Zombieland

Zombie films, whilst being a part of the horror genre, can be categorised into one of two sub-genres themselves. There's the zombie film that's played for scares and the one that's played for laughs. This movie falls very much into the second category.

Columbus is a college student who survives the zombie apocalypse by following his very anally retentive set of rules which make reappearances throughout the film. He hooks up with Tallahassee, played by Woody Harrelson, a redneck who survives by.... being a redneck! Tallahassee spends much of the film searching for his Holy Grail, a Twinkie bar. Along the way Columbus and Tallahassee meet up with Wichita and Little Rock, two sisters who before the zombies arose made their way by ripping off gullible men and they continue on their merry way here.

Our little group form a family of sorts, something which all them in one way or another had missing from their lives before the apocalypse. As they make their way across America, or Zombieland as it is referred to in the movie, they trash a trading post, dispatch Zombies in increasingly inventive ways and meet up with a rather famous person. That cameo, which I wont spoil, is easily one of the funniest things in this movie or any movie. This whole film had everyone in the cinema rocking with laughter and that's quite some achievement. The writing cracks and fizzles, the pace is hectic and there are touching and emotional moments amongst the laughs and gore. As well as laughs and occasional touching moments there are also moments that will have you whooping with glee, like Tallhassee's battle in the Fairground.

You totally and utterly buy into the 4 main characters, none of which use their actual names, instead they refer to each other by the names of their hometowns. Jesse Eisenberg is excellent as the nerdy Columbus, Woody Harrelson is fantastic as Tallahassee and the sisters are played by Emma Stone who manages to show a mix of toughness and vulnerability. Her sister is played by Abigail Breslin who is a revelation. Whilst in this film she is still obviously a kid she has a tough exterior but you do see glimpses of the child beneath if that's too Sidney a way of putting it.

This movie plays with your emotions, running the gamut mentioned above from amusement to fright to emotional jerks. This is not a zombie film of the like that Romero would do, rather it's a balls out and brazen ride through a wasted America. It's easily my favorite zombie film, and fits into m top 10 of fave films of all time and I can give it no higher praise than that.