“You crazy, wonderful zombie!”

And speaking of weird Canadian horror influenced movies, 2006 brought the world Fido, a touching story set in the 1950s about a boy and his zombie. This is gonna be a fun month.

Story
Well, we’re in an alternate 1950s, one where the zombie apocalypse has taken place but humanity endures in fortified, walled cities. Trouble is, anyone who dies can rise as a zombie unless special funerary precautions, such as burying the head in a separate coffin, are taken.

However, there’s a silver lining to this. The zombies are the slow, shambling kind, and they can be fitted with special control collars and trained to do menial labor. What could go wrong?

Characters
Timmy Robinson: K’Sun Ray is our main character, a cheerful lad who’s family gets a zombie

Bill Robinson: Dylan Baker (from the Spider-Man movies and Trick ‘R Treat) is the straight-laced patriarch of the Robinson family who’s kind of a jerk and obsessed with not rising as a zombie when he dies.

Helen Robinson: Carrie-Anne Moss (from The Matrix) is Bill’s wife and not exactly happy with the marriage.

Fido: Billy Connolly is awesome (and barely recognizable under the makeup) as the title character. He really conveys a lot of emotion with nothing but growls, groans and expressions.

Visuals/Effects
Directed by Andrew Currie and DP Jan Kiesser the visual look of the movie is pretty much “Leave It To Beaver” meets the Zombie Apocalypse with a little dose of the tongue-in-cheek attitude of the Fallout video games. Makeup effects on the zombies are all quite good too.

Writing
Written by Robert Chomiak, Andrew Currie & Dennis Heaton and story by Dennis Heaton. It’s not as uproariously funny as Zombieland or Shaun Of The Dead, but there’s a more restrained level of satire going on here. There’s plenty of social commentary here, but the bulk of the story is also character driven, so it’s a generally solid storyline.

Sound
Original music by Don MacDonald, the music really plays up the dichotomy of the 50’s iconography and zombie presence.

Conclusion
Fido is a really fun indie zombie comedy with strong performances and a great satirical bent to it. Maybe not the best movie on the Octoverride, but by no means is it bad. It was recommended to me, and here I go passing the savings on to you. Recommended.