WARM BODIES

2013 / Director. Jonathan Levine.

The sub-genres of horror come and go in pulses of fashion & trend. Often several of them are running the gambit consecutively and their popularity tends to last about a decade. When Interview with the Vampire was released it launched a decade-long obsession with vampires (Twilight recently had the same effect) and when Saw and Hostel came out we were treated to an influx of torture porn. It's a cycle that's been churning for eons and the years have seen slashers, video nasties, paranormal and various other horror sub-genres being reborn for new generations. In 2004 Shaun Of The Dead launched a new wave of zombie-comedies (zombedies). Some of the have been great and others have been terrible and as with most fads, I tire of them very quickly. For every excellent zombedy (Doghouse) there are 10 equally atrocious ones... and so when Warm Bodies came along I did my best to avoid it. Not because it was bad but because it received so much hype. For one of these movies to actually hook me it needs a great premise (see The Revenant) and it obviously needs to be executed well. Warm Bodies came along with hope and I wasn't going to let the "phenomenon" build up my expectations. So I bided my time and when the fanfare simmered down I stuck the dvd in my machine and hit play - phew - what a relief. It is a great little film and its hook lies with its rom-com approach. It tells the story of a zombie apocalypse. The walking dead have taken over and the remaining humans hide behind a giant wall with a small army at the ready. The story is told from the point of view of a zombie. A teenage corpse who's heart begins to beat again at the sight of a girl. "Love" is the cure. It sounds sappy and it kind of is but with some great performances, an excellent script and a kick-ass soundtrack Warm Bodies turns out to be a wonderful throw-back to the 80s. It has a distinctive John Hughes flavour about it. I'm just about done with these zombedies (zombies in general) and could do with a break. I wonder what the next cycle will offer? Hopefully no more remakes also....

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