Customer Reviews

Fido

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This Canadian production is one of the best horror comedies and period films available for fans hungry for bizarre and madcap entertainment. The current exploitation of the Zombie genre gives place to many different styles and moods, and a good tense and goofy comedy about the legend of the undead and the apocalypse on earth, with all the violence and gore implied, mixed with all-american family values and "pet" ownership responsability in a dystopic society that domesticated zombies for labor work, is always welcome.

Weird as it sounds, this movie is pure fun, with no major ambitions that showing a hilarious vision of a 50's era alternate universe, where domesticated zombies play a functional role in society: They deliver the milk and the mail, and even help in household chores. When the earth passed throught a cloud of space dust and the dead arose from their graves to devour living human flesh, it seemed than all hope for humanity was lost. After the mayhem and chaos unleashed by the living dead, the scientist of the Zom Com company created a special collar that turned the vicious animated corpses into docile beasts, willing to obey some basic commands. This concept of "protection" is, as you can imagine, very fragile and it test one's imagination over terrible things to come, creating a funny tension about this extravagant new society.

Now, little Timmy Robinson (Ksun Ray) isn't quite convinced of this menacing urban panorama. This quiet but skeptical young boy spends too much time alone in his bedroom, developping an anti-social behaviour that worries her beautiful mother (Carrie Ann Moss), who just purchased a zombie nicknamed Fido (Bill Conolly) to help with the housework, not knowing that the creature will soon forge a friendship with the boy at the point of becoming a member of the family. Things go out of control when Fido's collar starts to malfunction and some neighbors begin to die, but the most interesting twist is when the top specialist in zombie control of Zom Com, Mr Bottoms (Henry Czerny) , moves across the street, increasing the complications of the situation and threatening to "block" the human and zombie relations.

Speaking only for myself, this movie enchanted me for its simplicity in the vision of a colorful dystopic society living side to side with flesh-eating ghouls, and the melodramatic macabre vision over human-pet relationships, creating a bizarre paralel universe where the very concept of normality is the basis for entertainment. There's no abuse of the zombie imagery, the focus of the film rests in the freaky and abnormal 50's atmosphere created, and the performances are superb for this kind of film, destined to become a cult reference in the zombie sub-genre. The opening scene of the educational black & white video for kids in school, is an early highlight for this outrageously funny horror comedy. Higly recommended.

There are people in this world with a demented sense of humor. Those people enjoy films like "Shaun of the Dead' and find "Lake Placid" to be among one of the funnier films made that year. Then there are people who think the aforementioned folks need psychiatric help. If you are one of group "A" then I would strongly recommend "Fido" for your viewing pleasure. I personally grinned madly through the entire film, from the campy remake of the war footage to the 50's commercials skewering the elderly. The premise is simple, take all of the wholesome 50's TV shows and blend them together, remove the dog and add in some Zombies.

I rented this movie knowing that it would either be one of the most disturbing yet hysterical movies I've seen, or one of the worst. I was thrilled to discover that I loved it. The acting was brilliant in that 1950's way, the color, the scenery; everything was exactly what it needed to be to re-make the 50's with a few zombies added in. The zombies were easy to spot, shambling about in a lovely shade of blue gray doing the menial tasks in life that no one wants to do, like... mowing the lawn, or picking up garbage. Enter Fido, the lovable zombie who the Robinson's bring home. The Robinsons are a disturbing mess of a dysfunctional family, with a neurotic zombie-phobic dad who has little time or attention for his family, The pistol packing mother (Carrie Ann Moss) who does her best to hold the family together and gain her husband's attention, the son "Timmy" who is bullied at school, and friendless until Fido enters their lives. Throw in a few neurotic neighbors and a faulty zombie collar and you have an entertaining evening. The most peculiar thing about this film is that (apart from the zombies munching on people when off their leashes) there is nothing in this film to keep it from being rated PG. Not a profanity, no nudity... just wholesome Zombie Goodness.

