(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Based on the hit interactive play (premiered in 2015). The first-ever wedding between a Human Bride and a Zombie Groom. The human guests need to learn how to behave. WWN reporters cover the wedding - while trying to get out alive.”
The beauty of the Great American Comedy is that – when it’s done right – everything is considered fair game. No topic is taboo, and the cast and crew can even collaboratively put together something that takes swipes at just about anything that comes to mind. Stories rarely end up being adapted verbatim to film, so some very good yarns experience a bit of reinvention as the talented actors and actresses get put through their pacing and maybe ad lib some stuff here and there worthy of addition. Granted, this probably doesn’t always happen, but I’ve often both heard and read that some of the best Comedy evolves from what we all call ‘happy accidents.’
Well … The Zombie Wedding – from what I’ve learned – began its life of delivering laughs as a stage play, one of those interactive-style shindigs wherein the live audience gets to take a loose yet active part of the proceedings. While they showed up for the exchange of nuptials between the bride and the groom – here embodied by Ashley Morgan (played by Deepti Menon) and the recently-departed-yet-now-zombified Zack Porter (Donald Chang) – the true ceremony is one fraught with a bit of madness and mayhem when the Walking Dead work up a bit of appetite while waiting for the festivities to begin. Naturally, chaos results, and the laughs are an expression of how out-of-sorts everything appears when those reanimated corpses try to maintain a modicum of good behavior in spite of their new state of existential being.
The greatest single difference between this Wedding and other zombie features is that here the Undead aren’t all those other productions have them cracked up to be. In fact, with the exception of any hankering for brains and flesh along with some skin discoloration, these dearly departed are still reasonably like you and me. They’re trying hard to control these new urges; and with the help of the U.S. government being on hand to supply newfangled brain substitutes as a diet a good many of them are adjusting just fine. Still, the claustrophobia of being wrapped up in a church and the painstaking delays of any reception is enough to drive the living to the edge of their wits, so you can imagine that these zombies aren’t exactly going to make the best night of Ashley’s life any easier.
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Based on the hit interactive play (premiered in 2015). The first-ever wedding between a Human Bride and a Zombie Groom. The human guests need to learn how to behave. WWN reporters cover the wedding - while trying to get out alive.”
The beauty of the Great American Comedy is that – when it’s done right – everything is considered fair game. No topic is taboo, and the cast and crew can even collaboratively put together something that takes swipes at just about anything that comes to mind. Stories rarely end up being adapted verbatim to film, so some very good yarns experience a bit of reinvention as the talented actors and actresses get put through their pacing and maybe ad lib some stuff here and there worthy of addition. Granted, this probably doesn’t always happen, but I’ve often both heard and read that some of the best Comedy evolves from what we all call ‘happy accidents.’
Well … The Zombie Wedding – from what I’ve learned – began its life of delivering laughs as a stage play, one of those interactive-style shindigs wherein the live audience gets to take a loose yet active part of the proceedings. While they showed up for the exchange of nuptials between the bride and the groom – here embodied by Ashley Morgan (played by Deepti Menon) and the recently-departed-yet-now-zombified Zack Porter (Donald Chang) – the true ceremony is one fraught with a bit of madness and mayhem when the Walking Dead work up a bit of appetite while waiting for the festivities to begin. Naturally, chaos results, and the laughs are an expression of how out-of-sorts everything appears when those reanimated corpses try to maintain a modicum of good behavior in spite of their new state of existential being.
The greatest single difference between this Wedding and other zombie features is that here the Undead aren’t all those other productions have them cracked up to be. In fact, with the exception of any hankering for brains and flesh along with some skin discoloration, these dearly departed are still reasonably like you and me. They’re trying hard to control these new urges; and with the help of the U.S. government being on hand to supply newfangled brain substitutes as a diet a good many of them are adjusting just fine. Still, the claustrophobia of being wrapped up in a church and the painstaking delays of any reception is enough to drive the living to the edge of their wits, so you can imagine that these zombies aren’t exactly going to make the best night of Ashley’s life any easier.
