Zombeavers: And the jokes write themselves

In a bit of a meta-moment, about halfway through Zombeavers, one of the main characters says “quit with the beaver jokes.” It’d be nice if this movie was so restrained. The call for less-is-more is diluted somewhat twenty minutes later when one of the female characters is trapped on the kitchen counter in her underwear, trying to fend of a maniacal undead beaver that’s crawling in between her legs. As a visual image it’s a pretty piece of cinematography, but there’s an obvious metaphor in there somewhere…

 Zombeavers is a low-budget indie horror film stocked with no-name actors, who run around trying to survive against an army of undead water rats. It’s not subtle. And while it *should* be terrible, there’s enough life and energy in the script and the characters to keep it from being simply a one-joke movie.

The plot is ripped right from the tropes of Cabin in the Woods. Mary, Zoe, and Jenn are heading up to Mary’s cousin’s cabin on the lake. Jenn’s boyfriend was cheating on her and her girlfriends decide to take her on a boy-free retreat. This is somewhat complicated when the boys show up at the cabin, but I’m getting ahead of myself. While out swimming, the girls meet a crazy old man while inspecting a beaver dam. They don’t see any beavers yet, but that’s a good thing. These beavers have been infected with toxic waste, rendering them undead. These beavers aren’t gentle herbivores; they’re out for flesh. And once bitten, the infected person slowly becomes a zombeaver themselves.

Now that my IQ is just a bit lower from having typed out that plot, what makes Zombeavers work? What elevates this movie over other one-joke flicks (Snakes on a Plane) or campy premised movies (Knights of Badassdom)? I think it’s a combination of a smart script, sincere acting, and semi-believable fake undead rodents.

First, the script. First-time feature film director Jordan Rubin is a veteran writer, having honed his chops on a plethora of TV shows. Together with fellow writers Al and Jon Kaplan, they’ve developed a tight, 77-minute movie that doesn’t do any more or less than it sets out to do. There’s just enough backstory about why the zombies are monsters, together with a juicy side plot about the nature of everyone’s relationships to keep me watching.

The actors sell it as well. I think the acting tier difference between this movie and something like Knights of Badassdom is what kept my expectations sufficiently low to be surpassable. Having not seen anything these actors have been in, I was ready to accept them as college kids trying to avoid getting eaten. The presence of Peter Dinklage, Ryan Kwanten, and Steve Zahn set my expectations for KoB too high. While a name actor might elevate a project, it didn’t do KoB any favors and might not have worked here.

Zombeavers feels like the spiritual successor to The Evil Dead with its use of animatronics over CGI. Yes, the zombie beavers look silly. But CGI would have made them worse, I feel. The result of using real props and prosthetics helps sell the movie. Director Rubin uses as many camera tricks as possible to mask the limitations of his zombeavers, giving the movie a bit of a throwback feel. And if nothing else, props to that James Bond-style intro on the title credits.

While it will never win any awards, Zombeavers is an entertaining little horror film. It delivers exactly what’s promised, nothing more or less. Available now on Netflix.

Zombeavers tl;drs

Quick summary: Mary, Zoe, and Jenn head up to a cabin in the woods for a girls’ weekend. While at the secluded lake cabin they’re visited by their boyfriends…and an army of zombie beavers.

Too many writers? Three, but they’re professional writers, so I’ll give it a slide.

Recommended if you like: Silly genre horror

Better than I expected? The animatronic zombie beavers are *just* convincing enough.

Worse than I hoped? The in-universe congruity of how one becomes a zombie beaver is held back until too late in the film.

Should it be rebooted? I don’t think it’s worth the bother.

Verdict: It’s a silly, gory way to spend an hour.

Related Reading: Wiki article

Related Viewing: Trailer