As much as I like a good zombie film there are a few I haven’t seen for good reason.
Last night my better half “made” me watch one I’ve avoided for the last 5 years.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
You’ve heard me talk a lot on here about the genres I like and don’t like so much. Well my least favourite genre of all is the “period drama”. I’m not saying the films aren’t good, they just don’t appeal to me in the slightest, and when I do watch one it’s inevitably a struggle that leaves me with an unsatisfied and empty feeling by the end.
I image some people are like this with genres that I love but hey, we’re all different and it would be a boring world if we all liked the same things wouldn’t it?
If you haven’t seen this film, don’t expect a comedy like I did because it’s really not.
It stars Lily James (Yesterday), Sam Riley (Maleficent), Jack Huston (American Hustle), Charles Dance (Last Action Hero) and Bella Heathcote (Dark Shadows) to name just a few.
This is what it’s about according to the internet:
“In the 19th century, a mysterious plague turns the English countryside into a war zone. No one is safe as the dead come back to life to terrorize the land. Fate leads Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James), a master of martial arts and weaponry, to join forces with Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley), a handsome but arrogant gentleman. Elizabeth can't stand Darcy, but respects his skills as a zombie killer. Casting aside their personal differences, they unite on the blood-soaked battlefield to save their country.”
An easier way to put it is that it’s essentially the Pride and Prejudice story, just set in the wake of a zombie apocalypse. A lot of the key elements of the classic Jane Austin novel are still there but with a zombie storyline woven in, and why the hell not?!
I actually didn’t hate it like I thought I would. I didn’t love it either but it was definitely better than I’d expected it to be.
The performances (considering the silliness of the premise) are really good and the idea, as funny as it sounds, actually kind of works.
Another film that did this sort of thing is Abraham Lincoln Vampire: Hunter (2012). It’s a much better film though in my opinion (or at least more entertaining) and a movie I keep meaning to do a post about.
Watching this film last night means that Mrs Screen Room Movie Podcast (to be) has to watch a movie she doesn’t want to watch tonight - Hacksaw Ridge (2016). Stand by for a post about that one.
Seen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Let me know thoughts below.