Day Twenty-Six: "Fido"
Fido walks the fine line between horror and comedy really well.
Fido takes place in an alternate 1950s where zombies roam around. Now, everybody who dies becomes zombies and people have to call ZomCom to come pick them up. ZomCom sells zombies to middle class families to use as combination pet and slave.
The Robinsons are a typical 1950s family. The father fought in the Zombie Wars and is now screwed up as a result; the mother is a homemaker who pretends to be happy but is really unfulfilled, and Timmy is a bullied child who really wants a pet. However, the Robinsons are the only ones in the neighbourhood who don't have a zombie. So without Mr. Robinson's approval, Mrs. Robinson buys Fido, a zombie.
He and Timmy are the closest of friends. So Fido protects him from the bullies. By eating them. Since zombies who bite people are put down, Timmy hides the information from his family.
There are times when this movie is hilarious. The PSA about how people shouldn't trust the elderly because they could become zombies at any time is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. At times, it's also a good horror film. When Timmy is threatened with being sent to the wild zone, the audience is just as worried as he is; and the scenes in ZomCom wouldn't be out of place in a Romero film.
The make-up is fantastic as well. I didn't even recognize Billy Connolly as Fido. His acting is fantastic as well. Connolly does a lot without ever saying a single thing.
I don't get the allegory, though. I freely admit that. I know it's an allegory for something, but I can't tell you what.
Fido takes place in an alternate 1950s where zombies roam around. Now, everybody who dies becomes zombies and people have to call ZomCom to come pick them up. ZomCom sells zombies to middle class families to use as combination pet and slave.
The Robinsons are a typical 1950s family. The father fought in the Zombie Wars and is now screwed up as a result; the mother is a homemaker who pretends to be happy but is really unfulfilled, and Timmy is a bullied child who really wants a pet. However, the Robinsons are the only ones in the neighbourhood who don't have a zombie. So without Mr. Robinson's approval, Mrs. Robinson buys Fido, a zombie.
He and Timmy are the closest of friends. So Fido protects him from the bullies. By eating them. Since zombies who bite people are put down, Timmy hides the information from his family.
There are times when this movie is hilarious. The PSA about how people shouldn't trust the elderly because they could become zombies at any time is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. At times, it's also a good horror film. When Timmy is threatened with being sent to the wild zone, the audience is just as worried as he is; and the scenes in ZomCom wouldn't be out of place in a Romero film.
The make-up is fantastic as well. I didn't even recognize Billy Connolly as Fido. His acting is fantastic as well. Connolly does a lot without ever saying a single thing.
I don't get the allegory, though. I freely admit that. I know it's an allegory for something, but I can't tell you what.