The October Zombie-Thon! - Day 18: Choking Hazard
Posted by Trevor Snyder on 10.18.2007
Czech out this Czech zombie flick...yep, that's really all I got.
CHOKING HAZARD (2004)
Directed by: Marek Dobes
Written by: Stepan Kopriva & Martin Pomothy
Country: Czech Republic
All right, I'll be the first to admit it we've had kind of a rough going so far in this year's Zombie-Thon, and particularly in the last week or so. After the awesomeness of day nine's Graveyard Alive, things took a considerable turn downwards, and we've been having a tough climb back up ever since.
Not to worry, though. Like any true zombie fan, I have decided to soldier on through this maze of horrid cinema, and I truly believe that things are about to take a turn for the better. And no, I'm not just saying that because I already know there are much better films coming up well, OK, maybe a little. Still, I honestly believe today is sort of a new beginning for the 2007 Zombie-Thon, and none-too-soon, either.
And here's the funny thing I never would have expected a film like Choking Hazard to be the one to restore my faith. In fact, if you had asked me at the start of the month to try and guess what the very worst kind of zombie movie could be well, I can't guarantee this, but I'm fairly sure "a Czech, philosophy-themed zombie comedy" would have been pretty high up on my list. After all, "wacky zombie hi-jinks" and "existential musing" do not seem to make comfortable bedfellows.
Of course, before I turn around and admit my mistake, I should make clear that I'm not exactly sure just how much I actually liked Choking Hazard I'm just admitting that I didn't hate it as much as I originally expected to. Beyond that, though, I have yet to determine my true feelings on the film. Perhaps that seems odd and unprofessional; to write a review when not sure yourself just how you feel about the movie in question. But, in this case, it seems only appropriate, for Choking Hazard is a movie that seems to openly defy its audience; purposely throwing them off at every turn and refusing to let them get a solid hold on what kind of movie it is.
After a pointless opening scene involving a leather-clad woman battling a zombie in the forest (we literally never see this character again until the film's climax, and even then we don't learn who she is), we meet the film's main protagonists a group of students attending a Philosophy workshop on the meaning of life, led by the blind Professor Reinis. The location for this workshop is a near-deserted hotel deep in the forest, and after an effective sequence in which we get to know our characters through their own video-taped testimonials, we think we have a handle on what kind of film we're in for a somber, if darkly amusing, tale of students wrestling with the meaning of life while battling death itself. Maybe not the most exciting idea for a zombie flick, but one that could, perhaps, be intriguing enough if done right.
But then a confused male porn-star shows up at the hotel, and the film abruptly takes a left-turn into goofy-ville. It seems the porn star has arrived at the wrong location for his latest movie shoot, and we're soon treated to the typical "hilarious misunderstanding" scene in which everything each character says perfectly fits into the other character's interpretation of just what is going on. After everything is all cleared up, and we wonder if that was a temporary misstep into sitcom-hilarity, the porn star asks if he can stay for the workshop, and things get even wackier as we learn that he's not just an adult film actor, but also a Jehovah's Witness, now eager to recruit these curious souls.
From this point on, you might as well just accept the film's new madcap attitude, because it only gets crazier when the zombies themselves show up err, sorry, not zombies, but "woombies" ( for "woodsman zombies"), as the characters decide to refer to them by. With their matching outfits and outstretched arms, they seem more like an army of zombies you'd see in an old cartoon, and are never really presented as any sort of real threat. Instead, they serve more as a means to get our heroes running madly about and engaging in the kind of antics that wouldn't feel out of place in an old Scooby-Doo episode.
By the time the students are putting buckets with smiley faces over the zombie's heads and "ice-skating" around on discarded body parts, I had to wonder what ever happened to the philosophy aspect of the film. Oh, it tries to work its way back in the undead professor fights off his new cannibalistic urges and tries to continue his lessons, while a group of mean, intelligent zombies show up, apparently symbolizing "reason" as opposed to the woombies' "instinct." But, overall, the film's initial philosophical theme seems like little more than a red herring a way to give the movie the illusion of class when really it's just another straight-forward zombie parody.
The question is whether or not that's a bad thing. I'm sure there will be those who are disappointed to see the movie never live up to what it at first seems to promise. On the other hand, it's tough to completely write-off Choking Hazard. It's solidly directed, looks great, has a legitimately fun mix of characters, and quite a bit of the humor actually works. In fact, the film's overall sense of enthusiasm even helps sell some of the movie's more clichéd and unnecessarily silly moments, such as when the students turn a room full of electrocuting zombies into an impromptu dance club.
Maybe Choking Hazard doesn't quite know what kind of movie it wants to be, or maybe it just foolishly tried, and failed, to add an original twist on the overdone zombie-comedy movie, only to eventually give up and decide to fall back on the basics. Whatever. All I know is this all I ask for in a zombie-comedy is for it to make me laugh. In that regard, Choking Hazard is mostly successful. Yes, I would have liked to have seen the film stick to its original convictions and flesh out the whole "meaning of life" thing a little more. But, as is, at least this film is a lot of fun an accomplishment not many "zom-coms" of the era actually pull off.
FINAL SCORE: 2.5 out of 4 Bubs (Mildly Recommended)
