FIDO (REVIEW)

Dir. Andrew Currie

Reviewer. Dan Cook

FIDO is the simple story of a boy and his beloved pet. Except the pet in question is a savage bloodthirsty zombie played by a Scottish comedian. Directed by Andrew Currie, this off-kilter Canadian horror comedy is a strange blend of classic flesh-munching carnage and pastel coloured domestic farce. Set in a world completely adjusted to a zombie infestation, FIDO stars the great Billy Connolly as the titular undead who, despite being a friendly creature at first thanks to the revolutionary behavioural collar around his neck, soon causes an outbreak of zombie madness in his oh-so perfect neighbourhood.

Despite the presence of the always enjoyable Connolly as well as a fine supporting cast of Carrie-Ann Moss, Dylan Baker, Henry Czerny and Tim Blake-Nelson, FIDO never really reaches beyond its fun but one-note premise. A majority of the jokes fail to land, the gore is pretty tame when compared to other zombie comedies such as ZOMBIELAND and SHAUN OF THE DEAD and the shoehorned Ira Levin-esque social commentary doesn’t add much to the table either.

All in all, FIDO is a passingly entertaining but wholly unsatisfying film that isn’t particularly funny, is certainly not scary and, worst of all, fails to make the most of Billy Connolly - the best stand up in British comedy history.