Dead and Breakfast (2004)

continued...

... many can appreciate the style and comedy of Dead Alive, Dead and Breakfast has a lot more comedy than actual style, and it's there that Leutwyler's film will lose the kind of praise that was gained by other directors, such as Jackson himself, and especially Sam Raimi. The gags jump in and out of slap stick, from a character endlessly slipping on spilled blood (right out of Bad Taste mind you) and, get this, three dozen zombies all getting together to do "The Thriller!" Surprisingly enough, with Dead and Breakfast, it works! It might be due to the fact that I am easily amused, but really, it's the fact that Leutwyler blends a healthy dose of story, gore, and comedy, all into a solid hour and a half. It's hard not to love the creative and outrageous gore scenes, but the real enjoyment that can be had with this film is resting in the fact that you are in the mood for something that holds no bounds, and is just a tad bit ridiculous.

Finally, something needs to be said about the narrator of this film. Narration in a zombie flick? Whaaa? Well, the man plays a guitar and he's telling us this story by means of about a half dozen finely crafted country songs.

Whaaaaat? Zombie songs in the key of twang?

Its true! I challenge you not to laugh at them, at least just a little bit, because with D&B, it works!

In the end, I think you can walk away from this film while finding a good handful of scenes that really made you smile. It's no Shawn of the Dead like some film festival critics have said in the past, but it is still worth checking out if you're yearning to find something on the rental shelves that could at least hold its own within the shadows of the greats, the ones who nearly invented this type of slap stick horror in the first place

...back to beginning