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CAST
ALEXANDER ENGLAND
LUPITA NYONG’O
AVA CARYOFYLLIS
JOSH GAD
GLENN HAZELDINE
DIESEL LA TORRACA
MARSHALL NAPIER
KAT STEWART
NADIA TOWNSEND
CHARLIE WHITLEY
WRITTEN BY
ABE FORSYTHE
PRODUCED BY
JESSICA CALDER
KEITH CALDER
STEVE HUTENSKY
JODI MATTERSON
BRINA PAPANDERA
DIRECTED BY
ABE FORSYTHE
GENRE
COMEDY
HORROR
RATED
AUS:MA
UK:15
USA:R
RUNNING TIME
93 MIN |
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A bloody, curse-filled zombie romp with a surprising sweet side, Little Monsters adds new life to an overplayed horror sub-genre, thanks to its winning performances and no holds barred direction from Abe Forsythe.
The zombie movie often lives up to its name, for no matter how many times we think its dead, up pops a bloodthirsty contender to reinstate its prominence. The latest film to do so is Little Monsters, an Australian made comedy-horror that is as hilarious as it is gut-drenching, and there is plenty of intestine on show here.
Written and directed by Abe Forsythe (Down Under), Little Monsters is about as rude, crude, and vulgar as a zombie film can get, and it’s a blast while being so. Forsythe’s films so far have proven he’s not one to shy away from the taboo or the controversial, and in Little Monsters he gets to tackle both head-on, with his bloody zombie misadventure set during a kindergarten excursion at the zoo.
Little Monsters stars Alexander England as Dave, a 30-something year old slacker who is reeling over his breakups with long suffering girlfriend Sara (Nadia Townsend) and his death metal band God’s Sledgehammer. Moving in with his responsible sister Tess (Kat Stewart), Dave volunteers to supervise his 5-year-old nephew Felix (Diesel La Torraca) during his class excursion to a zoo, in order to get closer to teacher Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong’o). When a zombie uprising occurs, Dave and Caroline team up with cowardly children entertainer Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad) to take on the undead horde and protect the children.
Forsythe delivers much in the way of blood, guys, and decapitations. With the slow, shuffling kind his zombie of choice, Forsythe sets up and executes a number of grizzly kills, with the sight of yellow dress wearing Nyong’o levelling zombies with a shovel one that will go down in zombie movie lore. Great makeup effects give the zombies and their entrail eating exploits a nasty edge, and Forsythe’s use of colour – in particular Nyong’o’s yellow dress and the green fields of the zoo – adds a splash of vibrancy beyond the crimson gunk.
The use of young children for R-rated comedy foil can be tacky and even icky at times, and it sure can feel the same in Little Monsters. Yet there is purpose behind such exploitation, with Forsythe establishing the lead character of Dave as prime douchebag material of little redeeming features…that is, until the zombies break loose and the crap hits the fan. Alexander England is great in the role, making Dave a detestable yet loveable heavy metal man-child, who when called to step up to the plate (or in this case, the wicket) he does so.
Great too are American leads Lupita Nyong’o and Josh Gad in opposing roles, Nyong’o stealing scenes as the sweet natured Christian teacher who plays Taylor Swift on the ukulele and decapitates zombies with a shovel, while Gad is hilarious as a foul mouthed coward with an alcohol problem and strong penchant for banging the mothers of his adoring tyke fans.
Forsythe makes it all work, resulting in a crude, rude, bloody, and bloody good zombie horror comedy.
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