The October Zombie-Thon - Day 28: Fido

Posted by Trevor Snyder on 10.28.2008

Well, who doesn't want their very own zombie?

FIDO (2006)



Directed by: Andrew Currie
Screenplay by: Andrew Currie, Robert Chomiak, & Dennis Heaton
Story by: Dennis Heaton
Country: Canada
If there's one thing you can't say about too many zombie movies, it's that they were hits at the Sundance Film Festival. Then again, Fido isn't like most zombie movies in a lot of ways, which should be considered something of a given if you're already familiar with its concept, which marries the living dead concept with the squeaky-clean worlds of Lassie and Leave It To Beaver.

Sure, melding together the tropes of zombie movies with the fantasized wholesomeness of small-town America has been done before, most notably in fellow "zom-com" My Boyfriend's Back, but Fido is a different flesh-hungry beast altogether. The story takes place in the peaceful town of Willard, an idyllic ‘50s community that you could just picture the Cleavers feeling right at home in. And yet, right outside the fences surrounding the town there is a terrible wasteland filled with horror. You see, it's a few years after mysterious space radiation fell to earth, causing the recently deceased to rise up and begin devouring the living. It took years, but humanity eventually won the subsequent "Great Zombie War," and has finally returned to some sense of normalcy – although "normalcy" now means living in fenced-in towns and keeping domesticated zombies as manual labor.

These domesticated zombies are courtesy of ZomCon, the massive corporation responsible for keeping people safe in this new zombie-filled era. They've made a big step in that direction by coming up with a special collar which, when fitted onto the neck of a zombie, renders the ghoul completely docile. These now compliant zombies are used to do everything from deliver milk to serve as crossing guards, and it seems like just about every family in Willard owns their own zombie. Every family except for the Robinsons, that is. It seems father Bill (the excellent as always Dylan Baker) has had a problem with zombies ever since he had to destroy his reanimated father, and now he'll be darned if he allows a zombie in his house. That doesn't sit well with his wife, Helen (Carrie-Anne Moss, in full-on MILF mode), whose "keeping up with the Joneses" attitude means she can't stand being the only family without a zombie of their own.

When the brand new head of security for ZomCon and his family move in across the street – and own three zombies – Helen simply can't take it anymore, and ignores her husbands wishes and buys the family a zombie of their own (Billy Connolly). At first, young Timmy (K'Sun Ray) is ambivalent about his family's new helper, but when the zombie actually comes to his aid against a couple of bullies, he sees in the zombie the kind of companion and potential father-figure that he just doesn't get from his inattentive dad. Timmy names the zombie Fido, and the two are soon inseparable. Meanwhile, Helen is also finding Fido to be an intriguing substitute for Bill, as the placid zombie is more than willing to listen or dance with her, which is more than she can say for her husband.

So things seem to be going pretty good for the Robinsons (or, at least for Helen and Timmy…maybe not so much for Bill), but it all hits a pretty giant snag when Fido's collar temporarily malfunctions and he bites and kills one of the town's residents. Timmy tries his best to cover the incident up, but as is always the case in a movie it's simply the catalyst for a series of escalating events. Soon the town is swarming with out-of-control zombies, and all evidence points right to Timmy and his new best friend. Is the increasing prying of the ZomCon security forces enough to sever the love between a boy and his zombie?

It needs to be said - Fido has one of the absolute best concepts the zombie genre has seen in a long time, and maybe ever. Mixing the classic theme of "a boy and his dog" with a standard zombie movie formula might seem like a twisted idea – but that's exactly why it's such a brilliant one. And yet, it's not like the concept would work in just any setting or time period, so Fido deserves extra credit for wisely placing its story in the sort of idealized, Douglas Sirk-esque world that – if you ask me – is just begging for a zombie invasion.

In fact, the movie's very power comes from its dead-on representation of that Pleasantville-type mood, which here effectively masks one of the most twisted comedies you will ever see. Here we have children being taught how to fire guns at school, the young hero of the movie covering up a horrible murder (and we're on his side the whole time) and, of course, implied necrophilia – not just in the interactions between Helen and Fido, but more predominantly in the questionable "relationship" between neighbor Mr. Theopolis (Tim Blake Nelson) and his skimpy-dressed female zombie Tammy. And yet you barely notice how extreme and potentially offensive these ideas are when presented in this saccharine, Technicolor world. It's not until it's over and you start to think about it that you realize just how subversive Fido actually is – and it's admirable any time that revelation can sneak up on you rather than be shoved down your throat during the movie.

If there's a problem with Fido, it's that the filmmakers, while obviously knowing what a terrific idea they had with this concept, still sometimes seem hesitant to push some of the ideas or story-beats as far as they truly could have. At times Fido seems to go for the obvious, easy jokes. Sure, some of these are definitely funny (a hilarious riff on the old Lassie routine – "what's that, boy? Timmy's in trouble?" – is one of the film's best moments), but I still couldn't help but wonder if that time couldn't have been better spent further exploring some of the story's more obvious social commentary possibilities, in regards to suburban conformity, government and corporate-created paranoia, and especially the mistreatment of the working class.

Then again, I'm probably over-thinking what is primarily just meant as light satire. In looking to offer some slightly-more-down-to-earth criticism, I'll instead mention that at least one subplot – the burgeoning friendship (and maybe-more) between Timmy and the young daughter of the ZomCon Head of Security – is introduced and then pretty much ignored until it becomes convenient to the plot near the film's climax. Also, the film noticeably loses some of its steam heading into the final act – as great as the concept is, there still comes a point when you feel like all of the jokes have been told.

But, still, minor flaws like those aren't really enough to completely sink this one. Fido is a real treat for zombie fans and just regular comedy-lovers alike, propelled along by genuinely funny dialogue and gags, and enhanced by excellent performances. Connolly, in particular, deserves a lot of credit for his dialogue-free role, using nothing more than grunts, facial expressions, and body-language to turn Fido into the most likable zombie the genre has seen since Day of the Dead's Bub. Heck, after seeing his performance, I kinda want my own pet zombie.

FINAL SCORE: 3.5 out of 4 Bubs (Highly Recommended)