Reviews

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  ★★★½ review by Bryan Espitia on Letterboxd

  "We cannot turn against each other right now. That's exactly what the beavers would want."

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  ★★★★½ review by Auteur on Letterboxd

  "We're just out here looking for beavers."

  "Well hell, ain't we all?"

  Now this was a pleasant surprise. Zombeavers is a terrific blend of horror and comedy the likes of which I haven't seen in a long while. It's a hard genre to nail, a delicate balance that far too often betrays filmmakers who just don't have enough faith in the material and so allow it to degenerate into a series of ridiculous gags until the horror is lost, or vice versa, misplacing a few awkward comedic bits that undermine the scares. The filmmakers behind Zombeavers take the material surprisingly serious, and allow the comedic moments to develop out of situations instead of forcing them, accompanied by colorful, witty dialogue spoken by a very talented cast.

  Writer/director Jordan Robin spent over fifteen years in the industry writing comedy for Craig Kilborn, The Man Show, and Crank Yankers, and Zombeavers exudes a similarly irreverent flair. He also demonstrates a knack for drawing actual performances out of actors that transcend the throwaway staples of the genre he's dabbling in. Cortney Palm (Sushi Girl) is fantastic in this as one of three women who get more than they bargained for while vacationing and stumbling into a den of zombified beavers who were exposed to toxic gas. There are so many clever moments in this film that just barely approach the edge of stupidity without going overboard, moments that have a kernel of truth to them and are exploited as such. For example Robin squeezes in a sexual encounter in the midst of zombie beaver mayhem by having one of his characters force another to strip and turn around, so she can check for bite marks, and it ends up exciting them both. It's funny because the context of the scene placed in the middle of chaos is overpowered by the physical reality of two people standing naked in front of each other, and so Robin subverts the typical horror film cliche of characters taking time away from avoiding death to make out. The film is full of moments like this.

  As for the horror elements, the beavers are all practical effects and puppets. They are incredibly cheesy, but their demonic look and vicious, loud snarl dominate their low budget constraints. The gore is plentiful, and occasionally downright grotesque. And the film escalates to a place I never thought it would go.

  As expected there are lots of "beaver" jokes, but they are a welcome mixture of the groan-inducing and the intelligent. Everybody shows up for this film and gives it their best, which goes so far these days towards delivering great entertainment. I loved every minute of Zombeavers, right up until the very end which takes a bit that has been done countless times before and presents it in a fresh way which will have you both cringing and howling with laughter right at the fade to black. And that my friends is the definition of tonal perfection. Oh, and before I forget...Brent Briscoe.

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  ★★★½ review by mook on Letterboxd

  A trio of leggy college girls are heading off to a cabin for a weekend in the woods whilst at the same time some toxic waste is being transported by truck nearby...

  The humour and gore of the opening 5 minutes sets the tone, and over the following 70 the concept is gleefully exploited.

  I can only assume the guys behind this came up with the title first and then worked backwards. That might not be the best recipe for success but in this case it worked a treat. This delivers pretty much everything you'd want from a Zombiefied Cabin in the Woods Creature Feature.

  If, like me, you have a fun time with this then hang around at the end for the bloopers, theme song and sequel baiting post-credit scene!

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  ★★★★ review by Vilu on Letterboxd

  Oh, it's just those kids scissoring each other to Lady Gaga.

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  ★★★★ review by Carl Munden on Letterboxd

  The film Sharknado should have been

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