Those looking for the next great Zombie film look no further!! This is one of the best movies I've seen in a looooooooong time!! "Fido" kinda takes the idea at from the end of "Shaun Of The Dead"(another Zombie great, and for those of you who haven't seen it.. SHAME ON YOU) about domesticating Zombies. All the remaining Zombies after an outbreak are fitted with collars created by "Zomcon" that prevents their hunger for human flesh & are then sold & kept as house pets & laborers. Sometimes though the collars malfunction & carnage ensues. "Fido" has a great wit & sense of humor, I laughed almost the whole way through. It's really more of a satirical comedy than a horror film. I love what the movie says about "the elderly". There are scenes from the movie that feel like they've been ripped straight from "Lassie". A young boy running through an open field followed by his staggering pet Zombie, classic stuff. Billy Connely perfectly plays his undead character, I couldn't believe it was actually him under the make-up. Carrie Anne Moss also does a great job playing a typical 1950's era house wife in a not so typical world. As not to spoil anything plot wise, I've really already described all that you'll need to know going in. Why didn't this get a wide release theatrically, I'll never know. This is definately one you'll wanna own, pre-orderer it, or race to your local DVD store on release date. This'll definately go down in Zombie history as one of the greats!!!

I'm not a zombie fan, really, and I'm not sure what made me rent this film, but I'm glad I did. I suspect the hardcore zombie fans whom this is being marketed towards (including with all the trailers on the DVD) won't necessarily be happy with this film.

Fido is a zombie movie, but it's sort of Night of the Living Dead Invade Pleasantville, a social commentary and satire of post-9/11 life set in a post-World War Z world that resembles the sunny and optimistic 1950s, where any questioning of the compromises made for peace -- or that the security measures in place are more feel-good than actually effective -- leads to ostracism or worse.

Billy Connolly trades his loud and brash manner for a nearly silent role, and the comedian shows that he's actually a pretty subtle actor. Carrie-Anne Moss turns in a very un-Matrix-like softer role and K'Sun Ray, on whose narrow shoulders much of this film rests, carries it with ease.

Take a chance of this particular flesh-eating monster. You'll be glad that you did.

The entire zombie subgenre has been so over done for so long that I was beginning to worry that there might be no coming back for it. Then, like a good pet who comes when you call him, along comes Fido.

Set in America in the 50's, humanity has survived the zombie apocalypse, which happened much as it did in Romero's "Land of the Dead," and is now living safe inside fenced-in safe zones. There is an invention, a collar of some sort, that is able to quell the zombies' hunger for human flesh. Now they are used as servants, or, in some cases, pets. The plot centers around little Timmy Robinson (K'Sun Ray) and his pet zombie Fido (Billy Connolly). As the film proceeds, Timmy grows attached to his zombie like a boy to Lassie, and when Fido gets in trouble, Timmy's loyalty causes conflicts in the neighborhood and the movie begins.

As ridiculous as this movie may seem I thought it was pretty decent. The scenery and costumes are perfect and an ensemble of highly talented actors seems to effortlessly draw you into this madcap world, but one in particular is worth noting. Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), gives an extraordinarily believable performance as Helen Robinson, Timmy's wholesome, picture-perfect mom, with just a dash of modern day "get it yourself, Bob" attitude.

It sometimes feels like he spent his entire budget on some vintage autos and an unnecessary helicopter shot. The zombie makeup looks terrible, which is always distracting. And the zombie actors are generally awful, probably on account of Currie's direction. They all seem too expressive in their faces and eyes. There are a lot of interesting aspects of this post-apocalyptic society, but the world and its rules are never adequately explained. To boot, it's difficult to understand some of the back stories, especially that of the father (played by Dylan Baker). I'd still give a recommendation, just because the idea is so fantastic. And it's an amusing picture, even if it disappoints.....somewhat.

