SnoopyStyle Following a '50s style sci-fi zombie apocalypse, ZOMCOM develops a collar to tame the zombies for domestic use. Communities live in fenced off middle American towns. The Robinsons (Carrie-Anne Moss, Dylan Baker, Kesun Loder) get a new zombie (Billy Connolly). Mr. Bottoms (Henry Czerny) is the head of security for ZOMCOM who has just moved into the neighborhood with his daughter Cindy (Alexia Fast).It is a really cool idea. However after the really cool idea, it needs something more compelling. It doesn't have the needed biting comedy. It cruises along with a ultra-light monotone satire. The odd thing here is that they have muzzled Billy Connolly who is one of the funniest comedic voice around. It's not funny enough to be a light comedy if you're going to use zombies. It needs to have a much darker undertone, and it's never exciting enough as a zombie horror movie.

ironhorse_iv Fido is one of those satire boy and his pet comedy that makes you wonder if the director writer Andrew Currie just watch an old Lassie episode, and just rewrote the part of the dog with the word 'zombie'. The film takes place in a 1950s-esque alternate universe where the Zombie War just ended. People continue to live normal lives in fenced in communities with the help of a governing Zomcon corporation. Due to the small population, many of the jobs have been taken over by collar control zombies that Zomcon allow its citizens to have. The mock documentary kind-of 50s newsreel narration that explains the story is neat. Tim (K'Sun Ray) dreams of owning a zombie. He finds a pet in Fido (Billy Connelly) which his mother Helen Robinson (Carrie-Anne Moss) buys in spite of her husband Bill's (Dylan Baker) a zombie phobia, as Bill has had bad experiences with zombies having been a veteran of the Zombie Wars. Billy Connelly is just awesome in the role of Fido as he pull being a cute zombie off. Undoubtedly, the collar fatal-flaw for Timmy's Pet Fido breaks free and bite an old lady. Soon the whole town has a small outbreak popping everywhere and Timmy and Fido has to find a way to stop it. Fido is an exercise in insanity, borrowing from Romero's original intended satire from his first zombie films which spoke of the communism red scare and the idea of a new generation eating the previous one. I think the film is trying to mock what people view is the Golden Age of idealized suburban life by saying beyond its white fences, there is a ugly truth to it. It was a decade of death as well with the Korean War and Cold War fears. The 1950's element is done fantastically well, from the dialogue to the cinematic clichés, but its faults to meet the demand in comedy. Its comedy is a hit and miss. One such miss is its idea of having Necrophilia as a certain theme throughout the film. There is a character name Mr. Theopolis (Tim Blake Nelson) who use zombies as mistresses. Theopolis is a name spell to mean Lover of God or Friend of God, very loosely close to the Greek word Theophilus. The filmmakers might be trying to say that theistic religions are invariably obsessed with death. Who knows, but it's not only Mr. Theopolis as Helen also has a thing for Fido. Helen even says, she wishes she had met him before she got married and when he was still alive. Leave it to Carrie's beaver wanting things. While Carrie Anne Moss is hot, I don't want to think of Fido and her hooking up. Eww. Necrophilia is taboo for a reason and it's rarely funny. Hints why it fail to be funny in this movie. It sometimes feels like the director spent his entire budget on some vintage autos and an unnecessary helicopter shots as the movie fail in the box-office. It was straight to DVD release of Fido albeit with enough gore to gain it an R-rating in the US. Fido doesn't do anything, so it's not a comedy. It's not scary, so it's not a horror either. What is it? It's a nonstop fan boy homage to older, and meaningful zombie flicks. All that said, the cinematography, set design, colors and actors are all great. Fido is a wonderfully original and morbid take on the idea of a boy and his pet. For zombie movie fans looking for something different and offbeat, give Fido a try.

JoeB131 Can we officially declare that Zombies just aren't scary anymore? This movie is based on the premise than instead of WWII, we had the Zombie War, were a lot of people turned into Zombies, there was a war to defeat them, but they found a way to turn Zombies into a domesticated slave class.It's set in an alternative history 1950's (no people of color to be seen) with loud pastels and pasty white people.There is a scene where two child bullies are killed, zombified, killed again and burned, all in a very antiseptic way compared to how adult zombies are dispatched in this movie.I think this was supposed to be a satire on American values, but frankly, a lot of the jokes fell flat. We all know that the 1950's weren't really the idealized Happy Days type thing. This world is kind of too orderly.

geminiredblue Every couple of years now, it seems a zombie comedy (or zomedy) makes it into theaters. A few years ago, it was ZOMBIELAND. Before this movie, SHAUN OF THE DEAD made its appearance. Usually zomedies are characterized by having a mix of chills and chuckles. FIDO focuses more on the chuckles and less on the chills, though it has a fair amount near the end. Set in a small community known as Willard (thanks for the nod) during the 1950s, we are introduced to the state of the world. A mysterious radiation caused all the dead to rise, there was a war, blah blah blah. Taking the same basic story from NOTLD, the filmmakers expand on it by supposing that we won the war against the undead, sorta. Zombies are still around. However, a brilliant scientist found a way to tame the undead by placing collars around their necks. Zom-Con is formed. As the black and white movie fades out, we are introduced (in color) to a classroom. At the back sits Timmy (who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Macaulay Culkin) who's a lonely, thoughtful boy. The school curriculum now includes gun training and zombie hunting skills. In the neighborhood, we see zombies delivering milk and papers, watering the lawn and walking the dog. Practically everyone has a zombie. Everyone, that is, except Timmy's family. Timmy's father has a phobia of the living dead (which everyone else thinks is weird) but that doesn't stop Timmy's mother from revealing the big surprise one evening at dinner. To the father's growing unease, a 6-foot tall zombie is serving the roast. From that point forward, it's a standard boy and his zombie tale. Boy befriends zombie (calling him Fido). Zombie's collar malfunctions and he eats a curmudgeonly old neighbor. Before long, other zombies start cropping up. The Zom-Con security squad is called in. Zom-Con suspects Fido. There is an overall sense of wonder in this alternate 50s reality. Everything seems almost too cute at times. The entire cast gives outstanding performances. Once again, I must give kudos to the filmmakers for letting the kids act like kids. Dylan Baker as the father gives his least-creepy performance. For most creepy, see him in HAPPINESS. He's mainly a bumbling idiot, but he means well and he does love his family despite his hang-ups. Carrie-Anne Moss as the mother gives a subdued performance that almost allows her to disappear into the role. The real star of the movie is (of course) Billy Connolly as Fido. Throughout the course of the film, it shows that zombies had lives and thoughts and feelings before they turned. And even after turning, sometimes old habits die hard. Apart from some bloody zombie violence, this movie could be viewed as a (bitterly) sweet family movie. There is no profanity, or any other things that one normally finds in modern family movies (shame really that we've sunk so low.) Naturally, it's making a statement about zombie movies and the mentality of the 50s, but the best way to enjoy it is as a zomedy with a heart. If ever I planned to "go zombie" this would be the movie to convince me!