneaking away from the camp site to attend a big party back in town, which seems strangely deserted when they get there. What has happened soon becomes frightfully clear to Ben and Carter (and to Augie and Rogers, who also end up back in town). With the help of a tough but sweet shotgun-wielding stripper (Sarah Dumont), the scouts use their resourcefulness to try staying alive long enough to rescue the other teens at the party - especially Kendall (Halston Sage), who is Carter's sister, and is also Ben's secret love interest - while avoiding the growing zombie population, and Ben's next-door neighbor, the mean, old Ms. Fielder (Cloris Leachman).

With no disrespect to Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and the filmmakers behind "Zombieland" (2009) or Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright's "Shaun of the Dead" (2004), "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" may be the best horror-comedy I've ever seen. It's funny, sweet, exciting and creative. The mostly little-known cast (not to mention Koechner, from the "Anchorman" movies, and Oscar winner Cloris Leachman) is well-chosen and displays just the right mix of horror and whimsy to make this movie work. The script gives us good character development, not just early on, but even in the midst of the mayhem, which blends perfectly with the movie's sub-plots. There are some great sight gags and gross-out moments, along with creative zombie kills, but the visuals are relatively restrained (for a zombie flick). This movie doesn't overdo anything, including the hilarious, but sparing use of pop songs from the 1970s to the present. I can't think of a more enjoyable way to prepare for the zombie apocalypse (which we all know is coming sooner or later) than seeing this movie. Be sure to scout out a viewing - before it's too late. "A-".