Fido (2006) with Billy Connolly - Film Review
A Canadian Zombie Comedy That Tries a Little Too Hard
May 4, 2009
It's an ambitious idea - an alternate 50s America, where a potentially apocalyptic zombie outbreak is curtailed, the resulting cadavers either killed with an obligatory shot in the head, or domesticated, thanks to the good folks at ZomCom, a typically dubious corporation tasked with securing the nation.
Shot with a nod to the Douglas Sirk melodramas of that era, the film zings with carefully considered colour-pops: striking primary shades for the living, contrasted by the dour greys of the zombie servants and gardeners.
A Boy and His Zombie
We are introduced to the Robinsons, a prototypical cheesy 50s family of Mom (a game Carrie-Ann Moss), Dad (Dylan Baker) and young Timmy (K'Sun Ray). Dad has issues about the zombies but Mom sees how all the good homes have a zombie servant these days. Pretty soon, Mom has her way.
Timmy soon bonds with the pet, calling him Fido (an unrecognisable Billy Connolly). A kind of Lassie parody ensues. Dad begins to unravel as his concerns reveal an obsessive (but perhaps rational) fear of zombies, driving a wedge between him and his wife and Timmy. So when Fido goes haywire (the control collar attached to domesticated zombies seems a rather unreliable device), killing and eating a neighbour, efforts are made to cover the carnage up. Two tormenting bullies who shadow Timmy discover this, putting them high up on the menu.
So much is thrown in the mix, it's actually difficult to know what the film is trying to be. There's comedy elements, but the comedy is slight and farcical. There's mild horror and gore, although certainly not enough for it to satisfy fans of the zombie genre. There aren't really any scares. There's some rather clumsy romantic moments, and an especially dubious relationship between one single male neighbour and his twentysomething cheerleader zombie pet. But it isn't a romantic movie, either.
Summing Up Fido
Fido seems to be aiming somewhere between an early Tim Burton effort (but without the panache) and the more populist John Waters outings (but without the kitsch). It has a quirky, bubbly vibe that won't be unfamiliar to fans of the TV show Pushing Daisies. But overall, one gets the feeling the movie is simply trying too hard, to appeal to as many people as possible, yet falls short of excelling in any one area.
The best moments are in the opening montage - a series of Movietone-style newsreel clips establishing this world. It's like George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead directed by Terry Gilliam. Sadly, what follows on from that fails to live up to the prologue.
You get the notion that everyone is giving it their level-best. Even the titles are carefully done. Yet there's a careful calculation behind all of this, a sense that this was expected to be a sure-fire sleeper, a crossover hit. That didn't happen, although the movie has since attained a cult following on DVD. On the page, perhaps Fido looked like a great idea. As a finished piece of cinema, it's a miss.
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