Genres

Visitors Review

Kurt Loder 2013-06-18 18:08:24

It's beautifully filmed (in the saturated primary colors of 1950s-style Technicolor), and it features a performance by the veteran Scottish actor Billy Connolly that's a small marvel of comic resourcefulness.

Jonathan W. Hickman 2013-06-17 20:36:47

Director Andrew Currie's film is great looking with vivid colors and perfect 1950s set pieces.

2013-06-14 10:59:40

Fido

This review is from: Fido (DVD) I've recently become a zombie fan or lover and out of all the movies I've recently watched, this is one of my favorite. If you're looking for a typical zombie (walks slow, and moans) than this is it, and a little comedy always helps. I recommened this to any zombie fanatic, you won't be disapointed.

StacheHunter 2013-06-13 18:16:50

Candy-coated sleeping pill of a movie

Horror-comedy as a genre is incredibly hard to pull off. "Fido"attempts to walk the same tightrope as "Shaun of the Dead" andunfortunately falls within the first half hour. Zombies are pretty muchplayed out by this time, and "Fido" really has nothing new to say aboutthem once the "cute" premise of having these undead slobs as domestichelp is revealed. Evidently, the director decided the only placezombies hadn't turned up was in America's midcentury, so here we have ahybrid within a hybrid, which should have been titled "Night of theLiving Dead in Pleasantville". The movie itself is a bright and shinyhyper-recreation of the 1950s, with amazing period props. Unfortunatelyfor the actors, the lamps in the main family's living room outshine anyof the performances; the cast is curiously flat in their respectiveperformances. No one in the cast is given anything remotely funny orinteresting to say or do. The movie's structure is wooden and devoid ofany real nuance; we're hit over the head with how funny the zombiesare, and then are asked to be afraid of them moments later. It justdoesn't work. "Parents", another horror-comedy set in the fabulousfifties actually manages to make you laugh and shudder at the sametime, something "Fido" attempts and fails. Still, five stars for thecandy-colored sets, costumes, and props; the art director on thissnoozefest really knows his retro!

Kirk Honeycutt 2013-06-12 08:59:29

For a one-joke movie, Fido does a fine job exploring every possible permutation of that joke.

merklekranz 2013-06-12 02:55:29

Dark comedy oozing with originality........

"Fido" is to be commended for taking a tired genre, zombies, andturning it into a most original film experience. The early 50satmosphere is stunning, the acting terrific, and the entire productionshows a lot of careful planning. Suddenly the viewer is immersed in aworld of beautiful classic cars, "Eisenhower era" dress, art decofurniture, and zombie servants. It would be very easy to dismiss "Fido"as cartoon-like fluff, similar to "Tank Girl", but the two movies arevastly different. "Fido has structure, a script that tells a story, andacting that is superior. Make no mistake, this is a daring black comedythat succeeds where so many others have failed. Highly recommended. -MERK

Susan Worley 2013-06-07 01:04:54

argggg

I was really excited to see this movie because it looked very artsy and funny and I was not disappointed when I finally did get a chance to catch it. The story follows a little boy and his zombie fido thru some really gross but funny situations. A total must see if you like the artsy movies.

zetes 2013-06-06 14:27:57

Great idea, so-so results

In a 1950's style America, humanity has survived the zombie apocalypse,which happened much as it did in Romero's Night of the Living Dead, andis now living safe inside fenced-in safe zones. There is an invention,a collar of some sort, that is able to quell the zombies' hunger forhuman flesh. Now they are used as servants, or, in some cases, pets.Fido is the Lassie of zombies. He even belongs to a boy named Timmy.Unfortunately, as tame as the zombies are, the collars don't alwayswork so well. Timmy and Fido get into trouble when the collar getsturned off, and zombie mayhem begins. The concept is gold, but I don'tthink co-writer/director Andrew Currie produces anything thatinteresting. His film-making is often sloppy. It sometimes feels likehe spent all his budget on some vintage autos and an unnecessaryhelicopter shot. The zombie makeup looks terrible, which is alwaysdistracting. And the zombie actors are generally awful, probably onaccount of Currie's direction. They all seem too expressive in theirfaces and eyes. There are a lot of interesting aspects of thispost-apocalyptic society, but the world and its rules are neveradequately explained. To boot, it's difficult to understand some of thebackstories, especially that of the father (played by Dylan Baker). I'dstill give a slight recommendation, just because the idea is sofantastic. And it's an amusing picture, even if it disappoints.

2013-06-05 11:44:59

The sixties and zombies. What more could you ask for?

This was an adorable movie, even if it was a little choppy and disconnected....kind of like the character Fido, actually.The actors did well with their parts, and the mix of zombie gore, root-for-'em action and feel-good moments really played well together. For someone that is picky about their zombie movies, I was pleasantly surprised!

2013-06-05 02:08:40

Best movie I've seen all year!

If you are a fan of zombie flicks, especially if you enjoyed Shaun of the Dead or the Return of the Living Dead series, stop reading and get this now! Even my wife, who doesn't do horror movies much less zombie movies, thought that Fido was absolutely hilarious.

Joshua Rothkopf 2013-06-04 11:11:19

A zombie comedy that feels late to the bloody punch bowl. Yet the real hindrance here isn't bad timing, but the movie's tiresomely chirpy 1950s Father Knows Best setting, which wears out its welcome in seconds.

2013-06-04 06:17:27

Hilarious!

Funny 1950's "Night of the Living Dead"-esque satire. Can't wait for Zomcom to come to my town!

John Anderson 2013-06-01 20:16:28

Fido, which feels original despite borrowing from a half-dozen genres, shouldn't be taken too seriously.

