I love a good zombie film. There’s just something about distraught citizens fighting off the undead that puts me in a good mood. I was excited at the prospect of adding another zombie flick to my rotation, but unfortunately, The Zombie King did not make the cut. The jumbled storylines, awkward dialogue, and serious lack of compelling characters make this zom-com forgettable at best.

The film starts off with Ed the prickly postman (George McCluskey), Munch the goofy milkman (David McClelland), and Boris the skittish parking warden (Michael Gamarano Singleton). These three come together amid the start of a zombie apocalypse as they simultaneously try to survive and search for answers. The goofy trio had good chemistry and gave the film a Shaun of the Dead vibe. Their initial funny banter made the film seem promising and I was excited to see where it went. Unfortunately, as the film goes on, it features less and less of these three protagonists and that is the film’s biggest mistake. 

After meeting the three central characters, several other characters are introduced almost all at once. With the exception of the initial three, all the other characters introduced lacked substance and intrigue, preventing any opportunity for real audience-character connection. Most of these characters were dull, and some went so far as being awful. Those that met their untimely demise either left me feeling unaffected or thankful that there was one less character to try and follow. Zombie films are unlike slasher films in that the zombies are not necessarily distinct. There is not one main antagonist, it’s a horde of nameless dead things. So the connection to the surviving characters is essential for a zombie film’s success. And there is not much of that in The Zombie King. 

Though The Zombie King has its challenges, one thing it does nicely is the flashbacks. Flashbacks are used to fill in story blanks and without them, the story would have completely imploded. They were done in a way that was not confusing and several of the scenes served as a funny visual aid and a way to avoid monologue after monologue of exposition. 

The Zombie King ebbs and flows from entertaining to staggeringly boring. I found myself much more interested in the survival storyline rather than the ‘Zombie King’ storyline. Speaking of storylines… The Zombie King has an interesting idea, but that idea is not executed well. I mentioned the story started off with three survivors. But that’s not the whole story. There is an additional plot that runs side-by-side with the survivor story. It involves broken-hearted Samuel (Edward Furlong) making a deal with malevolent god Kalfu (Corey Feldman) to reunite him with his deceased wife. This part of the film is murky at best and it took some Googling to clear some confusion on what I thought was happening. I would have much preferred a film that focused solely on Munch, Boris, and Ed as they try to navigate this new zombie-ridden landscape or even focusing primarily on Samuel and his deal with Kalfu. But combining the two and trying to prominently feature both put 10 pounds of movie in a 5 pound bag and it is painfully obvious. 

Some of the dialogue in the film is witty and enjoyable. However, many moments are muddied with awkward one-liners and faint attempts at humor. The biggest issue I had with the dialogue was the forced attempts at moving the story forward. For example, in a church all the survivors are in, they are told by a priest the story of Samuel and his wife, and Samuels dark quest to reunite them. The amount of knowledge presented by the priest felt unrealistic and appeared to be an expositional tool to merge the previously separate storylines. It was ineffective and inorganic. 

Overall The Zombie King has some shining moments. Our trio of misfit heroes steals the show with their witty banter and a nice blend of comedy and violence. But the show is stolen from them by uninteresting characters, ambiguous storyline, and forced dialogue. Fans of horror-comedy might want to give it a try but tread carefully.

4 out of 10