Cockneys vs Zombie (2012)

It’s really a ridiculous premise: a group of young Cockney toughs are simply trying to rob a bank when, bam, here comes the zombie apocalypse. They fight of the walkers with some understandable difficulty but eventual success, and end up, somehow, at an old folks’ home that’s populated by aging Cockney toughs from two generations back… and damn, can those old folks kick ass.

There’s absolutely no reason this should be as funny, engaging, and even exciting as it is. But it is. There’s a mad exuberance about old folks blasting away at the undead while the hapless younger generation can barely keep up. Much of it has to do with the performances of some great tough-type character actors from long ago – Alan Ford (who you will recognize immediately as playing the Cockney Tough guy since the 1960’s about 200 times -- Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, etc.) and Honor Blackman (yes, the Goldfinger Bond Girl and The Avengers‘ Mrs. Peel before there was a Mrs. Peel), not to mention Harry Treadaway as the only young’un with half a brain. Treadway went on to distinguish himself as Dr. Frankenstein in Penny Dreadful, as Brady Hartsfield in Mr. Mercedes, and most recently as Narek in Picard.

You might have skipped this as another one of the Stripper vs. Zombies or Zombies vs. Bigfoot low-budget throwaways, but in fact this is a surprisingly well-made and just plain fun addition to your zombie collection. Or another great surprise for the zomfan who’s missed it for years.