Zombeavers has no business being as good as it is.
Stop me if you’ve heard this premise before. A group of horny co-eds go to an empty cabin in the middle of nowhere and are picked off one-by-one by some gruesome, unstoppable force of nature. Since this basic gist describes the vast majority of horror films produced in the 80s so you’d be forgiven if your appetite wasn’t enthusiastically whetted. However, where before we had masked psychopaths with questionable parental supervision, here we have killer beavers. More specifically zombified killer beavers. It’s fantastic.
Co-screenwriter/director Jordan Rubin is clearly well versed in the tropes of the horror films of yore. We have our batch of easily disposable victims, simple and close-minded locals that no one pays attention to, and gloriously cheesy practical effects when the ZOMBEAVERS come knocking (and chewing) at the door. I was reminded of Adam Green’s Hatchet while watching this as it is an attempt to recreate the horror films of our youth with a completely straight face and a genuine love of all those beloved cliches.
With tempered expectations, there is really nothing to complain about for this film. There are plucky comic relief characters and bits, gratuitous nudity, enough gore, and surprisingly, not a single character that makes you want to jump out of a damn window. All the actors, including the wonderfully bitchy Cortney Palm, are fair game in the performances in what otherwise could have been a laughably bad farce full of satire or constant winks at the audience.
Instead, Rubin plays everything straight as an arrow, even when it comes to the more incredulous moments like the transformation of former humans (and even bears) into ZOMBEAVERS. The runtime is a little short so the events tend to unfold fairly quickly with the ZOMBEAVER attacks beginning little more than 20 minutes into the film but this more than not works in the films favor. There is still enough time to learn the characters and their situations (as much as we’re really supposed to) before reanimated aquatic rodents are severed in half via blunt force trauma and genitals are being bitten off.
In short, if you are expecting great art from a film called ZOMBEAVERS, you are way off and should probably realign your expectations with reality. But for those with a love of old school horror, this slasher/creature feature will please you greatly. But considering the tagline is ‘YOU’LL BE DAMNED!’ how can you not like it?
PS: How in the world could I ever forget the awesome Richard Cheese-ish ZOMBEAVER theme song?
ZOMBEAVERS! ZOMBEEEEAVERS! Oh Jesus Christ You can’t escape / They’ve blocked the road with trees
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