Horror/comedy tends to skew in one direction or the other. Given the premise, I was surprised that PP&Z skewed further horror than comedy, although not far enough to my liking. Everyone in-front and behind the camera is committed to the ridiculousness of the setting and premise, resulting in a pretty film filled with pretty people acting seriously in a period zombie film (with the exception of Matt Smith who appears is just having an goofy time). There's quite a good cast here, with even less famous faces giving enthusiastic performances. I get the impression this was a fun movie to make, that being said, its not a particularly good film although far better than it has a right to be. Unfortunately, its not really funny, not scary at all, and reliant on action sequences that are recycled from far better films. There's some clever and tongue-in-cheek writing which probably plays better on the page than onscreen, some excellent makeup and visual effects, and some fun action sequences, but it all doesn't add up to anything. There's some half-hearted attempt to play with gender roles and class warfare in Victorian London, with a strong message of female empowerment. But it all breaks down in favor of the goofy action fighting sequences, that aren't particularly great or memorable. The creators have added one or two new notions to the classic zombie setup, which I'd be interested in seeing explored further with a director actually invested in making a straight-up horror film. But at the end of the day, this is a horror-action-comedy, where the comedy isn't that funny, the action is lackluster, and the horror is non-existent.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies