RKSS (Roadkill Superstars), the filmmakers behind “Turbo Kid” (2015) and “Summer of 84” (2018), were back at Fantasia Festival for the world premiere of their third feature film and latest horror-comedy: “We Are Zombies”! And boy was it a blast.
The living dead have risen up from their graves. Don’t worry, though; they’re not out to eat you alive as you watch your own guts spill out. They just want their part in society, to co-exist with the living, and prefer being called the “living-impaired”. Freddy (Derek Johns; TV series “The Boys”), Karl (Alexandre Nachi) and his half-sister Maggie (Megan Peta Hill) run a small, crooked operation where they intercept calls to the Coleman Corporation (who take care of removing families’ living-impaired when they have passed a certain stage of decomposition) so that they may sell them on their own. Just when they think their plan is still running smoothly, the siblings’ grandmother is kidnapped. To pay for the ransom, they will have to embark on a zombie-retrieving adventure like never before.
François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell, the three creative minds of RKSS, wrote and directed a zomedy for the ages. With an inventive and side-splitting script, endearing main characters, laugh-out-loud dialogue, as well as impressive make-up and practical effects, the fan favorites of Fantasia (for whom Fantasia’s city, Montreal, is their hometown) have whipped up one Hell of an entertaining feature film that is sure to satisfy horror fans of all types.
After dwelling in the post-apocalyptic sands of the sci-fi/action “Turbo Kid” and dealing with a shady neighbor in the retro-homage thriller “Summer of 84”, the Simard-Whissell connection dove head first into the common horror-comedy zombie subgenre. Luckily for their RKSS die-hard fans, they didn’t approach this subgenre like any other writer/director team would. The inventiveness and hilarity regarding the “living-impaired” in “We Are Zombies” could often remind viewers of the zomedy masterpiece “Shaun of the Dead”; in addition to the fact that zombies can speak in RKSS’ new film.
The lead actors will quickly be adored for their characters’ incredible personalities as well as their uproarious onscreen chemistry, notably Derek Johns and Alexandre Nachi, who portray Freddy and Karl, respectively. The authenticity oozing from their performances truly exemplifies why these two actors were perfectly casted for their roles. No regrets, here.
Not only was there innovation in the script in regards to the undead’s role in society, but RKSS manage to impress in the way zombies are presented as well. In the midst of an art show, orchestrated by a rich, eccentric and fashionable artist, an immense (literally, the actor is towering) zombie is the center of the spectacle. However, the creature seems to have body parts coming from other members of the living-impaired community surgically attached to it, creating a grotesque sight that viewers just won’t be able to take their eyes off.
After being presented before an audience for the very first time at Fantasia, it would be no surprise if RKSS took their latest project around the world for a superbly successful festival tour, so don’t expect to be able to see it anywhere else any time soon. That being said, as soon as you see the title “We Are Zombies” is available for you to view, cancel all plans and do so, as the Roadkill Superstars’ newest film receives the solid score of 4 eyes out of 5.
