You read that right. We’re having a zombie wedding! Based on the interactive play, a young New Jersey couple (Deepti Menon and Donald Chang) decides to plan the wedding of their dreams, and there’s more than family drama standing in their way. There’s a zombie outbreak, but no one is worried about that. It’s business as usual for a groom turned zombie and his regular human bride. It’s a ZomCom!
The Wedding Announcement
Directed by Micah Khan, The Zombie Wedding could be a wedding reality show. We’re talking soap opera fun with an outrageous cast of characters. There is no subtlety in the comedy, the drama, or the zombie and human antics. Once Patient Zero begins feeding off humans, this plague quickly spreads leaving some interesting zombies in its wake. However, this doesn’t spell the end of the world for anyone.
The undead are carrying on with their lives, completely unfazed by their deaths. They can talk, work, go out for coffee, and date, all the while dealing with an appetite for brains. The humans mostly remain oblivious, some avoid them while others go on the offense. Luckily, there’s an assembled team doing their best to keep order and provide a brain substitute to keep the crowds from becoming hangry.
While trying to keep a semblance of normalcy, the groom is bitten and becomes one of the undead. However, this doesn’t deter the happy couple (Ashley and Zack) from planning their dream wedding. Aside from the parents’ griping they also have to deal with their peculiar relationship and the fears of continuing their lives together. There’s no question that they love each other but will they actually wed? Zack assumes Ashley will eventually leave him but carries on with their plans. Alternately, Ashley keeps up a facade of hopefulness while pretending everything will be alright.
The Wedding Processional
Obviously, I need to rave about this cast. The moment I saw Heather Matarazzo, I totally fangirled. She portrays Sue Wee, the Chief Zombie Control Officer. She’s hilarious and is one of the few people taking this zombie apocalypse seriously. Wielding her zombie mace and brain-substitute nutrition bars, she struggles to maintain a civilized community where the humans are most of the problem. Additionally, there’s the ever-present WWN news team (Mu-Shaka Benson And Christine Spang), shoving cameras in her face.
Cheri Oteri is hilarious as the mother-in-law from hell. Privileged and overbearing, she carries on her lavish lifestyle and horrid distaste for the bride. Conversely, Ashley’s parents are supportive but also boisterous and stubborn. Her mother, (Siobhan Fallon Hogan) is noticeably having fun with this character. Why does her family have Southern accents? Maybe it’s natural but also I don’t care. It adds to the family’s charm.
This fantastic cast is rounded out with a special DJ performance from Micky Dolenz. I quietly screamed because I would go wild for reruns of “The Monkees” when I was young. And the pièce de résistance, my beloved Gabriel from “The Walking Dead”. Excuse me while I pass away. Seth Gilliam is magnificent as Reverend Harry Crump.
The Wedding Reception
Overall, I enjoyed the comedy, the characters, and the zombie wedding story. There’s bizarrely hip music, but only one musical number. The costume design for the zombies is wild. Their dress is outlandish and flashy. There is a lot of back and forth from one group of characters to the next but I think their scenes work well together. The comedy is delightfully wacky. Furthermore, everyone is perfectly ludicrous.
On the contrary, there are a few things that could have been improved. The pacing is quite uneven. Some scenes languished, especially in the third act. With this brand of comedy horror, you need to keep things moving. Also, the narration could have been added to the film and not used as transitions. Therefore, the runtime was a little long especially because there were moments that were too quiet and not much happening on screen. Additionally, the horror was more theatrical than violent. But I know some people don’t like all the blood and gore, but some people is not me.
Ultimately, I would recommend it, and not just for the absurd wedding of a human to a zombie. The performances were entertaining, the zombies were bonkers, and the silly family drama was a definite plus. And I worried about the wedding kiss for so long. Will they go through with this? Also, I swear I saw a flying saucer at some point but I could have imagined it. Check out The Zombie Wedding, now playing in select theaters, available through cable and digital VOD, and I see it appears to be streaming, on hoopla.
