‘The Mad’ Successful Zomedy
The Mad makes me the happy.
written by Kevin Hennelly and John Kalangis
directed by John Kalangis
“If we don’t fix this, Dad, we are going to feel like shit.” - Maggie Castle
“Man, I’m tired of feeling like shit.” - Billy Zane
Back in 2005, I watched a film that made me want to shit myself for life — the Academy Award-nominated documentary, Super Size Me. Weighing 110 pounds, I was a big cheeseburger guy. I would never get one at McDonald’s — my favorite there being the Classic Crispy Chicken sandwich — but before I watched that film, I had McDonald’s. (And No, it wasn’t a Classic Crispy Chicken sandwich; it was a Big Mac. And it just wasn’t a Big Mac; it was a damn combo meal. Large.) Ever since then, I stay away from McDonald’s. Family goes to eat there? I starve and get something when I get home. But I still eat burgers that my Dad cooks. I like them better than McDonald’s anyway. After watching The Mad, I think I just may skip eating beef in all… Fuck, I had a steak sandwich before watching this.
Jason Hunt (Billy Zane), a doctor, takes a road-trip with his fiance, Monica (Shauna Macdonald), his daughter Amy (Maggie Castle), and Amy’s boyfriend, Blake (Evan Charles Flock). Hunt’s been miserable since his wife died a while ago until he met Monica. Amy sees how desperate her father is and knows what the woman’s up to. Blake isn’t exactly the brightest. He repeats whatever Jason has to say; i.e. sucking up to him. He’s also a wuss. They stop at some bed-and-breakfast and go to a nearby restaurant where they’re having a “special” on these delicious ‘organic’ burgers. After eating them, everyone happens to turn into zombie freaks, and like always, we gotta beat these fuckers down. You know that we are in for one hell of a ride.
The Mad could be a great horror film, but instead it’s more of a comedy, and it’s actually better as such. There were tons of jokes that made me laugh, especially Blake. He’s the type of guy that can’t wait to see him get what he has coming to him, and when he does, it’s damn funny. There’s not much violence in this film, but when there is, you’re surprised. For such a low budget, the gore actually looks like, well, gore, not too fake.
Kudos to Zane. He’s outdone himself in this film. His Jason Hunt is a mix of Clark Griswold from the Vacation series and The Office’s Dwight Schrute. He wants to make his daughter happy, but at the same time the guy’s bland (in a good way). Flock, another favorite of mine, is hilarious as Blake. He’s the ‘typical boyfriend’, trying to convince the father of his girlfriend that he’s a good guy… except that he’s so dumb that he doesn’t get that Jason can’t care whether or not he’s a good guy. For example:
Jason: So, uhh, do you think Monica is cool?
Blake: Yeah, dude, Monica is a hot bitch! I mean, I mean, if that is cool to say?
Jason: Yeah, there’s, uhh, no problem there. She is. She is. Just remember that she is my hot bitch.
But the biggest problem with The Mad, like many zombie movies, is that they just don’t know how to end it right. The first hour is some of the most fun I had in a long time, but then the last twenty minutes just ends on a disappointing note. The ending, while still very funny, definitely takes a different direction. It doesn’t ruin the movie but is disappointing. At the end of the day, The Mad succeeds more than other low budget horror films. And the best part? This may be the best horror film I’ve seen in a damn long time!
Horror-101 gives The Mad a 75 out of 101
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Thank you for letting me post this here. Just in the fourth paragraph it should have been Dwight Schrute. Thank you.
I’ve corrected Dwight’s name, Tony. Good review. Looking forward to the next one.
This sounds really fun. I’ll have to Netflix it.