Directed by Robbie Pickering. Written by Oren Uziel. Starring Nicholas Braun, Mackenzie Davis, Josh Fadem, Joan Cusack, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Rachael Harris, Pat Healy, Vanessa Hudgens, Keegan-Michael Key, Dennis Leary, Derek Mears, Bob Odenkirk, Patton Oswalt, Aurora Perrineau, Ian Roberts, Cerina Vincent, Ed Westwick, Mae Whitman and Chris Zylka.
Plot: when a town populated by humans, vampires and zombies, is invaded by aliens, a small group of outcast teenagers must bring everyone together to fight.
While not a popular opinion it seems, DJ and I really liked this movie. It’s about a small town in Ohio where vampires reign supreme, zombies scrape the bottom of the barrel and humans fall somewhere inbetween. Dag (Braun), a human, is crushing on Lorelei (Hudgens), also human, but she’s dating Chaz (Zylka), another human and total asshole. Lorelei is a bit of an ass, too, as she’s just using Dag’s bedroom as a place to store her weed. Elsewhere in town, Ned (Fadem) is living as Chaz’s underappreciated brother. He’s very unhappy and winds up telling zombie Jenna (Whitman) to bite him so that he doesn’t feel so very much anymore. There’s also Petra (Davis), a human who lets vampire Milan (Westwick) bite her, thinking he wants a long-term relationship. He ends up rejecting her later, leaving her to deal with vampirehood on her own. Then, the aliens show up.
Most of the humans, vampires and zombies turn on each other and are abducted because of it. But Dag, Ned and Petra begin working together to figure out why the aliens are in their town at all. Ned’s genius, even apparent while a zombie, really helps in this department. And Dag’s parents have been keeping a secret that turns out to be a blessing as well. In the end, the movie isn’t just about defeating aliens though, it’s about trust, communication and cooperation. Will they save the day? Will Dag and Petra get together? Will Ned and Jenna be happy? Will Ned and Chaz learn to get along? SPOILER ALERT: the answer is ‘yes’ to all of these things. As it should be.
This was very creative. We enjoyed that. It was also very funny, very original and very rewatchable. The effects and innovation were also enjoyable. We especially liked the vampires exploding when you staked them. The rules were sound. Characters behaved realistically. The cast was convincing, the direction was strong and the ending was fantastic. It’s important that you get to see a happy ending every once in a while.
Our score: 76.
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