Zombieland will have your skin crawling, your bones shaking, and your stomach churning for more. Zombieland is not to be missed!

Zombieland, directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have created a comedic thriller masterpiece. At first from viewing the trailer, the film looked inane, simple eye candy, and American remake of Shaun of the Dead, but trust me the trailer holds no justice for this movie.

The film stars Woody Harrelson (Seven Pounds and No Country for Old Men) as Tallahassee, a red neck official zombie killer, and the loveable Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland) as Columbus, a geek with a way of survival.

 The film begins with the thin, nerdy, phobic (especially a fear with clowns), and endearing Columbus, discovering life is different at college, too different. “I’ve been preparing for this role for 25 years,” said Eisenberg jokingly.

He realizes there’s no place like home when finally the first girl he has spend the night turns into a flesh eating zombie. However, it is not just his college, the whole world has been hit with the zombie epidemic. First it was mad cow disease, and then it turned into mad person disease.

So like any pantophobic, Columbus sets up a list of rules of bloodcurdling people and places to stay away from, which is everything, and defense mechanisms of how to defeat the living dead, then sets off into the sunset to find home.

On the way into this sunset a knight in shinning armor comes his way, well almost. A speeding black Escalade with a snowplow on the front comes barreling through destroying anything in its path. In enters Tallahassee. Tallahassee is not good at much, but when it comes to killing the undead, there is no one better, and of course the two team up; there’s no one else really alive that the two can pick and choose to be friends with.  Columbus and Tallahassee make a hilarious duo filled with surprises, laughs, and even some tears. The friendship is closely similar to Wedding Crashers, helping one another out, as well as making fun of one another, especially with the added rules.

The two eventually meet up the sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). These two added to the mix adds more impact, suspense, more sidesplitting humor, as well as a little romance. People say three is company, but these four make a zombie apocalypse party. “We were filming on video not film so it gives you a lot more ways to improvise without running out of film,” said Eisenberg. Harrelson continues, “What I think makes the best type of director is when they’re on top of things. He [the director] was so on top of things but not to the point where he would not allow spontaneity.” This film is filled with twists and turns, blood and gore, and possibly the best cameo of all times. Either way, this film will have you laughing and keep you surprised at all times. 

Columbus narrates the film, letting the audience into his head of rules, phobias, hopes, dreams, and despair. He discusses how hard it is to be a young man, trying to discover himself while beating a zombie to a pulp, when all he really wants to do is brush a girl’s hair behind her ear. In this way the film is similar to that of The Princesses Diaries, Mia just wants to enjoy her youth and find that perfect “leg-popping-kiss”, while being poked and prodded to be a princess.

The filming however, was classic. Each time a rule is discussed, the rule would pop up on the screen, then reenacted with a zombie killing. The slow motion was perfectly done for scenes, as well as fast motion. The close-ups used of the zombies, though gory and disgusting, yet somehow tasteful, more like “zombie delicious”. The soundtrack was also well done. The music always kept a fast pace, making the audience feel more as though they were at a zombie rock concert than a movie. 

It was astonishing to see Harrelson play such a “silly” character, especially after winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for best picture of 2007, No Country for Old Men. With a title like Zombieland it made people curious what captured Harrelson. “For me it was the 100 pages between the covers,” Harrelson said. “For me it was everything but the cover. What kind of film does “Zombieland” have a developing character?,” Eisenberg added. The audience can see that the genre of the film was not what won these talented actors, but clearly the clever writing.

Overall this film gets an A+. First hearing about the film I thought it would be another spoof of zombie films; however, it was anything but. Zombieland, not only makes fun of thrillers, as well as zombie films like Dawn of the Dead, in turn the film also becomes a horror classic. If gore is not your idea of a delicious appetite, this film is probably not for you. However if the living dead is your passion, feel free to dress up like a blood thirsty dead walker. The premier of this film in Boston included a zombie march, as well as the opening night. This film is not only fun to watch, but participate.