FUBAR review: Move out of the way Shaun of the Dead and Severance, there’s a new British horror comedy on the block…
FUBAR review by Andrew Gaudion.
F.U.B.A.R Review
British cinemas has always been quite dependable when it comes to horror comedies. The last 20 years in particular has seen number of titles impress through their mix of giggles and gore, from the likes of Shaun of the Dead to Dog Soldiers, Attack the Block and Severance.
All of those aforementioned movies take horror genre tropes and flip them on their head for darkly comic effect. Shaun dealt with zombies, Dog Soldiers werewolves, Block aliens and Severance the slasher. FUBAR initially looks set to follow in the footsteps of Shaun, but actually turns out to be a little more pared down, which in turn ends up working for its benefit.
The film follows a group of childhood friends who head out on a stag party for their soon to be betrothed pal, Sam (Sean Verey). Their plan is to take on a mock zombie survival course. But, when things take a dark and gruesome turn, they soon find themselves fighting for their very lives.
That premise would lead you to believe that this group of life-long friends encounter real-life zombies on their stag-gone-wrong. And the film very much plays up to that expectation, dropping in red herrings here and there to make you think that there is a slow developing virus. But the ultimate truth ends up being much sillier than that.
The group of mates in questions are all, for lack of a better word, idiots. Each one of them are wrapped up in their own neuroses that they can barely function as a friendship group. Sam is a nervous wreck about his impending marriage, trying to impress his future father-in-law Gerald (Spaced’s Mark Heap). Toby (David Mumeni) can’t stop talking about his newborn son, Myles (Timothy Renouf) is vain and self-absorbed, Cheese (Perry Fitzpatrick) is a chilled out drug dealer, Brandon (Jake Abbott) is the dickhead brother-in-law, Al (Ewan MacIntosh) is lucky to be there. And Eric (Danny Kirane), well, he’s somewhat deranged.
Desperate for some kind of drama, Eric leads his friends down a path of violence and murder with often violent consequences, as the boys end up getting too involved in the game and have to face the wrath of the ex-military course organisers (led by Tim Farraday). It leads to moments of deliciously dark hilarity. Keen to avoid zombie movie cliches, the film decides to just go out of its way to be as ridiculous as it can be within the limits of its premise and budget, using creative means to get some decent mileage out its premise.
It is let own but some unconvincing performances and surface level characterisation. The sense of camaraderie is fairly well established, but aside from comic veteran Mark Heap, not many people in the cast make much of an impression, delivering the admittedly cliched lines. But there is no denying that they manage to sell the increasingly silly premise, even if the climax runs a little out of steam.
FUBAR earns a lot of marks for developing an original idea in a manner which feels creative, making good use of the means at its disposal. It is a gory and fun bite of Brit-horror, not quite to the levels of something like Shaun, but certainly more than entertaining in its own right.
FUBAR review by Andrew Gaudion, August 2018.
FUBAR screened as part of Arrow Video Frightfest
