I guess Zombeavers is the kind of movie that you know going in if you have a chance of liking it or not. I mean, a title (and subsequent premise) that stupid automatically eliminates a good section of the potential audience. And what with intentionally bad movie mash-up titles (I'm looking at you, Sharknado), I can't blame them. But Zombeavers isn't intentionally bad - it's actually pretty good. Sure, it's stupid and sophomoric - but the entertainment value comes from it actually being funny/entertaining, rather than constantly winking at the screen being all like "we're in on the joke too." It just doesn't feel cynical like so many SyFy movie-of-the-week entries - you get the idea that co-writer/director Jordan Rubin didn't set out to make a "bad" movie, he set out to make a "fun movie" that just happens to share some elements with many bad ones. Zombeavers is the right kind of stupid, and I had a lot of fun with it.
It starts out with two truckers (comedian Bill Burr and an unrecognizable John Mayer) hauling some toxic waste around. They're joking back and forth (it's pretty funny), but then get distracted and hit a deer. This causes some waste to roll off their truck and land right by a beaver dam, which sets the whole shebang into motion. When I was in eighth grade, I was in a home-made movie with some of my buddies that started off very similarly, so I certainly appreciated the way the zombeaver menace began here.
Anyways, cut to our three heroines - sorority sisters Mary, Zoe, and Jenn, who are headed out to Mary's family cabin for a girl's weekend. It was supposed to be a weekend with their boyfriends too - but Jenn's guy Sam ruined that by cheating on her... so now it's girls only. All three of them are kind of annoying/ditzy-types - I mean, it's the kind of movie where *everyone* is annoying, but not really in a grating way. You know they are all pretty much beaver fodder anyways. But Jenn seems to be the Final Girl - wronged by her boyfriend, respectful of the people around her, blonde, and all that jazz. Zoe is the most obnoxious (and the horniest), so she has managed to get the three boyfriends up to the cabin anyways - infidelity be damned! Anyways, it doesn't take long for the Zombeavers to attack... first during a swimming session at the lake, and then attacking the cabin horde-style. And the beavers have (awesomely) chewed through the phone lines, and there's no cell service (of course their isn't) up there. So the kids can't call for help, and can't escape - they must fight back. Good times!
First off, the zombeavers themselves are pretty awesome. Zombeavers is the kind of film where the filmmakers have no problems using puppets - while they are not ever really *scary* per se, there is an endearing throwback feel to the film that I really dug. Adding to the charm is the fact that the zombeaver vocalizations are clearly just some guy going "arrghhh-warl'ar-aarhh" - I just couldn't help but laugh every time they were onscreen doing their thing.
There's some okay gore here too... regrettably a little too much CGI-splatter and whatnot, but I loved the beavers enough that I just kind of rolled with it. Plus, you get some post-beaver-attack prosthetic work that looks pretty good.
Plus, it's just a funny movie. I mean, it's honestly more of a comedy than anything - you get plenty of gore and maybe even some other zomb-animals - but there's never really a time in the film that I would describe as tense. But I don't think it's really even trying to be. Zombeavers is more of the fun roller-coaster ride type of film. The humor is *definitely* sophomoric at times, but it works more often than it doesn't.
A lot of the credit for this has to go to the cast. All of them have good comedic timing and seem to be on board with the tone director Rubin is going for. Like I said, most of the six main kids are saddled with pretty annoying late-teens/early-twenties baggage, but they manage to remain mostly likable. Not enough that you're ever sad when they become beaver-food; but a film like this could easily become unbearable if the kids didn't at least maintain some sort of redeeming qualities. Most notable is the couple of Zoe (Courtney Palm) and Buck (Peter Gilroy). They are the typical ultra-horny kids and by all means should be easily hatable and disposable, but their performances (and the way the script plays out) eventually gets you on their side.
Oh, hi doggie!
Name: Gosling
Breed: Jack Russell, of sorts
Function: To be cute. Also to give his owner Zoe - one of our more initially unlikable characters - a little positive attribute. And, eventually - to cause some inter-group turmoil.
Fate: Gosling is sacrificed to the Zombeavers when the rest of the group needs a distraction. It's actually good story-telling and maybe the closest the film comes to being tense (it doesn't last long though). But there's a solid clip in the credits where the dog is frolicking around with the beaver puppets, while the director is yelling "he's supposed to be scared of them!"
So overall I liked Zombeavers. It's the type of film that delivers on what is promised by it's title - if you think it sounds dumb, I think your viewing experience will follow suit. But if you're intrigued by the mashup title, I think you'll like it - it's funny and well-paced and worth a watch if you're into that sort of thing.
I would recommend this film.
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