It's all the more rare these days that you'll come across a zombie movie that has some originality to it. Fido is one of those rarities, as it presents a world stuck in the wholesome 1950's that is also recovering from a zombie epidemic, and the major corporation called Zomcom that has discovered a way of domesticating them. Young Timmy (K'Sun Ray) is bullied at school and basically ignored by his zombie-phobic, funeral obsessed father (Dylan Baker), who also has a habit of ignoring his wife (Carrie-Anne Moss). Things change however when all are introduced to their new zombie pet Fido (Billy Connolly) who soon befriends Timmy and develops a crush on Timmy's mother. Naturally, things don't go too well from this point forward. What makes Fido so good is how deliriously dead-pan director Andrew Currie has managed to satire the 1950's, creating one big joke and visual gag that plays out throughout the film's running time. Billy Connolly is so good as the title character, even though he never speaks a real word, while everyone else (including a very funny Tim Blake Nelson) are quite good in keeping straight faces throughout the proceedings. While the premise does start to wear a little thin as the end of the film approaches, Fido is a wonderfully original and morbid take on the idea of a boy and his dog and the zombie genre alike. For zombie movie fans looking for something different and offbeat, give Fido a look.

Brilliant and hysterical. But the big joke is on the rest of us, who endure round-the-clock hype for excruciatingly-mediocre Hollywood comedies, while true gems like this sneak out when no one is looking. Thank God for DVD. It was one of my favorite films of the year.

I had been hearing about Fido now for a year, the theatre in our town didn't carry this movie, so I have had to wait. Just hearing the premise: Stardust makes the dead walk and a zombie war happens, a scientist (who is rumored to have had his wife turn zombie) invents a collar that enslaves the undead and the world is right again, years later the Robinson family buys its very own zombie (Fido) and it kills the mean next door neighbor, can the boy save Fido from true death? I mean how can a zombie lover resist that?

First of all it's a beautifully shot film, Gorgeous in Technicolor, you can really tell that the producers, directors, make up artists and especially set decorators thought every single detail out. The child, Timmy, even has a "zombie" war themed room complete with sheets and curtains. The zombies aren't too gross, because what family wants a rotting slimy zombie serving them martini's and washing their cars? They are scary enough though, to invoke that inner feeling of "any minute they are going to bite someone." Zomcom is the company that makes the collars, and they patrol the towns to make sure no "rogue" zombie infiltrates the nice 50's style neighborhoods. I guess that there isn't many rules as to what you can do with or to your zombie, because Timmy's neighbor and his "Tammy" are really, really, close. I love how he explains that he was in the grocery store when she had a brain aneurism and they had a collar on her "before she hit the floor" so she is "barely decomposed".

Fido is played by Billy Connelly, who I have known from White Oleander and Lemony Snickets, and although he has NO speaking parts the man steals this whole movie with just his facial expressions. No zombie has enraptured and endeared me like this since Bub in Day of the Dead. The story is a classic one, a boy and his "dog", growing up in a society where you don't understand why some people have more advantages than other. It's also a story of how a dead man has more emotional depth and becomes more of a father and husband, than a real live one. It's about society's obsession with death, and how you can lose your family if you hang on to the ghosts of the past.

This movie is the best I have seen in awhile, it won so many awards (in Canada) and got barely an article here in the states and that is a shame. Yes it's a zombie movie, but it's a beautiful, well written, superbly acted film that I could not recommend enough.

i saw this at the film festival in portland, it was great! everyone in the theatre laughed out loud the whole way thru. such a great spoof on not only zombie movies, but 50's culture as well. definitely worth buying if you have any sense of humor at all.

This film should not have been this funny. The concept, while interesting, really doesn't have the legs to carry a whole film. Yet it does! This is because the direction, the writing, and the performances are all top notch! It is nice to see a zombie comedy made with a fair amount of talent and intelligence, and with an eye on style and story. If you haven't seen this, rent it now!