The Walking Deceased Movie Review

A sigh of relief: I had figured The Walking Deceased for an Asylum style rip off of the intermittently good television series of almost the same name. No, instead we're in spoof territory here, with Rick Grimes and his group firmly in the firing line. They're not the only ones though –romzomcom Warm Bodies and Zombieland are also heavily referenced in the plot. The latter being six years old by now, some revision is required if you want to get all of the references. Honestly though, I wouldn't bother. Maybe I was too hasty with that sigh of relief.

It being more than a little out of date isn't its biggest problem though, the movies it chooses to lampoon never taking themselves seriously in the first place. It's hard to effectively rip the piss out of a movie in which Woody Harrelson talks about Miley Cyrus and Bill (fuckin') Murray cameos as himself – unless you're a lot funnier, most of the time you'll just wind up making yourself look stupid. Which is the case here. Ditto Warm Bodies, which I have already forgotten but was infinitely funnier and smarter than this (and when I'm saying that something with Rob Corddry in is funnier, you know we're in dodgy territory). The almost comically grim, ridiculously melodramatic Walking Dead lends itself nicely to being spoofed, but it's actually the one thing The Walking Deceased is least interested in riffing on.

The story? Waking from a lengthy coma, Sheriff Lincoln (really) finds himself caught up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Together with a band of fellow survivors (Chicago, Green Bay, Brooklyn and Harlem... geddit, like Zombieland), an intelligent lovelorn zombie named Romeo (which at least gets us a George A. Romero reference) and the obligatory Daryl Dixon clone, the Sheriff attempts to reconnect with his lost son. Who wears a Sheriff's hat and everyone calls 'Carl' because Walking Dead memes are funny.

Unlike The Walking Deceased. Not a single genuine laugh was raised by its predictable telegraphed humour, over-reliance on referencing things instead of proper punchlines (the Family Guy style of joke telling) or juvenile fart and titty gags. Very little of which is likely to appeal to an audience who have actually seen and enjoyed Zombieland or Warm Bodies. A few smiles are raised during the opening 20 minutes, where all the best jokes seem to lie (mostly at the expense of the Sheriff killing living people) but beyond that, it's inert and predictable. Maybe it's just something about Hershel's farm (which is where the majority of this film is set) that is really, really boring. Sorry Hershel.

The Walking Deceased is easy viewing, but only in that I didn't actively hate it like Vampires Suck or the last Scary Movie sequel. Unfunny, unintelligent and un-good (shush) this dull spoof will be walking all the way to the bargain bin (it's not even a bargain at that price) in no time at all.