- Directed by Micah Khan
- Written by Greg D’Alessandro
- Stars Donald Chang, Deepti Menon, Heather Matarazzo, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Cheri Oteri
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiwCtFX3kN8
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It was inspired by an interactive play experience, and knowing that you can see how that might work. It’s very over the top in humor and silliness, which would appeal to some. Brian liked it quite a bit, Kevin thought it was a bit too much.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open on Zack and Ashley’s wedding, but the place is crawling with misbehaving zombies. Credits roll.
We hear from the editor of “Weekly World News” talking about his crazy headlines. He says the best of all of them was the first zombie wedding. He tells the story…
Ashley gives a presentation to the mayor, and she’s very nervous. One guy there, Koko, has an unreasonable crush on her, but she’s into Zack. After a date, Zack sees a guy dressed like a zombie and mocks him, since Halloween is a month away. We are told that the local mailman was “Patient Zero,” of the zombie virus. The pair go to the cemetery, where they meet a weird preacher, and while there, Zack proposes to Ashley. There’s a full choir, in the cemetery, at night. The zombie follows them to the engagement party.
The following morning, both sets of parents talk about who’s in charge of the wedding. Her father wants to have the wedding at the Elks Club, and no one wants that. The back-and-forth between the parents goes on for a while as they stuck-up Cindy, Zack’s mom, picks on Buddy Bob and Betty, Ashley’s hillbilly parents.
Meanwhile, at the Weekly World News, the report says that the zombie virus is being spread by bedbugs. A lot of people don’t even notice that the whole outbreak is happening, Zack being one of them.
The Zombie Control Officers tell a bunch of zombies about getting free “brain substitutes,” but the zombies think there are tracking devices in the fake brains. The zombies break into where the happy couple is partying with their friends and attack.
Zack gets bitten, and Ashley’s parents say the wedding needs to be canceled. Ashley goes to see Zack, and he’s chained to the wall in his mother’s house. He eats his mother but says he’d never hurt Ashley. They talk it out, and decide to go ahead with the wedding.
Ashley’s parents are very much against the idea, but it is Ashley’s wedding, so what choice do they have? Cindy is more concerned about becoming a zombie herself. Some zombie friends want to come to the party as well, and they promise to behave themselves. Meanwhile, Koko makes plans to do away with Zack, and he might just get some help from Ashley’s mom.
It’s the day of the wedding, and the zombie control officers are there in force, and they’ve fed all the zombies. The reporters are there, and it’s all a big production. Humans sit on one side of the church, while zombies sit on the other side. Everyone is afraid of the zombies, but they do seem to be well-behaved.
Outside, Koko knocks out a zombie and steals his clothes. Inside, the zombies are getting restless as the wedding begins. There’s still plenty of time for the two mothers to bicker. We flash back to the couples’ first meeting.
In the middle of the service, Zack’s friends attack the preacher. After a minute, the preacher gets up and “shakes it off” before continuing. The brain substitutes don’t seem to be working, but the government approved them, and they’re never wrong, right?
It’s time for the reception, and the ZCO are getting nervous about their ability to control the zombies. The couple does their first dance, but she’s clearly afraid of Zack. Outside, the original zombie, the mailman, hears the music and leads his many minions toward the church. As the party proceeds, one side character after another is bitten and turns. Suddenly, things get out of control, and the limbs start flying.
Koko grabs Ashley and runs off. She says she’d rather be a zombie than be with him, and she runs back to Zack. She wants to be a zombie now, it’ll make everything easier, but he refuses.
The “bad” zombies make it to the church, and it’s about to be a big battle– until Ashley yells for everyone to behave themselves. She makes a big speech, and then they proceed with the vows.
The end credits feature zombies dancing.
Brian’s Commentary
This was based on a 2015 interactive play. Apparently, once you become a zombie, you have to dress like a clown in tie-dye, leopard prints, and colorful robes.
The zombie makeup is unique. It’s more like shiny grease paint than anything else, cheap looking, but we got used to it pretty quickly, since it’s fairly consistent between all the zombie characters.
I think they could have dropped all the newspaper and reporter stuff; the story ground to a halt every time that stuff came up. It’s got a weird variety of celebrity cameos, but enough that every once in a while, you can recognize somebody.
It’s a bit on the silly side, even for a comedy, but it was definitely entertaining.
Kevin’s Commentary
It’s a lot on the silly side. Too much so for my taste. It’s well made for what it is, but I thought it was pretty tiresome. It gave me some chuckles here and there, but I mostly found myself tuning it out.