Fido

NOVEMBER 8, 2007

GENRE: COMEDIC, ZOMBIE
SOURCE: DVD (STORE RENTAL)

I must have been in traffic or something the day Fido was in theaters. What else could explain it? I remember hearing about the movie a lot in the spring, and then I sort of forgot about it. Then yesterday I am at the video store and there it is, Billy Connolly’s zombie face snarling at me. A quick check of Boxofficemojo confirms the film came out on June 15th, 2007, and eventually grossed a paltry $304,533, but I’m still a bit fuzzy as to how I missed its entire theatrical run. I live in LA! We’re a select city!!!

Anyway, I didn’t miss much. It’s an OK enough film, but a lot of the jokes seemed pretty obvious to me, and others were just recycled from other zombie comedies (including a few that were done in a short film I myself edited, 6 years ago!) or movies that satire the 50s suburban dream. There are some great jabs at the current state of “protection”, such as when a government agent happily announces that everyone will have their photo taken for protection, but they are few and far between.

In fact that’s kind of the problem with the movie: it’s supposed to be a lot funnier than it is, but it doesn’t really work as a zombie movie either. I’ve seen Shaun of the Dead so many times that I no longer laugh at 90% of the things that made me piss myself the first time around, but I am still entertained by the film. I can’t imagine watching Fido again will be a particularly thrilling experience, especially since the film barely has a narrative and instead functions as a collection of setpieces.

The film’s most interesting character is a neighbor played by Tim Blake Nelson. He has a zombie pet that subs for a lover, and he knows how to fix (or break) the collars the zombies wear to keep them in control. All of his scenes are a delight, and I wish there were more of them. Plus, I admit... I wanted to see a guy nail a zombie. Comedically.

The strangest thing about the movie is that I was consistently having déjà vu as I watched it, but yet couldn’t place any of the movies that it was somehow reminding me of. Like, it seemed like I had seen Dylan Baker play this exact same role before, but all of his roles I can think of have nothing to do with playing a somewhat assholish dad in the 50s. Likewise, the film’s main focus (the friendship between the kid and Fido the zombie) seemed familiar, but I can’t think of another film that even had domesticated zombies other than Day of the Dead (and the end of Shaun), which this movie obviously does not resemble. Weird.

Like I said, it’s not a bad movie, but they failed to milk the ideas and satire for what they were worth, settling for obvious gags and repetitive “Oh it’s funny because he’s a ZOMBIE!” type scenarios.

What say you?

10 comments:

  1. I really liked this one, I saw it at the Seattle International Film Festival, but I guess it never made it out of the festival circuit. Everyone seemed to like it allot but they never really put it into wide release.

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  2. Thanks for this review. Everywhere else that I've heard about it as been claiming it to be the next Shaun of the Dead. I have it on my Ziplist [Canada's version of Netflix] so I should be recieving it shortly. Still looking forward to seeing it, but thanks for laying out some realistic expectations for it.

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  3. The deja vu I felt with this film was its closeness to all of the dog movies I've ever seen. You know - the Old Yellers and Red Ferns. There was even a deleted scene with the kid throwing rocks at Fido and saying "you have to GO! I hate you!" etc.

    I found it pretty amusing, though.

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  4. i liked it, and incidentally, i was going to suggest it to you as we watched it on the 6th! eerie.

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  5. Yea - essentially this is "Lassie" except for Timmy owning a dog he has a pet Zombie :-)

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  6. Have to admit, I dug this flick a helluva lot more than you! While I agree that it's no Shaun of the Dead, I found it to be a very entertaining little horror comedy. If I may humbly say, I too recently reviewed it on my own blog,
    href="http://thevaultofhorror.blogspot.com">The Vault of Horror

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  7. Yeah... I seem to be in the very minority on this one, but that's good... it's easier when i'm disappointed by a movie everyone loves than when I love a movie everyone hates... my Armageddon fanaticism has cost me friends and probably even a lay or two...

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  8. I didn't really care for this one much either. To be fair, I've yet to see the whole thing. (I fell asleep with about 20 minutes left. It's not a priority though.) Love the blog; it's been a staple at work for a long time. Since I actually have an account now, I figured I should let you know. Check out my reviews at Wine and Werewolves if you get the chance....

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  9. I just found this movie on Netflix tonight. As soon as I finished, I felt the urge to hop on here and see if you have reviewed it. I usually agree with your reviews, but this is one that I have to disagree on. I was very entertained and thought their approach to this story was quite impressive in many aspects. But hey, if everyone always liked the same exact things, that would be a boring world!

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  10. I love this movie so much, it always gives me the warm fuzzies. I found it charming rather than funny, and it's one of my absolute favourite zombie movies.

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