Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse in reality appears to be another in a long line of “zomb-coms,” a genre the public is not bored of just yet. In recent years, popular culture has been overrun with a plague of zombies. Or more, the strange circumstances one might find themselves in during an outbreak of the living dead: Trapped in an amusement park. What about a mall? Zombies in space? It seems part of the fun of dealing with them is coming up with an ironic hero, a strange locale to battle in and intriguing dispatching devices to kill the undead hoards. Glad to say, Scouts Guide fits the blueprint.
Unpopular scouts Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller) and Augie (Joey Morgan) are given a chance to put their training to the test and become heroes when zombies infest their quite suburban town. With the help of a shotgun-toting “dream girl” named Denise (Sarah Dumont), the boys decide to break up the undead Jamboree before it’s too late.
Funny in both concept and execution, Scouts Guide comes quick with a joke and quicker with the gore, a staple of modern horror, leaving them seeing red. Lots of red. Thankfully, when it comes to the violence and blood in zombie flicks, somehow it’s a touch less gratuitous because, hey, they’re already dead. What that says about fans of the genre? A topic for another day. The zombies range from your typical “shamblers” to the “bolt and bite” varieties, giving the actors plenty of opportunity to make a plethora of jump scare quips. Unfortunately, the trailer does gives away a few jokes early (there was mention of undead kitties, right?), an annoyance which has become expected of trailer editing these days. Although, with the marketing’s intent on enticing through spoilers, giving away long clips online was the plan from the early on. Many of these clips can be found at the official site.
From what’s presented, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse delivers an original concept, young actors with great comedic timing (not to mention amazing comedy veterans David Koechner and Cloris Leachman) and a script which knows exactly what it is and plays to the strengths. Comedy, however, can be deceiving from trailers alone. If blood and belly laughs is your bag, it’s safe to say you’ll find the trailer fun. Scouts honor.
Opening October 30, 2015. Rated R.
