A German horror comedy that successfully spoofs all possible clichés of zombie films without ever paying any disrespect to the real genre classics or ending up as a retarded 90 minutes joke itself??? It's almost impossible to accept such a thing exists and yet here's Mathias Dinter's "Night of the Living Dorks"! I swear, unless you absolutely have no sense of humor in you, you can't but enjoy this silly story about three typical German high-school nerds that suddenly move up the social ladder because they have the strength and advantages of the living dead. In a desperate attempt to conquer a girl's heart (and body), Philip and his friends Konrad and Wurst (what's in a name) undergo a voodoo ritual and become soiled by the ashes of a dead Haitian zombie. There's no result at first but, after a car accident, our jolly trio is immune to pain and has developed an insatiable desire for raw meat. While Konrad and Wurst are having the time of their lives abusing their zombie powers, Philip turns to his loving neighbor girl for a cure. This light-headed and spirited production contains all the necessary ingredients to guarantee brainless entertainment and yet a lot more, too. Whereas other German movies are frequently uptight (no offense to any German readers...), "Night of the Living Dorks" specifically focuses on laughing with stereotypes and even the country's own national history. All the gags and references towards classic films in the script already featured in previous zombie comedies and yet this movie still feels fresh and innovating. Even the jokes that aren't zombie-related, like soft-drug usage or the "crush on teacher"-syndrome, are effective and will make you chuckle. The acting of the boys is pretty good, while the girls all look ravishing and show quite a bit of naked flesh. The gory situations aren't as outrageous as I thought, which is probably due to the German rating system, but there certainly is some nice sloth to enjoy. Many will disagree, maybe, but I think this pleasant German surprise doesn't have to yield much to similar movies like "Shaun of the Dead", "Return of the Living Dead" or "The Dead Hate The Living". Bring out the six-packs of beer!
Review of Night of the Living Dorks
