Halloween Movie Month: Deadheads

Deadheads (2011)
not rated

Deadheads is about a zombie outbreak, but where two zombies retain most of their humanity...except for the whole being alive thing.  The two zombies team up and go on a road trip so that one of them can win back his love from when he was alive.

Deadheads was described as a horror comedy with romance.  Unfortunately, it failed to live up to any of those descriptions.  The biggest problem was that everything felt too forced.  There was an homage to Dawn of the Dead, but it was a little too on the nose (especially since the cop on the phone was actually talking about Dawn of the Dead).  The comedy was a bit too slapstick and too vulgar.  I certainly don't have anything against vulgar humor, when it is actually humorous.  But, a lot of the "humor" felt too much like "we are being vulgar...isn't that funny?!!?"

The "buddy comedy" angle was forced too quick.  The music was too "comedic" and too persistent. There was not enough to actually show the love story - it felt so empty.  Practically every aspect of the movie took me further out of it, rather than bringing me more into it.  Nothing is actually done to establish any real emotions.  The audience is told what they are supposed to feel, but there is nothing behind it to actually make the audience feel anything.  There was one scene that had some actual emotion, but even that felt too forced and too out of place.

Rating and Recommendation:  2/5.  Like too many of the movies that I have seen recently, it's not that this movie was necessarily horrible...it's just that there was too much potential that was left unfulfilled.  If they had just gone with a romantic comedy, it might have been ok.  As it is, they tried too hard to also make the zombie funny and I do not think that it worked at all.  If they had just spent a little more time on developing any of the various aspects of the movie, it could have been more enjoyable.  As it was, I didn't care about any of the characters.  I wasn't scared.  I didn't laugh.  Essentially, the "horror comedy with romance" was none of those things.  If you want a zombie comedy, just stick with Shaun of the Dead.  Then, watch Shaun of the Dead again.  Seriously, it's awesome.



Be sure to check back soon for more reviews in Halloween Movie Month!  In the meantime, leave comments on this (or any other) review, follow me here and on twitter (@GargyleReviews), and let me know what movies you'd like for me to review for Halloween Movie Month!



- The Gargyle