It opens with a close-up of the sign on the side of a
truck: “Mamaroneck Medical Research Facility – Medical Waste Pickup,
Transplant & Environmentally Friendly Disposal.” The conversation
between the two workers in the truck had me laughing within seconds. By the
way, they’re played by Bill Burr and John Mayer (yes, John Mayer). The driver
mentions that he once dated a man: “It was like one of the easiest weeks of
my life, other than sex. That was brutal.” When they hit a deer, one of the
containers goes flying off the back of the truck and lands in a river by the side
of the road. Uh-oh. The sense of fun is further established in the opening
credits sequence, as animated beavers and other items appear over the live
action footage of the container making its way downstream to a beaver dam,
where it then springs a leak. The title Zombeavers drips blood like the
title of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, further indication of the film’s
sense of play.
Three sorority sisters, Jenn (Lexi Atkins), Mary (Rachel
Melvin) and Zoe (Cortney Palm), are driving to the cabin. They’ve agreed (well,
sort of agreed) to having no boys and no text messages all weekend. Jenn’s
boyfriend, Sam, has cheated on her, and so they’ve decided the weekend will be
all about her. The cabin is, of course, right near the beaver dam. They also
run into a hunter named Smyth (played by Rex Linn, whom you’ll recognize from Cliffhanger,
Cutthroat Island, and many other films). And it’s not long before the
boyfriends show up, causing some tension for Jenn.
When Jenn goes to take a shower, she finds one of the zombeavers
already in there. She runs out, screaming, crying, leading Buck (Peter Gilroy)
to tell her, “Jenn, you are a really ugly crier.” The line surprised me
and made me burst out laughing. The Buck character reminds me of some of
Matthew Lillard’s work. The zombeaver takes a lot of whacks with a baseball bat
before it finally dies. But is it really dead? Or undead? It’s not long before
more beavers attack. And these are smart beavers. They cut the phone lines to
the house first.
The dialogue, for the most part, is surprisingly good.
And there are lots of funny lines. Like this from Sam (Hutch Dano): “Listen,
we cannot turn against each other right now. That is exactly what the beavers
would want.” And the thing is, the movie is also truly frightening, with
plenty of gore. It really hits that perfect blend of horror and comedy. And it
certainly helps that the performances are all good, something I don’t
necessarily expect from a horror comedy.
There are also some nice little touches, such as a
teenage boy having a cap that says “#1 Dad.” And Phyllis Katz is bloody
wonderful as the neighbor (“My daughter is a real piece of work, and not
that attractive”). There is a great little nod to Jaws 2 when Jenn
shows Sam photographic evidence of his cheating on her, and he responds, “What
is that, seaweed?” And the shot where Jenn tells the others to get out of
the water will remind you of that famous shot of Chief Brody from Jaws.
There are also some elements of Night Of The Living Dead and Piranha.
But this film is certainly not a spoof.
I could do without the blooper reel at the end. It would
be better suited as a special feature on the DVD. But that’s really the only
thing that didn’t work for me. And I totally dig the song during the closing
credits, with lines like, “Say goodbye to your golden retriever/Zombeavers.”
Special Features
The DVD has quite a lot of special features, including a
commentary track by director Jordan Rubin, who is joined by several cast and
crew members throughout, including producer Evan Astrowsky, who produced Eli
Roth’s Cabin Fever. There is a wonderful anecdote early on about the
results of losing one of the props. Cortney Palm, Lexi Atkins, Rachel Melvin
all join Jordan at the same time. Rex Linn talks about his audition tape. And
there is some interesting talk about the beaver puppets.
The special features also include a deleted scene, which
is actually an extended sequence about the bad music playing during the drive
up to the cabin. And we’re treated to bits of the auditions of all six of the
main cast, mixed with the footage of the scenes as completed in the film. In
addition to the main six, we also see Rex Lynn’s audition, which interestingly
is done outside.
Behind The Cameos is a bit with Stephen Merchant
talking with Bill Burr and John Mayer about the film, including the differences
between Zombeavers and Sharknado. Building A Beaver is a
demonstration of the beaver models. Man Becomes Monster is a short (one
minute) bit on making a face mold. There are also some behind-the-scenes
footage and still photos, storyboard examples, and three trailers.
Zombeavers was directed by Jordan Rubin, and is
scheduled to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 19, 2015.
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