Hey, here's a fun little film to look up.. Fido! It takes place in an alternate 50s style universe shortly after the great Zombie War. Awhile back, the dead were rising from the graves and attacking the living, but the military managed to beat them down. After a scientist invited a collar that would suppress a zombie's natural urge to feed on the living, someone came up with the idea of mass producing these things and using zombies as servants in menial tasks (remember, this was the time in America's history before class action lawsuits were common place.)
Cut to today: Now we live in a world were zombies roam placidly about, doing menial tasks like delivering papers, working in factories, and being bought as servants for the uber-wealthy. In a particular suburb, Young Timmy (yes, I think the name is intentional) is a lonely young boy with his mom and dad, who seem more concerned about keeping up appearances than him. On impulse, his mom buys a zombie to serve the family (and improve their status in the neighborhood), despite the father's objections. At first, Timmy doesn't care much for his undead companion, but after Fido (as Timmy calls him) scares off some school bully, him and Timmy become bestest of friends.
But all is not sunny in the neighborhood. While retrieving a ball thrown during a game of catch, Fido runs into the neighborhood's cranky old lady, who hits him on the neck with her walker. This causes Fido's collar to malfunction, with predictable results. Now, Timmy's got his hands full, dealing with the problems that having an undead guy for a pet can occur.
Anyway, the film is a lot of fun, it's PG-13, so there's not much in the gore department, but still, don't let that turn you down. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it!
You forgot the most important part of a bad movie, the dialog. How is the dialog?
I may have to look this one up!
The movie is awesome.
But what you left out is that Fido is played by Scottish comedian-actor Billy Connolly.
That alone makes it worth seeing.
Quote from: Phaedrusz on June 20, 2008, 01:38:36 PM
The movie is awesome.
But what you left out is that Fido is played by Scottish comedian-actor Billy Connolly.
That alone makes it worth seeing.
He's very well made up, I had no clue that was even him! I had to look it up.
Search is a wonderful tool ... :wink:
Here is the original FIDO thread
http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,117483.0.html (http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,117483.0.html)
I've been seeing this on the rack at a local convenience store for months. I've been tempted a couple of times, but never quite had the courage to pick it up. Comedies of this type are generally either brilliant or painful, without much middle ground.
Quote from: AndyC on June 20, 2008, 07:24:54 PM
I've been seeing this on the rack at a local convenience store for months. I've been tempted a couple of times, but never quite had the courage to pick it up. Comedies of this type are generally either brilliant or painful, without much middle ground.
Rent it or buy it, it's that good. IMHO ... I enjoyed and think it will reach the ranks of cult status one day.
I gave it 3.5/5 stars, which puts it in the "middle ground" in my mind. The premise is the star here. The execution of the story is competent, but the world is curious enough that you want to explore it for a while.
BTM, believe it or not, it WAS rated R, not PG-13. It should have been PG-13 but was R rated for violence. There's no cursing or nudity, and the violence isn't particularly graphic or cruel.
Underbelly, it's not a "bad" movie, so if you're looking for unintentionally funny dialogue, it's not here. Here's the sort of intentionally funny dialogue you'll find: "I'd say I'm a pretty darn good father. My father tried to eat me, I don't remember trying to eat Timmy."
I found some of the zombie/human love themes subtly disturbing, in that "I'm disturbed by implied necrophilia" sort of way.
Quote from: Rev. Powell on June 20, 2008, 11:30:19 PM
BTM, believe it or not, it WAS rated R, not PG-13. It should have been PG-13 but was R rated for violence. There's no cursing or nudity, and the violence isn't particularly graphic or cruel.
Really? Thought for sure it was rated PG13... maybe I'm thinking of another film or something. Or maybe I read somewhere they were AIMING for a PG13 movie, but didn't get it...
Quote from: BTM on June 21, 2008, 01:01:10 PM
Quote from: Rev. Powell on June 20, 2008, 11:30:19 PM
BTM, believe it or not, it WAS rated R, not PG-13. It should have been PG-13 but was R rated for violence. There's no cursing or nudity, and the violence isn't particularly graphic or cruel.
Really? Thought for sure it was rated PG13... maybe I'm thinking of another film or something. Or maybe I read somewhere they were AIMING for a PG13 movie, but didn't get it...
I'm just going by the IMDB page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457572/). I remember being surprised. IMDB also days it's a "re-rating": I'm not sure what that means. Anyway, I'd say it's OK for older kids.
It's On Demand right now so I'll probably watch it.
I finally saw this tonight - my wife and I had an old friend over, and we popped it in after the kids went to bed. It was highly entertaining and pretty disturbing in places. The neighbor with the zombie girlfriend "Tammy" was kinda creepy, but Fido himself was brilliantly played. This one is definitely worth a watch!
My supervisor at my former job constantly raved about this movie and suggested it to me a couple of times.
I saw it at Blockbuster a while back and thought about picking it up, but I had the exact same reservations about it that AndyC did.
I'll have to check it out one of these days.