Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Directed by Christopher B. Landon and screenplay by Landon, Carrie Evans, and Emi Mochizuki from a story by Evans, Mochizuki, and Lona Williams, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is the story about a trio of high school Scout kids who find themselves dealing with zombies as they try to save their small town. The film is a horror-comedy in which what happens when zombies find themselves having to deal with three Scout kids who are prepared for any kind of situation. Starring Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, Halston Sage, Sarah Dumont, and David Koechner. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a thrilling and hilarious film from Christopher B. Landon.

The film follows three high school sophomores who are trying to get new recruits to join the Scouts as two of them think about leaving to pursue other interests as they later deal with zombies forcing them to use their skills as Scouts to save their small town. That is pretty much what the film is about as it is set in the span of an entire day where three teenage boys try to get ready for another ceremony as two of them want to go to a senior party as well as do all of the things more mature high school kids are doing. Yet, something happened nearby which has unleashed a horde of zombies ruining the night for these three kids as they’re aided by a cocktail waitress named Denise (Sarah Dumont) who works at a strip club.

The film’s screenplay does reveal how this zombie apocalypse happened and how it would infect a small town where three teenage Scouts have to be the ones to save them with the help of this cocktail waitress. Along the way, there’s some growing pains among the three boys with Ben Goudy (Tye Sheridan) as the conscience of sorts as he’s in love with his best friend’s older sister while Carter Grant (Logan Miller) is eager to party and ditch the more camp-loving Augie Foster (Joey Morgan).

Christopher B. Landon’s direction is definitely stylish from the opening sequence in which a janitor (Blake Anderson) checks out an experiment where everything goes wrong and lead to the mayhem that would ensue. Shot in various locations around Los Angeles, the film does play into this small town feel where not very much is happening and people know each other. Landon does use some wide shots to establish some of the locations yet keeps the compositions simple in terms of coverage while infusing it with elements of style in its approach to comedy and horror. While some of it is over-stylized as well as featuring characters that are thinly-written, Landon is able to make up for some of the film’s shortcomings by just emphasizing on its humor and entertainment factor. Even in the climax which is filled with lots of gore but in all good fun and not take itself too seriously. Overall, Landon crafts a wild and exciting film about a trio of Scouts killing zombies with a cocktail waitress to save their small town and get some poontang along the way.

Cinematographer Brandon Trost does excellent work with the cinematography as many of the daytime scenes are straightforward with some stylish lighting for the strip club scene. Editor Jim Page does nice work with the editing as it stylized despite emphasizing too much on fast-cuts and montages though they do serve their purpose. Production designer Nathan Amondson, with art directors William Budge and Nick Ralbovsky plus set decorator Beauchamp Fontaine, does fantastic work with the look of the strip club as well as the party for the film’s climax. Costume designer Marylou Lim does terrific work with the costumes from the look of the Scout uniforms as well as the somewhat-skimpy clothing of Denise as well as the bloodied clothes that the zombies have.

Special makeups effect supervisor Tony Gardner does brilliant work with the look of the zombies from the way they look including the attention to detail in their body parts. Visual effects supervisor Ryan Tudhope does terrific work with the visual effects as it play into the look of the gore as well as a few moments in the action scenes. Sound designer Peter Brown does superb work with the sound in the way the zombies would sound as well as capturing some of the natural environment in the different locations. The film’s music by Matthew Margeson is wonderful for its mixture of orchestral bombast with hip-hop and electronic music while the soundtrack also play into elements of hip-hop, pop, country, electronic dance music, and rock.

The casting by Courtney Bright, Nicole Daniels, and Joseph Middleton is pretty good as it feature some notable small roles from Dillon Francis as a DJ zombie, porn star Missy Martinez as a police woman zombie with big tits, Elle Evans as a zombie stripper, Blake Anderson as the janitor who would cause the zombie epidemic, Drew Droege as a drunk man Carter tries to use to get him to buy beer, Patrick Schwarzenegger as a douchebag senior Carter’s sister is dating, Niki Koss as a senior Carter wants to sleep with, and Cloris Leachman in a hilarious performance as an old lady neighbor of Carter who hates his guts and later becomes a zombie. Halston Sage is wonderful as Kendall who is Carter’s older sister and Ben’s crush as someone that is very nice as she becomes concerned about Carter when he doesn’t show up for the party. David Koechner is superb as Scout Leader Rogers as a man who is trying to keep the Scout thing alive while wearing a bad toupee and has a love for Dolly Parton.

Sarah Dumont is fantastic as Denise as a woman in her 20s who works at a strip club as a cocktail waitress who befriends Ben as well as help the boys deal with zombies as someone who proves to be more than just being an attractive woman. Joey Morgan is terrific as Augie Foster as a Scout who loves being a Scout as he has accepted his identity while upset that his friends want to ditch him for some party as he would discover his mentor has become a zombie. Logan Miller is excellent as Carter Grant as a Scout who is the most willing to leave in favor of being with the in-crowd as he hopes to party and get laid as he’s also the film’s comic relief. Finally, there’s Tye Sheridan in a brilliant performance as Ben Goudy as a 16-year old high school sophomore who is also a skilled Scout as he ponders about leaving as well as deal with growing pains prompting him to step up and be a good person as well save the town that he cares about.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a stellar film from Christopher B. Landon. Featuring a superb cast, an entertaining premise, and a fine mix of comedy and horror, it’s a film that doesn’t take itself seriously while being just a simple zombie comedy. In the end, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a terrific film from Christopher B. Landon.

Christopher B. Landon Films: (Burning Palms) - (Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones) - Happy Death Day - (Happy Death Day 2U)

© thevoid99 2017