Let\u2019s just get this out of the way right up front. Yes, Zombeavers is about zombie-beavers. No, they don\u2019t look even the slightest bit realistic. Yes, you\u2019re still going to love this movie anyway.<\/p>\n
Three sorority sisters head to a remote cabin by a lake for a girls weekend away from the boys. The trip was motivated by the recent revelation that Jenn\u2019s (Lexi Atkins) boyfriend cheated on her with an unknown skank leading Mary (Rachel Melvin) to organize the weekend to help her friend heal. Zoe (Cortney Palm) is just along for the ride and the possibility of a full-body tan. Their plans are interrupted by two types of mammals. First, their boyfriends arrive looking to set up camp in the girls\u2019 vaginas, and then the undead beavers show up looking for food.<\/p>\n
So yes, it essentially follows the old horror trope about the dangers of young people mixing wood and beavers.<\/p>\n
The opening featuring two fools driving a truck loaded with toxic waste gives a taste of the film\u2019s humor while also rushing us through the only explanation we\u2019ll need for the laughs and carnage to come. A barrel of the green goo ends up lodged and leaking against a beaver dam. That\u2019s it, and that\u2019s perfectly fine. The opening credits sequence actually feels very much in the spirit of Return of the Living Dead\u2018s opening \u2014 playful and energetic score accompanying images of the toxic waste heading towards its target \u2014 and that\u2019s the perfect state of mind to be in for all that follows.<\/p>\n
Zombeavers is horror\/comedy with the emphasis on the latter, but it still manages a jump scare or two along the way. One of the reasons it\u2019s not that horrific is the creature design. The bloodletting and gore are well done throughout, but the beavers? They take a bit of imagination and acceptance on your part to see them as living, breathing creatures. But that\u2019s an intentional part of the film\u2019s charm. Larry Fessenden\u2019s Beneath tried a similar approach with its carnivorous carp, but it was a tonal mismatch with the film it occupied. Here though the goofy-looking beavers have made a home in a goofy-ass movie.<\/p>\n
Director Jordan Rubin co-wrote the film alongside Al Kaplan and Jon Kaplan (the brothers also composed the score), and while the movie isn\u2019t a spoof \u2014 this is no Scary Movie VII \u2014 it is playing fast and loose with the seriousness of the situation. It\u2019s also playing with a real awareness of the horror genre. There are some groaners among the \u201cjokes,\u201d but most of them hit their mark. They have some fun with the innuendo of the word \u201cbeaver,\u201d but they know when to move on to greener pastures too. Those pastures being the actual beavers who, like the film, look silly but are actually surprisingly smart as evidenced by their taking out the phone lines and plotting other moves against their human targets.<\/p>\n
The writing trio know their horror and hit several beats (like a Jaws homage) with a knowing wink and without losing control of their creation. They\u2019re especially tested in the film\u2019s third act when events become even more bonkers and ridiculous, but just as you begin shaking your head and saying \u201cwell that\u2019s a bit too absurd\u201d some new image appears that forces you to simply go along with it all.<\/p>\n
The cast members are all on-board for the gory and ridiculous antics, and many of the laughs owe as much to the delivery as to the script. \u201cWe can\u2019t start turning on each other,\u201d says one character, \u201cthat\u2019s what the beavers want.\u201d Lines like this are spoken with serious conviction and a twinkle in the eye, and the result is a fairly steady stream of hilarity packed tight in an 89 minute running time. A couple of the performances are a bit dodgy at times, but the ones who are on are on fire. Palm is the film\u2019s standout and deserving of big things as she delivers one hell of a horror heroine. Funny, sexy and fully capable of kicking ass, she becomes the unlikely focus of your attention and concern even as more traditional characters dance around her.<\/p>\n
And no, I\u2019m not just saying that because she goes topless. Twice.<\/p>\n
Zombeavers really shouldn\u2019t be as much fun as it is \u2014 the \u201cmonsters\u201d are, quite literally, hand puppets \u2014 but the old-school charm combined with real wit, a reasonably sharp script and lots of gory goodness make for a memorable and often hilarious movie. It\u2019s a B-movie through and through, and there\u2019s not a damned thing wrong with that.<\/p>\n
The Upside: Funny, smart, consistently entertaining; self aware and self loving; Cortney Palm; fantastically crafted sight gags and dialogue; mostly practical effects<\/p>\n
The Downside: Maybe a bit too comfortable with their unrealistic beavers; some rough acting at times; some sketchy digital work<\/p>\n
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