20 Horror Movies for $7.50 — Part XVII.

Wow did this movie jump the proverbial shark in about 2 minutes.  We get off to a fun start with Chuck, the owner of a video store (yeah, VHS) talking to a customer on a land-line phone about zombie movies and why they all seem to be rented out.  Nice, amusing start.

Cut to a guy sleeping in a tree, who then falls and hits the — of course — ground.  Lying on his back, he is wearing only a t-shirt and his junk is hanging right the f*** out there. Or maybe it was standing right the f*** out there.  I didn’t look too closely, but that’ll take about 3 letter grades off a movie right there.

Another group of yahoos is watching the Spice Channel when it suddenly cuts out.  One of the hicks treks a ridiculously long way to check on the generator and finds that the electrical cable has been cut.  The next time he is seen, several fairly well-dressed zombies are chowing down on him.  More freakishly well-dressed zombies appear (did God allow another church roof to collapse?), and here his mulletted hick friends have gone off without their rifles.  So the head mullet calls for them to “split up and meet back at the house.”  My question: In such a situation, when splitting up, which idiots are not going to choose the direction of the house?

Chuck wakes up on the floor of his store, being hassled by a customer banging on the door.  The film regains a lot of its humor and momentum as both the clerk and the customer are not naked.  Despite some stunningly cheap zombie make-up, Hide and Creep gets off to a solid 2nd start.

Multiple colorful characters enter the movie . . . naked guy Michael who claims he was abducted by aliens, the girl at the diner, secretary Barbara at the police station, Chris the deputy she apparently has the authority to fire, Reverend Smith who is attacked in his church, Mullet’s gun-toting teen daughter, a doltish agent from the Dept of Homeland Defense (sic) investigating reports of RC — Reanimated Corpses, naked guy Michael’s girlfriend who also shows up naked.

DEAD GUY. CALL CHUCK.

Hide and Creep isn’t swinging for the fences.  It takes its time, but keeps the story full of quirky characters and mostly unforced humor.  The characters, in groups or alone, go on their own quests and occasionally cross paths.  There are no massive zombie hordes and no heads are lopped off, although there are plenty of zombie killings — the survivors are just trying to get through the day.  Chuck holes up in the police station, Mullet gathers his family, etc.  It is all very . . . not realistic exactly, but natural.

It never lags and has surprises in store, even a few in the last minutes.  I was, as always, leery of the comedy / horror genre, but like Zombie Dearest, I was completely won over.  This is a genuinely fun movie.

This does NOT make up for her boyfriend’s junk earlier.

Post-Post:

• I like that the Mulberry Baptist Church has dates for Founded, Built, Moved, Restored, and Rededicated. Even if it is a real sign, I like the quirkiness.
• The poster is terrible!  What’s with the sepia tones?  It gives no indication of the fun to be had here.  Who is the demon in the back-ground?  This is a zombie movie.  Why is Mullet on the cover and not Chuck?
• Title Analysis:  Also terrible – no relation to the movie at all.