Night of the Living Deb
Directed by Kyle Rankin
Starring: Maria Thayer, Michael Cassidy, Ray Wise, Chris Marquette
Dark Sky Films
Reviewed by David Goudsward
Confession time: I don’t like romantic comedies. I think zombie flicks are passé and the number of horror-comedy hybrids that I think are actually successful can be counted on one hand.
Having said all that, I loved this film.
Upbeat and off-center Deb Clarington (Maria Thayer) works up her nerve at a bar one night to approach the stunning metrosexual Ryan Waverly (Michael Cassidy). The next morning, neither can remember much of the night before, or how they ended up at his apartment. Deb’s walk of shame is cut short when they realize Portland, Maine has developed a severe case of zombies. They decide to make their way to the fortified house of Ryan’s father Frank (Ray Wise). Frank seems to know more about the zombie outbreak that expected, and even worse, Ryan’s shrewish ex-fiancée (Syd Wilder), and his trigger-happy, idiot brother Chaz (Chris Marquette) have also sought refuge there. As far as Deb is concerned, being out among the walking dead is looking better and better.
Leaving the house, Deb’s situation does not improve – the roads out of town are sealed off, phones and the Internet are down, and her zombified BFF Ruby (Julie Brister) is locked in her car trunk. Ryan rejoins her, and Deb does what she does best — looks at the bright side, and improvises an unlikely but better-than-nothing attempt to contact the outside world and warn them and still avoid becoming zombie chow.
The dialogue in Night of the Living Deb is snappy and the banter between the leads is brisk and nothing short of endearing. Nobody tries to force a Maine accent, and the film was shot entirely in Portland, Maine. Portland is a quirky city, and our quirky heroes blend perfectly well into the setting. You can’t fake Portland in Canada, and it shows the director’s fondness for the region. And if you’re familiar with the City, location shots are all the more fun. When Ryan stops for coffee, it is a local landmark coffee shop. Of course, it doesn’t usually feature a barista chewing on a previous customer…
In the end, Deb finds her happy ending – after all, it’s a RomZomCom. Portland may not recover from the events, but wanton mass destruction can be fun too.
