“Romeo and Juliet vs. The Living Dead" Review - Written by Anthony T

Romeo and Juliet vs. The Living Dead
Year: 2010
Director:Ryan Denmark
Stars: Hannah Kauffmann, Jason Witter, Mark Chavez
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Third Rail Films
Running Time: 90 Mins

What if, Shakespeare wrote a play with witty dialogue and put zombies in it. “Romeo and Juliet vs. the Living Dead” would be the film that he would come up with.

This take on Shakespeare follows Juliet Capulet, as she starts to fall for a zombie named “Romeo”. But there has been a long standing feud between the Capulets and the zombies that has threatens to ruin their union. While this is happening Juliet’s best friend Mercuito begins to have a crush on her. This leads him to try and stop Juliet from marring him. As everything unfolds, Mercuito is forced to make a decision between his own well being and Juliet’s true happiness.

I always liked it, when a film that comes in my mailbox that is original and not trying to take itself seriously. This was definitely the case with “Romeo and Juliet vs. the Living Dead”, as I had a lot of fun watching this film.

From start to finish, this was a laugh out loud riot. The main reason for that was the way the film was paced very well. Director Ryan Denmark does a very good job spoofing the material. One of the things that makes this film work, he allows the humor to be funny. From the way he directs his cast to how the funny moments are timed, the humor is something that you can laugh at and not think that its stupid or repetitive. The gags were funny, as I found myself laughing at various parts. It’s the way that Denmark handles the funny moments very well that makes it very good. He also pleases the zombie enthusiasts with a couple of very good zombie death scenes. Those scenes were handled very well, as they were very gory and had a purpose to enhance the story. It also kept the action moving, which is needed for a zombie movie to work. Denmark also does a good job with the way that he handles his cast. The performances worked very well with the subject matter, as they handled the delivery of the Shakespearean context and put their own funny spin on their character. It contributes to making this film, very funny.

The screenplay is what makes this film, in my opinion. Denmark along with screenwriter Jason Witter, who also plays Romeo does a very good job balancing the horror and romantic comedy aspects. I liked, how they came up with idea of writing most of the film’s dialogue in a Shakespearean tone. The way that they wrote it helps enhance the humor, which is needed for this to succeed and not come off as a poor man‘s attempt to recreate Shakespeare. What I also liked about it, the writers took their time to make the humor and horror elements work. Combining both of those elements are usually hard to do. You have to please both horror fans and people who are looking for moments to laugh. The writers do a very good job in combining those elements, as there are scenes that would make zombie fans and the general viewer happy and bursting in laughter. This is one of those films that you can’t stop laughing.

Forget about “Tromeo and Juliet” being the one film that would make William Shakespeare spin out of his grave,. “Romeo and Juliet vs. The Living Dead" would be that film with its offbeat humor and gory deaths.

You can check this funny film out through Amazon On-Demand at: http://www.amazon.com/Romeo-Juliet-vs-Living-Dead/dp/B004DCUJ20/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1311640856&sr=1-1 and ITunes at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/romeo-juliet-vs-living-dead/id396316117 .

Review Rating: Four Stars