Fido is a film that thrives on a lot of political satire and takes a great mind to see the true meaning behind the film. It’s a filmmakers film and it’s not a film that the normal everyday horror fan is going to enjoy. Sure it’s just another zombie movie in which is a growing sub genre. Everyone is making zombie movies theses days, but the majority of them seem to be just cheap cop off’s of what George Romero created. Fido stands out however in the fact that it’s more than just another “Zombie” movie. Sure, it’s also a comedy but the films real message is much deeper.
Fido takes place after a zombie war in which the human race has pretty much won. A scientist working along side the military had created a collar that gives humans the ability to control any zombie wearing it. The Robinsons are the only family without a zombie. Everyone in the town at least has one under their control. Young Timmy Robinson is an out cast in the town. He gets picked on by bullies and his own father even ignores him. However his mother is a Susie homemaker type who wants to be like every other mother in the neighborhood. So she surprises her son Timmy and her husband by bringing home a zombie. Timmy soon becomes attached to the zombie which he names Fido. While playing in the park one day, Timmy is approached by the two bullies who pick on him in school. They threaten to shoot him with a bee bee gun, but Fido comes to the rescue and saves Timmy before the bullies shoot him. Timmy then decides to teach Fido how to play catch, but Fido can’t really get the hang of it. The ball rolls into the bush alongside the park where it rolls under a park bench occupied by Mrs. Henderson; Timmy’s old nasty neighbor whom gives him a hard time. Fido tried to get the ball from under the bench, when Mrs. Henderson starts beating him with her walker and shuts off Fido’s collar. Fido then gets the thirst for blood and kills Mrs. Henderson. However when Timmy finds him eating her, his collar turns back on. Timmy runs home to clean up Fido before anyone finds out what he has done. However it is too late and Mrs. Henderson has come back to life and is now turning the town residents into zombies themselves.
The script for Fido is perfect. There is a even sense of story and character development. The dialogue is written in such a way that the film takes place in the 1950’s and is written very much like a television show from the time where the family unit was shown in a perfect life, such as Donna Reed show and My Three Sons. However there is a lot of political satire that plays a big part in the script. While the family seems perfect in the film, it relates a lot of the family unit of today. The father is always working or is never home. The child is neglected and is even told to go and watch television by his mother instead of being told to go outside and play. There is a next store neighbor whom has a young teenage girl zombie that he keeps as a sex slave or soughts inciting a sexual predator type. There is a extreme over abundance of children with guns running around and even adults handing out guns to kids, which I saw as a reflection of youths in society today. One can even state that the writers used the zombies to represent day labors and illegal immigrants in this country. as they are treated with a lot of disrespect and are told to do the jobs that most people in this country don’t want or refuse to do. It’s a horror comedy with a message about today’s society and the script flawlessly gives us this perspective.
The acting in the film is unbelievably great. The film has a great cast of both new and veteran actors. Each member of the cast gave such great performances. Billy Connolly was great as Fido. So much so that I didn’t even believe it was him playing the role. K’Sun Ray whom played Timmy was also great in his role as well, and played the role with a real perfect feel of a kid that grew up during that era. The rest of the cast is rounded out with Carrie Ann Moss and Dylan Baker as Timmy’s parents. Tim Blake Nelson as the perverted next store neighbor Mr. Theopolis and Henry Czerny as the militant Mr. Bottoms. Fido has a very good all around cast, all of which play their roles very well.
The production value for Fido is unbelievable. On a budget of only eight million dollars I was very surprised at how well all the visuals and sets were in this film. There are a lot of very bright colors used to give the feeling of being in the perfect town where all the flowers grow perfectly and every lawn is green. The make-up for the zombies and the gore in the film also represents that of the time. The zombie make-up and the colors used to give the zombies their look of being dead worked very well. It’s a film where the production value plays a huge role in how well the film was made.
Overall, Fido is a wonderfully made picture. It has everything one can hope for in not only a horror comedy, but the film is more than
just that. It’s a reflection of today’s society and how we all turn a blind eye to the problems of toady and think things are find and dandy. Fido is not a horror film for the typical horror fan, but will impress horror filmmakers with it’s message. I believe that in order to enjoy this film you need to be able to look beyond the horror and comedy in this flick to find the true message behind it. I give writer/director Andrew Currie a lot of credit for making such a great film. One of the best films I’ve seen this year.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
