Me and My Mates vs the Zombie Apocalypse
Written and directed by Declan Shrubb
Starring: Alex Williamson, Greg Fleet, Jim Jefferies, Adele Vuko
Lightyear Entertainment
July, 2016
Reviewed by Jess Landry
There can never be too many horror comedies in the world. From gut-busters like Army of Darkness, down to the great homages like Shaun of the Dead, the more hor-coms, the better. Me and My Mates vs. the Zombie Apocalypse is the latest in the genre, and given Australia’s fine contributions in the past (the amaze-balls Dead Alive (or Brain Dead); the Spierig Bros’ kinda-funny-but-mostly-awesome Undead), the bar has been set fairly high.
Me and My Mates vs the Zombie Apocalypse starts with the usual plot: there’s been a zombie outbreak, and co-workers Darryl, Roy and Joel (Alex Williamson, Greg Fleet and Jim Jefferies) take refuge inside their workplace. Eventually Roy’s daughter Emma (played by Adele Vuko) and two others show up, and from there out, they fight to stay alive. It’s fairly straight-forward plot-wise, but what makes the film great is the comedy and the unexpected kick to the feels that the third act brings on. Yeah, there are the usual amount of ball jokes that one comes to expect in comedies these days (checking the balls may even be how one discovers they’re infected, which raises the question: how then do the ladies figure it out?), but the film turns in its aforementioned third act and delivers a surprisingly wonderful sentimental moment (while never losing its kick, o’course).
As it turns out, the special features on the DVD are just as funny as the movie itself. Included are segments like “Backstreet Blooper,” which is probably exactly what you think it is; “Adele vs Andy,” a two-minute clip where stars Adele Vuko and Andy Trieu battle appropriately over a stolen Pepsi; another two-minute featurette called “Australian vs American Zombie Films;” a select few behind-the-scenes moments with comedian Alex Williamson and zombie actor Brendan Kelly; another short featurette with Jim Jefferies; some b-roll footage that runs nearly three minutes; a director’s commentary, and a theatrical trailer.
The obvious parallel that most hor-coms get these days is Shaun of the Dead, the film that essentially opened the door for fans across the world to create humorous homages to the films they love. Though there are zombies running amok, Me and My Mates is not so much an homage to zombie cinema as it is just simply a fine comedy with the undead in it. And it’s safe to say it falls in line with the greats mentioned above, making the bar for Australian-born horror-comedies even higher.
