Fido - 2006

Why I Watched It: It's a comedy about zombies. A zomedy! (Hear that? It's the sound of a new genre being born...)

What I Thought: Excellent movie! Take some amazing character actors, dress them up as the Cleaver's (That was "Leave it to Beaver's" last name. Yes, he was Beaver Cleaver.), give them a pet zombie played by Billy Connolly, and make the entire movie a brilliant homage to yesteryear. That's Fido!

Fido takes place after the zombie problem has been brought under some semblance of control. Zomcon has developed collars that appease the zombie's hunger for flesh, which of course makes them natural candidates for mowing the lawn and helping around the house. What could go wrong?

Fido spends as much time parodying shows like "My Three Sons" and "Lassie" as it does classic horror films like Frankenstein, Night of the Living Dead, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The movie was well written and well executed. Dialogue, set, costume, acting, and cinematography all worked together to make Fido an awesome tribute to the 1950's. Fido reminded me of other films where the dialogue and style of the movie help insert you into the proper time period, movies like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.

The acting was marvelous as well. Billy Connolly was a fun (if unfortunately silent) Fido, Carrie-Anne Moss was the PERFECT 1950's housewife and mother, Timothy Blake Nelson was as exquisitely eccentric as usual, and K'Sun Ray (despite the strange name) played an excellent 50's era son.

And I really can't say enough about smart comedies. It saddens me deeply that movies like American Pie and Oldschool, with all their toilet humor and sexual inadequacy, actually pass for most people's idea of comedy in this country. I like my comedy witty and pointed, movies like O Brother and I Heart Huckabees.

*Cruising the net, I just found the "official" website for Zomcon. Check out the site, if it cracks you up as much as it did me then you'll know Fido is the movie for you!*

Highlights: Carrie-Anne Moss's best acting yet. Brilliant parodying of everything from era television and commercials to nuclear paranoia. Memorable scenes of post-zombie life such as school children taking "outdoor instruction" which meant practicing at the rifle range and chanting mnemonics like "In the brain and not the chest. Head shots are the very best." Excellent dialogue gems like "What is it [Fido]? Where's Timmy?" No movie has ever included so much delicious gerontophobia, "Old people can't be trusted."

Who Should See It: Comedy fans, horror fans, classic movie fans, classic TV fans, and nostalgic baby boomers.

How Soon: Run to the theater as soon as it releases in your local artsy movie house. Fido is really good and really funny. For the rest of the summer, you probably won't see anything better hit the theater!