Zombie Strain – Movie Review (2/5)

ZOMBIE STRAIN is a new horror-comedy with a zombie story. It’s much more comedy than zombie horror, but not without its own unique charm. This is a very low-budget production, but they work well with what they have. Read our full Zombie Strain movie review here!

ZOMBIE STRAIN is a low-budget horror-comedy about a zombie apocalypse. You can tell that this is a low-budget production, but I’m fine with that as long as the filmmakers lean into it. And they do with this one. The actual story and cast are a mixed bag, I’m afraid.

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There are truly funny moments and virtually every actor has good moments. Many of them just also tend to have scenes where they’re a little off. It’s a little too much “let’s pretend we’re making a movie” at times. Well, too much for my liking anyway.

Continue reading our Zombie Strain movie review below. Find it in select theaters and on VOD from January 24, 2025.

Get stoned to survive

In Zombie Strain, the main takeaway from the story is that you need to get stoned on a particularly potent strain of marijuana to survive. Somehow, zombies won’t touch you if you’re under the influence (and smell, no doubt) of the “zombie strain”.

Before we get that far, we meet a group of people helping a friend make his film school application video. They’re in a studio where an erotic Christmas movie is also being shot at the same time. This makes for some interesting audio during the first long while.

Once part of the crew (the interns) return from an errand, they have news; An actual zombie apocalypse is upon us.

Great one-liners in the mix

Both the adult entertainment crew and the film school applicant are now trapped in the sound stage. They try to make the place as safe as possible before deciding to drink and smoke themselves into oblivion as they try to ride out the zombie apocalypse.

Then they make an astonishing discovery about the particular strain of marijuana that just might keep them safe. Okay, I’m oversimplifying, but it isn’t a complex storyline. After all, this is a zombie horror-comedy.

As they all struggle to survive, tensions flare up and mistakes are definitely made. Also, there are some golden one-liners in the mix. “I would scissor you in half” is a personal favorite, but far from the only moment that tickled my funny bone.

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Michael Seabolt is the director of Zombie Strain with the screenplay written by Gregory M. Schroeder. While I can’t say I was thrilled with every choice they made, I do appreciate how they worked with the budget. Also, there are quite a few long shots (especially in the beginning) that require a lot and work remarkably well.

I’m a sucker for most horror comedies and while Zombie Strain does earn quite a few points for leaning into their low-budget situation, the overall story didn’t do much for me. Maybe if this movie had been a crisp 80-minute ride into the zombie apocalypse, I would’ve been happy. It should not be as long as it is.

Having said that, I still enjoyed moments of it far more than I expected. And definitely more than I do when watching many movies with budgets many times what they worked with. In other words, it’s not great, but it isn’t bad either. It just could’ve been better.

Zombie Strain is out In Select Theaters & on Digital on January 24, 2025.

Details

Director: Michael Seabolt
Writer: Gregory M. Schroeder
Cast: Cameron Vitosh, Chandni Shah, William Mann, India Jasiri, Emily Ashby, Alexander D. Vogt, Jim Belden, Nicole Buch