The last ten years have seen the zom-com sub-genre explode. The list of titles stretches out endlessly, including fan favourites Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland all the way to lesser seen fare like 2007's Fido and last year's Life After Beth. It doesn't seem the trend intends to die either, with the arrival of a new red band trailer for Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse now on the rampage. Check it out below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLa1QCVqWzs Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse sees a bunch of under-appreciated, geeky scout types having to defend their town from a sudden zombie epidemic. The title pretty much doubles as a plot synopsis by the look of things. I can get behind the general concept here, but the trailer doesn't fill me with anticipation. With an R-rating, some nastiness is expected, but this has a slightly unpleasant vibe. There's a leery, teenage boy quality that harks back to something like Project X, with set-pieces in strip clubs and a really unfunny topless selfie gag at the end. If the movie's lurching for that tone, it's essential the characters be likable, which is pretty much the difference between a beloved gross-out comedy like American Pie and something regarded as a distasteful footnote (Project X, again). Obviously, there's also the fact Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland set a pretty high bar for subverting zombie tropes in humourous ways. I'm not seeing a lot of evidence Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse has the required smarts to compete in this packed sub-genre, but we'll find out when it's released in the US on the 30th October and a week later in the UK on 6th November.
