Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageFido (2006)
Director: Andrew Currie
Movie review
From Time Out New York
Sparks of life threaten to reanimate Fido, 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. (Wasn’t this kind of parody old in the ’80s?) As we learn in one of those jittery duck-and-cover mock educational films, American soldiers fought waves of the undead in the Zombie War and prevailed, turning their vanquished foes into gardeners and butlers for well-scrubbed suburban families. One such clan consists of status-seeking mom Helen (Moss), bread-earner Bill (Baker) and little Timmy (Ray), lonely until the family acquires “Fido” (Connolly), a soulful walking corpse.Forgetting the pointless Ike-era context for a second, several moments call out for a more serious treatment: the forlorn gaze of a trophy girlfriend gone bluish; the rite of passage that comes when a 12-year-old gets his first pistol (“It can come in handy!” confides Dad). Fido, though, is content with its far-from-heavenly message: Zombies are people too. That’s an absurd sentiment given the lengths gone to achieve it. The best horror movies say the exact opposite: People are zombies too.Author: Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York Issue 611: June 14–20, 2007
Cast & crew
Director: Andrew Currie
Cast: Billy Connolly, Carrie-Anne Moss, K’Sun Ray, Dylan Baker
Duration: 91 mins
UK Release: Jun 15 2007
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now