ZOMBLOGALYPSE **** UK 2021 Dirs: Hannah Bungard, Tony Hipwell & Miles Watts. 98 mins
ZOMBLOGALYPSE is a feature length film shot in York, UK. Written, directed by and starring Hannah Bungard, Tony Hipwell and Miles Watts stems from a webseries of the same name that they created in 2008. It ran til 2011 and covered 4 seasons consisting of 6 episodes per season. Hannah and the guys do a blog of their experiences during a zombie apocalypse. Hilarity prevails as the bumbling trio film themselves going shopping, entertain guests and generally trying to stem the crippling boredom that comes with an apocalypse. ZOMBLOGALYPSE 2021 is set 10 years after the first infection, Hannah, Tony and Miles have survived this long and, so it would seem, has the Internet as Hannah has reinstated her topical blog “Books In Tents” where she sits and reads books or graphic novels (“words and pictures that go together”) in her tent in their stronghold (a library) and reports back to her 4 followers. The boredom is setting in again and whilst out on a food run to a garden centre they decide to shoot a zombie movie that documents what happened to them at the start and how they have made it this far! To do this they create a kickstarter campaign and offer perks (which they don’t have) in order to create a crew with which to make the movie. Amazingly survivors turn up and everyone is well and truly up to their necks in blood and guts and completely clueless which begs the question “will there be anyone left to see their movie once it is done?”
I’m hoping people that see this movie are familiar with other British zombie comedies such as the recent TV series ZOMBOAT (2019), movie SHED OF THE DEAD (2019) as well as the obvious SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004) and (to a lesser extent) COCKNEYS vs ZOMBIES (2012) because even though ZOMBLOGALYPSE is obviously based on its own webseries it is very much along the same lines as these movies. Starting off with a satirical infomercial debunking the zombie myth from indie film maker and YouTuber Captain Disillusion (Alan Melikdjanian) who subsequently gets ripped to pieces, this hilarious take on a world over run by the undead would have us believe that a bunch of socially awkward, arrogant and oblivious nerds with very little common sense are the only ones that survive. This is why it is so funny as it would probably be the case! The acting is fantastic given that everyone in it seems to have no clue as to what is going on, they are all just trying to lead normal lives in a truely bizarre situation and the awkwardness is laid on in spades. The characters are ones you warm up to rather than take an instant liking to but the scenarios are well thought out and executed. The 3 leads are played brilliantly by the directors who are all great but I have developed a huge love for Hannah Bungard in particular, the other characters all have a naive but cheery disposition about them and are well written. For example: the only person that can actually act is given a tiny role and killed off. Effects wise it is packed full of cheesy gun toteing action scenes with plenty of great practical FX and alot of great brain related, floppy armed zombie kills but a little heavy on the CGI blood. Comedy set ups for the demise of the cast and crew become common place but never boring. The elected Health & Safety guy slowly turns into a nervous wreck (“I don’t like dancing… it’s unsafe!”)and ends up being attacked by a colleague with hilarious consequences. It is, of course, all about the zombies and this film has them in droves!! They look great… when I say great I also mean dodgy but are a great tribute to the shambling horrors of 70’s classic DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) with their own take on a couple of them. There’s Alan Grenade Hand who is a zombie that has been following them around for a while and Tony gaffa taped a grenade to his hand, more zombie kids then you would think and Tony gets really excited when they come across a zombie postman which is apparently really rare. As stated earlier these are the slow zombies but there is a mention of fast bastards now shortened to “fastards” which make an appearance later on. There are plenty of other great gags including a drone with chicken legs stuck to it, projectiles that choke unsuspecting walking corpses and inserts directly from Spongebob Squarepants just to add to the craziness. The soundtrack to this is one of the best thought out playlists of its time as it features amongst others zombiecore legends SEND MORE PARAMEDICS with their brain chomping anthemic classic “Zombie Crew” over a rather amusing montage sequence! The fact that they chose this track earned them an extra star in the rating from me!! In conclusion, from it’s trailer you might find ZOMBLOGALYPSE a bit cringey or awkward but stick with it as it is masses of gory, zombie fun! ZOMBLOGALYPSE is making it’s way around film festivals right now and I couldn’t think of a better place to first watch it, this was made for festivals!!
Review by Sarah Budd
For more on ZOMBLOGALYPSE including how to get your hands on some ZOMBLOGALYPSE merchandise, head here: