How you would handle waking up one day… dead? Well… a zombie. Surrounded by others zombies. Who unlike you didn’t retain their pre-death ability to speak and conduct in rational thought?
Not very well, I guess. And neither did Mike Jellerman (Michael McKiddy). Dead Heads (2011) is a film about this happening to Mike. And Brent (Ross Kidder). Let’s start with Mike first. You see, right before Mike was shot in the head (long story there), he was about to propose to the love of his life Ellie. And now? He’s three years decomposed and miles away from home. And Brent? Brent died through sexual asphyxiation. Yeah. Everyone’s favorite quintessential perv.
So these two meet, realize they’re one of the rare walkers able to talk, eat, walk – and after a few minutes of beating each other senseless with body parts, drinking beer, and lamenting over the fact they totally missed the Transformers movie – decide to go out and find Ellie. On their way to her they meet an amazing old guy named Cliff (Harry Burkey) who teaches them both a little about love, and way more about sex than anyone really wants to hear from an 80-year-old dude, learn about a secret government program that actually created the zombies (them) and? Meet Mr. Thomas Jeremiah (Thomas Galasso) – a bad ass black dynamite acting mofo who slaughters zombies like it’s going out of style. He kind of reminds me of Ben from Night of The Living Dead – except he doesn’t have to listen to a screaming white woman the whole flick. Bonus.
And of course, there’s cheese. A zombie who unlike Brent and Mike doesn’t retain his intelligence – but becomes almost like a rotted beloved family pet to the boys and saves their asses more than once. The Trio of the dead lose a few limbs along the way – but they finally find Ellie, the reason behind their resurrection and? Get the girl.
Dead Heads is one of the best zom-coms I’ve seen in awhile. And strangely romantic. At one point I actually teared up. Don’t judge me.
Fans of comic and general geek genre will enjoy the numerous one-liners that pop up through the film and horror flick fans won’t be too put off by the special effects. Mike and Brent’s decomposition made the most of veins and slight flesh rot, and the random explosion of body parts and strategically placed severed heads was almost believable. Almost.
If you can see past the occasional bad actor (see: Secret Government Agent Security Idiot McDinkle) and some misplaced raunchy jokes – Dead Heads is actually be a flick worth picking up and using to show all the chicks that you’re into romantic flicks too. Kinda.
