Fido (2006)

Space radiation turns dead into Zombies. Zomcon fights zombies and finds ways to pacify and use them. On preteen Timmy's 1950s suburban street, all have a zombie doing menial chores. Timmy's zombie becomes his pet/friend and is named Fido.

Director:

Andrew Currie

Writers:

Robert Chomiak, Andrew Currie

Stars:

Kesun Loder, Billy Connolly, Carrie-Anne Moss

13 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Kaye	...	Narrator (voice)
Jan Skorzewski	...	Eating Zombie
Kevin Tyell	...	Zombie's Victim
Andy Parkin	...	Dr. Hrothgar Geiger
Lynn Pendleton	...	1940's Mother
Gary Slater	...	Father Zombie
Taylor Petri	...	Little Girl
Glenn Richards	...	Vicious Zombie
Raphael Kepinski	...	Collar Light Zombie
Carl-James Kalbfleisch	...	Child Zombie
Tiffany Lyndall-Knight	...	Miss Mills
Kesun Loder	...	Timmy Robinson (as K'Sun Ray)
Alexia Fast	...	Cindy Bottoms
Henry Czerny	...	Mr. Bottoms
Aaron Brown	...	Roy Fraser

Storyline

In an Earthly world resembling the 1950s, a cloud of space radiation has shrouded the planet, resulting in the dead becoming zombies that desire live human flesh. A company called Zomcon has been able to control the zombie population. Zombies can be temporarily neutralized by being shot, but can only be permanently neutralized by their brain being destroyed. Their ultimate disposal is through cremation, or burial, the latter which requires decapitation with the head being buried separately from the body. Conversely, Zomcon has created the domestication collar, when activated and placed on a zombie makes the zombie controllable and thus an eternally productive creature within society. Because all dead initially become zombies, the elderly are viewed negatively and suspectly. And all people, adult or child, learn to shoot to kill to protect society. Zomcon is the go to organization for all things zombie. In the town of Willard, the Robinsons - father Bill, mother Helen, and adolescent ...

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Plot Keywords:

neighbor | suburb | classroom | character name as title | next door neighbor | 

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Taglines:

Good dead are hard to find

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for zombie-related violence

Details

Official Sites:

Anagram Pictures

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 March 2007 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Ena zombi anamesa mas

Filming Locations:

Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,203, 17 June 2007

Gross USA:

$304,533

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$426,224

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lions Gate Films, Anagram Pictures, Astral Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White (one scene) Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Timmy's bedroom contains curtains and a bedspread depicting action scenes from the zombie war.

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Goofs

When Zombie Paperboy throws the paper at Mr. Theopolis's porch he clearly misses, but then Theopolis's zombie, Tammy, picks it up from the porch.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [with schlocky sensationalism] Zomcon presents A Bright New World. From the darkest depths of outer space came an evil no man could predict. A cloud of radiation engulfed our great planet. Scientists discovered that these space particles caused the reanimation of dead bodies. Zombies. Creature with but one destructive need, to devour the flesh of the living. And so we were forced to defend our homeland. The Zombie Wars. Mankind against legions of the undead.
Narrator: But in our darkest hour,...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

No zombies were hurt in the making of this motion picture.

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Connections

Features Night of the Living (1997)

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Soundtracks

Put a Lid on it
Written and Performed by Tom Maxwell and the Squirrel Nut Zippers
Courtesy of Tom Maxwell, by arrangement with Lionsgate

User Reviews

Wanton homicide, zombies, slavery, bullying: yet it all makes for zany light comedy here

Set in a middle class neighborhood in the imaginary town of Willard in the 1950s, this dark comedy with a light touch toys with such American obsessions as gun mania and violence, materialism and keeping up with the Joneses, fear of others, slavery, golf, and the disposing of the dead. Yes, it all sounds a bit heavy, but trust me on this, it's nearly as light as a feather.

Zombies are featured prominently among the characters. Crucial questions arise, such as: who will become a zombie (90% of the Willard folks choose this final path, while only 10% prefer a traditional funeral)? Who owns how many Zombies to do their bidding like robots (they've become a mark of social status)? And, what is the range of possible relationships that can be worked out between the living and the sort of reincarnated dead?

Somehow, director Andrew Currie, who also co-wrote the lively screenplay (with Robert Chomiak and Dennis Heaton), keeps this improbable material percolating along for an hour and a half without once faltering for want of a good laugh. A super cast helps: Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker, Henry Czerny, Tim Blake Nelson, Mary Black and Sonja Bennett are the principals, aided by young K'Sun Ray as Timmy, the innocent kid with a good heart who acts as fair witness to all the lunacy of the grownups. (Having seen her only in "Memento" and "The Matrix," I had no idea that Ms. Moss had such fine comedienne chops.)

The production design and music are exquisitely 50s, to a tee. Maybe this one isn't for everybody. It surely will be a hard film to beat for my annual Bizarro Award. But intelligent comedies that stay funny from start to finish are among the hardest won achievements in movie-making. For me anyway, "Fido" is a hoot! My grades: 8.5/10 (A-) (Seen on 01/30/07)