F J 2013-06-01 14:53:54

Pet Zombies...Who Would Have Thunk It

I can't say I ever would have seen this coming, but one more fresh zombie idea was still in the tank I suppose. Of course, with a quarter of a million in box office, I guess no one really cared. Fido is a fun movie though, not exactly hillarious like in the Shawn Of The Dead vein, but a good little movie. If you like zombie films and 50's satire, you can't help but like Fido.

poe426 2013-05-31 08:39:12

A slice of the Afterlife...

It's ironic (and I've mentioned it before, but I have no problem withrepeating myself) that the parodies of fright films are often farbetter, in terms of production values, than the films they spoof. FIDOcaptures the look and feel of '50s complacency better than most anyperiod drama set in the same era. Director Currie has a good eye(perhaps two) and a sure hand; his players, from Billy Connelly as thedirect lineal descendant of George Romero's Bub in DAY OF THE DEAD toDylan Baker as the straight-laced, William H. Macy father figure (he'slittle more than that, is literally unable to communicate with hispost-nuclear family members) to Carrie-Ann Moss as Mrs. Robinson andTim Nelson (from OH, BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?) as the zombie-lovin'Theopolis, all shine (or "shine it on," as it were). "You have to getover having feelings," the Father tells the Son: "Being alive is whatcounts." FIDO, with its domesticated dead, could very well be afollow-up to Romero's LAND OF THE DEAD without so much as a breaking ofstride. Not as politically savvy, perhaps, but it does manage tocapture the dynamics of the post-nuclear, retro '50s family of todayvery well, indeed.

Manohla Dargis 2013-05-30 19:04:47

In the ticklishly amusing satire Fido, the undead stagger along like stunned toddlers.

2013-05-28 17:52:57

Best of the Dead (Truly Unique)

Every so often a movie comes along in a particular genre and does things "outside the norm."Fido is such a movie.Yes, it's about zombies. Yes, it's about gut-munching. Yes, it's about survival in a post-apocalyptic world.But that's where the similarities end compared to other end-of-the-world zombie flicks.This movie is more like a cross between Pleasantville and Night of the Living Dead, with a little bit of humor thrown in there as well.After a zombie epidemic took over most of the world, a lone scientist invented a collar to control the undead and, through the ventures of the company Zomcom, was able to transform these mindless and hungry monsters into humanity's slaves, turning them into butlers, house aids and gardeners.Enter the Robinson family, the only family in the '50s without a zombie. However, things change when the people-pleasing mom, Helen Robinson (Carrie-Anne Moss), gets Fido, a lovable zombie with life and warmth.Fido quickly becomes best friends with Timmy, Helen's son, but one day when the collar goes on the fritz and Fido eats the neighbor, everything changes, a cover-up ensues and it's up to the Robinson family to hide Fido from those who would want to take him away and kill him (which is something that Daddy Robinson would love to see).This isn't your standard zombie movie. Far from it. It has heart, and though a comedy, it's not slapstick or silly. Just regular funny moments. Billy Connolly as Fido is charming, lovable, fun. You genuinely care for the poor dead guy. You smile with joy when he's happy. Your heart goes out to him when he's sad. You even side with him when he gets mad and takes out his uncontrollable hunger on unsuspecting victims.The story is original. The dialogue is great. The cast couldn't be better.New spins on genres are something I've always been into. Though classic takes on things have their place, every time something new comes along it's like a breath of fresh air and Fido is definitely that.Even hardcore zombie lovers who need a dose of shambling, rotting corpses and loads of blood will enjoy this film as there are "classic zombie moments" in it as well.This DVD also contains director Andrew Currie's extremely poignant short film, Night of the Living, about the cause-and-effect of alcohol in the family but with a zombie twist.Very recommended.A.P. Fuchs

Lewis Beale 2013-05-28 08:11:19

There's nothing here that couldn't have been done better in an eight-minute sketch on "Saturday Night Live."

2013-05-28 02:59:47

A boy and his zombie/dad/slave/dog/what?

What was the point of this movie? I doubt anyone can tell me because there wasn't one. Fido takes place in an alternate universe where cosmic dust bombards the earth in the 1940's causing the dead to reanimate spurring a world war of humans versus zombies. Sound interesting? Don't get your hopes up, all of that interesting stuff happens in the first 5 minutes of the film during a mock newsreel informing the film's watchers of what's happened since the dead have risen and how humans won the "zombie war," creating collars that keep the flesheaters in check and how they are now used as slaves.The entire rest of the movie takes place during the 50's in an idyllic patriarchy where we get to see all the funny things that happen when we turn zombies into day laborers and house servants.I'm guessing that the makers of Fido were trying to say something about slavery, women's lib, racism, etc. But none of that comes across as the storyline for Fido makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and in the end doesn't seem to have anything at all to say other than "zombies are people too" I guess. Sure, they're dead, probably stink to high-heaven and will eat you if their control collars malfunction, but other than that, we should learn to accept them and appreciate their cultural difference and diversity.Fido is an exercise in insanity, borrowing from Romero's original intended satire from his first two dead flicks which spoke of the red scare of communism and the idea of a new generation eating the previous one.I guess Fido is meant to be a comedy, but in order to be funny, a comedy has to have some form of satire that comments on our own daily lives and causes us to question the way we are and why we do the things we do while making us laugh at the same time.Fido doesn't do that, so it's not a comedy. It's not scary, so it's not a horror either. What is it? It's a nonstop fanboy homage to older, and meaningful zombie flicks.All that said, I do have some nice things to say about Fido. The cinematography, set design, colors and actors are all great. So in that respect it's much like a turd dipped in gold, but scratch the surface and I think you'll be able to smell what I'm talking about - Fido is stinko.

Richard Roeper 2013-05-27 21:10:58

Fido is a one-joke movie with some good performances and a few good gross-out moments. But it's not dark enough or sick enough to be a cult favorite.