It has been five years since the directing trio known collectively as RKSS have released a film. The trio haven’t been taking a break though, instead they have been hard at work on not one, but two, new films. The first is Wake Up, which THN reviewed out of Sitges, the second is We are Zombies, which opened this year’s Celluloid Screams festival.
Based on the comic book by Jerry Frissen, We are Zombies is set in a zombie apocalypse with a difference. Rather than be brain-hungry creatures, the living dead are non-cannibalistic and co-exist amongst the actual living. Keeping the new regime in check is the Coleman Corporation. The organisation provides a ‘retirement’ plan for the undead, collecting them from the family home and using them for scientific research. Two friends, Karl (Alexandre Nachi) and Freddy (Derek Johns), and Karl’s sister Maggie (Megan Peta Hill), find themselves entangled with the corporation after posing as them to try and make some fast cash.
After the more serious tones of Summer of 84 and Wake Up, We are Zombies is a return to RKSS’s comedic roots, the threesome making their name with the superb Turbo Kid. Despite being an adaptation of someone else’s source, the RKSS DNA runs deep in We are Zombies, with plenty of their own flourishes peppered throughout. We are Zombies has that same balance of humour and heart that made Turbo Kid so special. The film also shares Turbo Kid’s over-the-top gore, with the climax of We are Zombies being an incredible non-stop assault of blood and viscera.
RKSS appear to have put a lot of themselves into the pre-existing property; the two male, one female dynamic is mirrored through Karl, Freddy and Maggie. More than that though, the characters take on aspects of each director, with Yoann-Karl Whissell remarking during the Celluloid Screams Q&A that Freddy’s obsession with wrestling and disdain for tying shoelaces comes directly from himself. The core cast are all delightfully charming, instilling plenty of personality into their characters so that the audience want to connect with them. The three have an easy chemistry and they all play off of one another beautifully on screen. Alexandre Nachi is especially great as Karl, channelling a young Rick Moranis.
Another fun entry into the growing RKSS catalogue, We are Zombies also has a lot of interesting innovation for the zombie comedy genre. Sickening gore is married with sweet relationships and hearty humour to create a zombie film that more than lives up to the RKSS brand.
We are Zombies
Summary
RKSS gives the audience yet another super-fun ride in this excellently entertaining take on the zombie comedy.
We are Zombies was reviewed at Celluloid Screams 2023.