Because this is Farce – and rather broadly applied, at that – Wedding bobs and weaves around a wealth of topics. Zach and his friends – all of them also crossed over – do their best to make both the ceremony and party into an affair to end all affairs. Ashley’s family struggles to put aside their – snicker snicker – somewhat bigoted notions of what a good husband for their daughter should be – namely: alive! – and it’s this coming together of differing value systems that makes for the bulk of the film’s best laughs. Nothing in here is what I’d christen ‘but-gusting’ humor, but the jokes are applied often and consistently enough that it works well enough to be accepted.
Wherein I struggled a bit with the script from Greg D’Alessandro is that it occasionally grows a bit too broad, straying liberally from the central idea of families in conflict over these crazy nuptials and, instead, just throws spaghetti at the wall to keep the parade going. For example, Reverend Harry Crump (Seth Gilliam) is not your humble man of God but gets portrayed as this ridiculously flamboyant urban hipster who only looks and acts like the worst Hollywood caricature of the black preacher. (Hell, some might even find the characterization outdated and/or offensive for all I know.) That along with some unnecessary side characters – Ashley’s boss and a few of her co-workers – add nothing but a few stock moments to the picture; and I think a shooting script could’ve been better with a bit more restraint.
I’m all for lunacy, mind you. But unnecessary lunacy? Well, that’s what I consider walking dead.
The Zombie Wedding (2023) was produced by Weekly World New Studios and Notorious Prods. A quick Google.com search indicates the film is available for digital rental or purchase via the streaming platforms of Fandango At Home, Prime Video, and Apple TV. As for the technical specifications? Though I’m no trained video expert, I found the provided sights-and-sounds to be exceptional: the flick never quite escapes looking like it was shot on HD video, and I think that kinda/sorta killed the effect for me here and there. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? As I viewed this one via streaming, there were no special features under consideration.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
With a premise like The Zombie Wedding (2023) – the first marital union between woman and monster – I thought I’d be a bit more entertained than I was. The script is fairly broad Farce at times – there are some lazy and unnecessary jabs at organized religion and entirely unrelated social norms that kinda/sorta cheapen the potential – and it hits an awful lot of the same comical beats far too often for my tastes. It’s inspired in spots, though, and I didn’t dislike it in any way. I guess I just expected a bit more than your usual stage-play-adapted to screen than what it delivered. As a live property, I suspect it would be vastly more entertaining than these filmed bits are.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Weekly World News Studios for providing me with complimentary streaming access to The Zombie Wedding (2023) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
Wherein I struggled a bit with the script from Greg D’Alessandro is that it occasionally grows a bit too broad, straying liberally from the central idea of families in conflict over these crazy nuptials and, instead, just throws spaghetti at the wall to keep the parade going. For example, Reverend Harry Crump (Seth Gilliam) is not your humble man of God but gets portrayed as this ridiculously flamboyant urban hipster who only looks and acts like the worst Hollywood caricature of the black preacher. (Hell, some might even find the characterization outdated and/or offensive for all I know.) That along with some unnecessary side characters – Ashley’s boss and a few of her co-workers – add nothing but a few stock moments to the picture; and I think a shooting script could’ve been better with a bit more restraint.
I’m all for lunacy, mind you. But unnecessary lunacy? Well, that’s what I consider walking dead.
The Zombie Wedding (2023) was produced by Weekly World New Studios and Notorious Prods. A quick Google.com search indicates the film is available for digital rental or purchase via the streaming platforms of Fandango At Home, Prime Video, and Apple TV. As for the technical specifications? Though I’m no trained video expert, I found the provided sights-and-sounds to be exceptional: the flick never quite escapes looking like it was shot on HD video, and I think that kinda/sorta killed the effect for me here and there. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? As I viewed this one via streaming, there were no special features under consideration.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
With a premise like The Zombie Wedding (2023) – the first marital union between woman and monster – I thought I’d be a bit more entertained than I was. The script is fairly broad Farce at times – there are some lazy and unnecessary jabs at organized religion and entirely unrelated social norms that kinda/sorta cheapen the potential – and it hits an awful lot of the same comical beats far too often for my tastes. It’s inspired in spots, though, and I didn’t dislike it in any way. I guess I just expected a bit more than your usual stage-play-adapted to screen than what it delivered. As a live property, I suspect it would be vastly more entertaining than these filmed bits are.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Weekly World News Studios for providing me with complimentary streaming access to The Zombie Wedding (2023) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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