Doghouse (2009)

[filmincarnate]

I have been hearing about this film for the past year, and almost all of that was favorable. To say I had been looking forward to seeing it would be correct, maybe even an understatement. I had even come close to importing this on more than one occasion, until I heard that IFC Films had obtained U.S theatrical and home video rights. Sadly, I'm rather happy that I waited for the opportunity to rent it.

Now, this isn't a bad film by any means. I almost feel bad for disliking it as much as I do, as there really is not all that much necessarily wrong with it, at least not on a technical level. However, there are certain stylistic choices that really hold the film back and make it feel a lot more amateurish than it is.

Prior to the opening credits even beginning I started to have a problem with the film. The characters are all introduced to us through vignettes in which they each have an intentionally funny scene (all of which fell flat for me) and then there is a momentary freeze frame on their faces as their character names appear on screen. It is worth noting that this usually happens after their name is shouted mere seconds before, as if we already forgot the character's name in that amount of time? It is just an attention seeking attempt at style that I will just blame on Guy Ritchie for lack of a better target. Fuck you, Guy Ritchie, for making young filmmakers think it is alright to insult the audience in the name of style.

Luckily, the Guy Ritchie comparisons really stop there. But where the Ritchie comparisons stop, the inevitable Shaun of the Dead comparisons start. I should now mention that this is a British zombie comedy, which is clearly going to get it compared to Wright's film (as it has in nearly every review I've read). I'll come out and say now that this film is not as successful as Shaun of the Dead, not as a zombie film and not as a comedy. It is definitely more fun as a horror flick than it is funny though, but that is only a minor consolation.

The director, Jake West (who is responsible for Evil Aliens as well as the recent documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape) seems to have his heart in the right place. He is clearly a fan of the horror genre, which is evident in Evil Aliens (though I liked that film even less than this one) and even more so in his Video Nasties documentary (which is one of the best docs I've seen on anything horror related). There are a bunch of horror buff in-jokes in here but a lot of them feel really forced and obvious. For instance, one of the opening scenes takes place in a comic shop in which an Evil Dead poster is clearly evident on the wall and a young kid argues with the clerk regarding the difference between zombies and deadites. Later in the film, the zombies are referred to as being like the things from Evil Dead. It comes off more as self gratifying fandom than a cleverly placed reference.

Where the film really succeeds though is in the effects. Almost all of the gore in this film is practical and it looks really fucking good. Definitely amongst the best I've seen in any genre film this year. The zombie make-up is wet and gross and some of the designs are actually pretty inventive. I'd say that in this area the film actually surpasses Shaun of the Dead, which is as good of a compliment as I can give it. The cast is also not bad either. It is made up of young British actors who I'm not all that familiar with but they fit their roles and did their best with the material they had to work with. To their credit I would blame the problems I have the with humor on the script, not on their performances.

Doghouse lacks an identity. It tries to capture something a vastly superior film did a few years ago and it attempts to put a feminist twist on it. Yeah, the film is about female zombies attacking men, I forgot to mention that. And as novel as this twist could have been, it is handled so poorly that it becomes arbitrary. I wouldn't suggest avoiding this one flat out as it does have some great moments but I wouldn't go out of your way for it.

[Neon Maniac]

Fix your image. Use Image Shack or something, websites don't allow hotlinking and that's why you get that banner message.

[DJBenz]

Fixed.

[filmincarnate]

Whoops. My bad. Will take note of that for next time.

[DJBenz]

www.imgur.com is a good one, and you can paste a link to a picture there then it'll automatically host it and give you a link.

[filmincarnate]

Awesome. Bookmarked

[J.N.]

Good review. It's a shame that this one's been getting mostly negative (or at least lukewarm) reviews, 'cause I thought it sounded great when I first heard about it.

Oh, well. Worth a rental, at least?