Cockneys vs. Zombies is a genre blend of London “caper” and zombie films. Pretty much anything you might expect from a film like this, well, it delivers. Shout Factory brings the film to North America on Blu-ray and now we get to experience the fun.
And it is fun.
Let’s start off with the cast. Alan Ford may not be a recognizable name, but if you see his face you might recognize him from some of the British films he’s done, particularly as a gangster. Then there’s Richard Briers, Tony Selby and Honor Blackman. Yeah, THAT Honor Blackman. On top of that we have Michelle Ryan and Tony Gardner.
As for the premise? Well, a group of young folks, horribly organized, plan to rob a bank. Only things don’t go as planned both because of a zombie outbreak as well as their own incompetence. Then there is the retirement home which is set for demolition so as to make way for a mall or condominiums or something that will make people lots of money but puts the working class people out of a home. How do these two figure together? The two main would-be thieves, brothers, don’t have much in the way of family, but their grandfather is in that retirement home.
The zombie apocalypse breaks out and our would be robbers need to deal with their own situation on top of getting to the retirement home to see their grandfather is safe. There’s much more to it, but that’s enough to get you going. No, it’s not a family film full of positive affirmations in the face of adversity, it’s a gangster film with inept crooks going up against the shambling hoards of zombies. Cut to the retirees and you get possibly one of the best chase sequences ever filmed.
What makes the film really enjoyable is just how well put together it is. The script by James Moran and Lucas Roche is fast paced and cohesive. Many of the elements you might expect in a typical Cockney style gangster film are provided by director Matthais Hoene. There’s not only a solid story here, but it is executed well. Were this given a larger budget and a couple of bigger name actors, I could see this having done well at the box office here.
Cockneys vs. Zombies is a love letter to two different genres – and pays tribute to both very well.
Shout Factory offers up plenty of special features, starting off with two separate audio commentary tracks, one featuring the director and the other one of the screenwriters. A 30 minute featurette looks at the making of the film and a few deleted/extended scenes are also present. Altogether a decent package for an extremely fun film that delivers very well on the promises of its title.