Campfires, going to senior parties, and girls. That’s you would normally think about if you were a junior in high school still in scouts. Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller), and Augie (Joey Morgan) have been best friends for years since they first joined scouts. While Augie is getting his Condor Patch, the highest achievement a scout can get; Ben and Carter think it’s about time they leave scouts, since they are going into their junior year and don’t want to be seen as dorks. However after ditching Augie the two set out to find the secret senior party where Carter’s sister Kendall (Halston Sage) is at and Ben is all for it. However Ben begins to notice some abnormal things in town, like their scout master (David Koechner) not showing up for the campfire and the town being completely abandoned. The two make a pit stop and run into some trouble at a strip club, much to Carters delight due to the bouncer being mysteriously gone from the door. Unfortunately the two get a little more than a lap dance when they come face to face with the source of all the odd behavior, Zombies. Luckily they befriend Denise (Sarah Dumont) a cocktail waitress from the club and the three of them plus Augie set out on a mission to save Kendall before the government decides what to do to the zombie infested town.
From Christopher B. Landon comes Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. With Landon being most known for working on the Paranormal Activity franchise, this movie is a bit of a change from his usual work. Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is exactly what you would want from a comedy horror movie obviously targeting young adults. It has witty lines, zombies, and attractive leads. While the movie sometimes boarders the lines of too campy, I feel it balances well. While the whole concept of the film is silly, it is executed in a brilliant way and thankfully they don’t rely heavily on dick jokes.
I was fortunate enough to be able to go the Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse Ultimate Fan Experience. They gave shirts to everyone who attended and the excitement could be felt while in the room with avid zombie film fanatics. However at the beginning of the film it showed a special piece of film just for the event, and it was awful. Ten minutes of Dillion Francis’s zombie cameo in a music video that never seemed to end. While some enjoyed it most of the audience sighed with relief when it was over. That has to be my only concern with the event, and thankfully it was for the fan experience and more than likely will not be in the actual film showings (General public you are saved). I would recommend this movie for people who enjoy campy horror films, since by all means this film is anything but serious. Also would not recommend of young children, there is some nudity.
I would give this film a 3.5/5 stars. While it was a fun film that kept me laughing for most of it; that fan experience clip definitely was a disaster. I would definitely watch the
Second Review By James Buckles
I went into Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse expecting to see a run of the mill zombie comedy, but I was partially wrong, There is same theme, as many other zombie movies, but they brought in many new gags and a sightly different view, the scouts view.
The day when Augie is be honored with the highest rank in their scouting group, there is not only an annual secret dance thrown by the seniors in their high school, which scouts Carter and Ben get an invite to the party and decide to wait until everyone in camp is asleep to skip out to the Seniors party, but there is also a well timed zombie outbreak in their fair town.
Not being able to find their scout leader, our trio decide to finish the day as planned and then Ben and Carter get caught by Augie, who they thought was asleep. The kids split ways and the fun really begins. Learning that there are zombies on the loose Ben and Carter team up with a stripper and start kicking ass, while Augie is to defend himself in the woods with a rampaging Zombie Scout Leader. With a great mix of camp, horror and splatter the boys eventually meet up again and take on the zombies with glee. One true joy I got was from the running gag about the neighborhood crazy cat lady played by the lovely and infamous, Cloris Leachman, I never knew how much I have always wanted to see her as a zombie who loses her dentures and ends up gumming a teen boys ass! (It was the best and most eye opening laugh of the movie for me.)
I would give Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse 3.5 out 5 stars, not due to the quality of it, but because I am not that big of a zombie movie fan. I would suggest it to anyone for a fun start to a date night, or just a night out with the gang.
