BARE BONES: LITTLE MONSTERS (2019)

LITTLE MONSTERS (2019)

Zombie romantic comedy finds slacker, musician Dave (Alexander England) newly single and sleeping on sister Tess’ (Kat Stewart) couch, while being a bad influence on her little boy Felix (Diesel La Torraca). When forced to take Felix to school one day, he meets his pretty kindergarden teacher Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong’o from Black Panther and Us). Dave falls for her and agrees to chaperone a class trip to a local farm to get closer to her. This farm is next to a U.S. military installation and one of the experiments being conducted there gets out of control. This unleashes a horde of flesh-eating zombies on the park, soon after the kids arrive. Now Dave, Miss Caroline, the kids and annoying children’s show host Teddy McGiggles (Josh Gad, the voice of Frozen’s Olaf) are trapped inside the gift shop with the hungry zombies waiting outside.

Flick is written and directed by Abe Forsythe and is a cute movie. There is some gory violence, but mostly the flick focuses on Dave learning to be an adult and shy Felix learning to be a hero. Obviously romance brews between Dave and Miss Caroline, as the zombie horde lurks outside and the oblivious military plan to destroy the entire area. It’s entertaining, though there is a lot more character interaction than zombie action and some of the bits are very cliché, such as lovable TV host McGiggles revealing he actually hates kids and is a selfish, sex addicted jerk. There is a late gimmick where the zombies responded to Miss Caroline’s singing, but it goes nowhere and never actually serves the plot. Overall, it an amusing flick with a charming cast of adults and kids, though one that drags a bit in the middle. For zombie film fans, be warned, the zombies are only a catalyst to force the adult characters together to bare their souls and learn the appropriate lessons about love, responsibility and self worth. Don’t look for too much snacking. For those looking for something horror lite, this will do fine.

-MonsterZero NJ