America is in the grip of a zombie apocalypse and geeky student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is doing his best to stay alive. Living by a set of strict rules that keep him one step ahead of the undead, Columbus is heading across country to try to find his parents when he bumps into Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson). A rough, tough zombie-killing expert with a fondness for Twinkies, Tallahassee reluctantly teams up with the young nerd and the two continue on together, meeting sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Ripped off by the young whippersnappers who steal their truck, Columbus and Tallahassee manage to catch up with the crafty siblings and the four form an uneasy alliance against the animated corpses that stalk the streets. With Wichita determined to take her younger sister to the Pacific Playland amusement park in LA - which she believes to be a zombie-free zone - the quartet head West into a land plagued by flesh-eating fiends.
An inspired comedy horror that lovingly pokes fun at the undead genre with a vibrancy not seen since Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland is a zingy treat with lovable performances from the small central cast. With spritely direction from newcomer Ruben Fleischer, Zombieland has almost no dead weight, coming in at a lithe 81 minutes that are packed with great gags and endearing characterisations.
Opening with an inspired slow-motion montage of zombie attacks that sets the scene for the blackly comic barminess to come, the film also benefits from a sparky script and spot-on casting. Eisenberg's cowardly dweeb makes for a likeably sympathetic hero and Harrelson gives his all in one of the most out-and-out enjoyable performances of his career as the swaggering zombie-slayer. Best of all is the offthe-
wall cameo by a certain comedy legend, gamely playing himself in one of Zombieland's most memorable sequences.
Slick and funny with a good dollop of gore thrown in for good measure, this is gruesomely great entertainment delivered with a winning amount of confidence by both cast and crew.
Zombieland is a Film programme that first aired in 2009 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
