31 Days of Halloween 2024 — Zombeavers (2014)
Today’s movie comes from a suggestion on the Supernatural Selection Discord by Sam, a fan of the podcast. So with that, I’ll be writing about… Zombeavers (2014).
Let’s get into it. If you want to watch the movie, you can watch it on Tubi.tv.
Oh yes, and spoilers follow for Zombeavers if that matters to you.
11. Zombeavers: Funny Dam Movie
When I wrote about Terrifier (2016) yesterday, my principal issue with the movie was that it was a pastiche that offered nothing new, with some exceptions. However, with Jordan Rubin’s 2014 horror comedy Zombeavers, we have something quite different. The film is a decent zombie film with a satirical layer of beavers. There is an inherent ridiculousness to it all, especially given the portmanteau title, but it is a pretty solid zombie film.
The gore is surprisingly great, and the practical beavers are just on the right side of looking ridiculous and cheap.
The film does a good job evoking tropes of the genre, and unlike Terrifier, takes them in different directions for a satirical edge. One exchange early in the film involves local, Smyth (Rex Lynn) playing off the conservative bumpkin trope as he talks to the girls. We’re meant to think when he says to put on some clothes, it is directed at the topless Zoe (Cortney Palm), but in reality, he is directing it at the three of them. It’s a fun swerve and not the first of many funny moments Lynn gets to play as the stock stoic local.
The film has a lot of funny little swerves like that and plays into the ridiculous concept quite well. The trope of boarding up a house to keep zombies at bay means nothing when your undead are reanimated beavers. Characters both work with and in opposition to elements we’d expect from zombie, cabin, or monster movies.
I do love it when a movie gives me a good swerve that catches me off guard and there is one moment like that in Zombeavers. Trapped on a floating dock in the middle of a small lake, zombie beavers, zombeavers if you will, menace them by swimming in circles, not unlike sharks. One character has had his foot chewed off at the ankle. Everyone is freaking out. There is a dog on the dock with them and…
Oh shit, he just threw the dog into the water to distract the zombeavers.
It is a hilarious and cruel scene that reflects the self-centered nature of these college students. The world of Zombeavers is that of “How does this affect me?” The college students are jackasses and there is a love triangle that no audience would care about. You see these idiots get ripped apart by undead beavers and it's great.
But, the grim practicality of Sam (Hutch Dano) throwing the dog into the water makes sense, but it is also a cruelty you don’t see in a lot of movies either. It’s hilarious how awful it is, how unexpected it seems. But in retrospect, and you see this group delve further and further into inanity it also seems like the most obvious thing to happen in the world.
It’s all they could do from shoving one of their own in the water.
Definitely one of Billy Fucknuts’ best movies.
