BUNKHEADS ** USA 2018 Writer: Will Gong. Dir: Lauren Klixbull. Series 1: 6 episodes (10 mins each)
Stand Out episodes: “Dreams” e p.5 & “All My Friends” ep.6
This mini web series is about four people that take refuge in an underground bunker during the zombie apocalypse. One year on we join the group as they are getting rather hangry after only having salmon to eat and are going stir crazy in their little bunker. Their frustrations are starting to show and they are beginning to wonder which is worse; Surviving the apocalypse or putting up with each other. The four characters are struggling actress Dani (Carly Turro), computer nerd Cash (Khalif Boyd), middle aged elementary school teacher Matt (Josh Covitt) and excruciatingly irritating wannabe rapper Kip (Chris O’Brien). All of the guys have the hots for Dani who remains unobtainable and pretty icy. Kip and Cash are constantly arguing with each other, Kip just seems to hurl tirades of racist abuse at Cash which gets boring very quickly. Matt just seems to bumble about mumbling and try to diffuse various situations.
Predominantly this is a comedy but I did not find it funny at all really. Luckily the episodes are only 10 minutes long but be prepared if you decide to watch the whole lot in one go that there are very repetitive episode recaps. Probably the worst thing about this is that the zombie element is almost non existent. There is a small group of zombies in the first few minutes of episode 1 and that is it unless you count the 2 second shot of the same group of zombies at the start of each recap. No other zombies turn up till episode 5 and that is in the form of nightmares. This is the only reason I chose this episode in the stand out part as it finally has some zombies in it. Fortunately by ep 5 it does actually start to have some meaningful, heartfelt conversation and episode 6 is quite touching by the end but you still end up disliking the characters, it’s too little too late by that point. The zombie make up is very basic, simple and a bit of an afterthought yet still quite fun. The acting is frequently awkward and wooden. The bunker setting is clinical and effectively claustrophobic yet it’s pretty well shot. So it is a bit of a mix of pros and cons. The theme tune is probably the only thing about this that will stick with me as it is annoyingly catchy. On the whole I wasn’t really a fan of this show. I didn’t find it funny at all, there were nowhere near enough zombies to make it worth your while yet the storyline does get progressively better towards the end.
Review by Sarah Budd