Director: Jordan Rubin Starring: Rachel Melvin Writer: Jordan Rubin, Al Kaplan, Jon Kaplan | 3/5 Zombeavers Have you ever been sifting through Netflix or iTunes movie titles and seen a movie that looks so absolutely bonkers that you cannot help but want to see it. If you are like me, you rarely actually make the leap. I am dedicating today to the advocacy of low-budget B-movies that are so bad, and yet so good. A perfect specimen for today’s sermon is Jordan Rubin’s deliriously loony/thrilling/hilarious Zombeavers, a movie with a title that says everything you need to know. Zombeavers follows the tried and true model of throwing a crew of frisky, self-obsessed college kids in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere and watching them fight for their lives against that story’s big evil. Whether it be Jason, Nazi zombies, or undead beavers, the point is simple: these kids are jerks, let’s see them tormented. It’s a twisted notion unto itself that drives us to these stories, but all of us have it and we are better off just admitting it. So many mega-budget Hollywood films suck beyond belief, and yet carry around this air of self-importance that spoils the whole project. There is nothing technically “good” about junky films like Evil Dead and Dead Alive, but they remain consistently aware of the second-rate status - it’s also worth noting that the directors of these films, Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson, have gone on to astronomical success. Anyways, once you can get in on the joke, enjoying the C-grade acting and cheesy special effects of these films becomes effortless. You even crave it. Given the choice of paying eight bucks to see franchise trash like Insurgent or Taken 3 or paying a two to see a silly film like Zombeavers, my answer will be the same every time. |
No one is going to deny that the special effects of these films are good. The blood-thirsty beavers here are created using the most rudimentary looking puppetry you have ever seen. The film contains a great deal of blood, gore, and guts, none of which are convincing; but boy does it make for a fun viewing experience. Go ahead and laugh at these things; it’s what you are supposed to do. Everyone is laughing together, filmmakers and audience members alike. To turn your nose up at silly art like this is a true shame. Neither the screenplay, written by Al Kaplan, Jon Kaplan, and the director, nor the acting is award worthy. Well…duh. Who cares when the onscreen antics are this exhilarating.
To know that the people involved with making the film are laughing with you is the whole point. Just check out the self-sabotaging, hilarious promotional art (pictured on the left). That one poster, which shows a zombeaver in Sandra Bullock’s role in Gravity, is funnier than every Kevin Hart comedy that has come out this year combined. These films should not be shunned for their technical shortcomings. They should be celebrated for simply having the nerve to entertain for entertainments sake. There’s no metaphors here. No heady symbolism or self-congratulatory tactics to make you think it is better than it actually is. This is a movie about a bunch of zombie beavers who enjoy killing douche-y college kids. Don’t ask questions. Rent it. Enjoy it.
(Available on iTunes)
To know that the people involved with making the film are laughing with you is the whole point. Just check out the self-sabotaging, hilarious promotional art (pictured on the left). That one poster, which shows a zombeaver in Sandra Bullock’s role in Gravity, is funnier than every Kevin Hart comedy that has come out this year combined. These films should not be shunned for their technical shortcomings. They should be celebrated for simply having the nerve to entertain for entertainments sake. There’s no metaphors here. No heady symbolism or self-congratulatory tactics to make you think it is better than it actually is. This is a movie about a bunch of zombie beavers who enjoy killing douche-y college kids. Don’t ask questions. Rent it. Enjoy it.
(Available on iTunes)