I don't know what a zomedy is, but I like it.

The Mad A Johnny Kalangis film.

About a week and a half ago I got a call out of the blue from Kyree Vibrant, a long time friend and crime partner of mine. "Are you doing anything tonight?" She asked. Remembering that the last time she asked me to do something for her I had wound up dressed as a garden gnome for her wedding, I prepared to dig in my heels. "Well, I -" I said. "You have to come to Johnny's movie tonight. He has a screening. You have to." I'm not sure how she managed to convey a puppy dog look to me over the non-visual phone lines, but somehow I wound up at her husband's film.

This last minute call had come because her husband Johnny Kalangis had a film in the Canadian Filmmaker's Festival, and had originally expected a small screening that maybe the cast and crew could get to. It turned out that the festival had decided to make his film the opening night Gala. It might have had something to do with Billy Zane being the star. Or maybe they just really liked zombies.

I really like zombies. I especially like them when they're powered by diabolical meat. On those two factors alone I would have liked this movie, but what I got was a surprisingly good film. I say surprisingly not because I am surprised that Johnny made a good film (I'm not - he's pretty good at all this), but because of the unexpected twist at the beginning of the film. (You can open with a twist? Who knew?) It's really a heartwarming story about a father, a Dr. Jason Hunt (Zane, who's actually very funny in this) and his daughter Amy (The beautifully petulant Maggie Castle) who need to reconnect after the death of Amy's mother. They've left town for a getaway weekend with Dad's new girlfriend Monica (The bitchtacular Shauna McDonald) and Amy's new boy. This would all be a terrific setup for a TV Movie of the Week, If it weren't for the fact that what drives dad and daughter together is a ravenous horde of mindless zombies.

In all of my years watching horror films, I can honestly say I never expected to see a father and daughter coming to understand each other while beset by zombies in a farmer's field, or hear the words "Are you flirting with him?" after they meet a potential psychopath (incidentally, the room on set that Johnny referred to as 'The Sex Barn' during production is worth the price of admission). There's plenty of blood and guts flying, fulfilling the horror quota, but this film is just plain funny. See it if it gets to the theatres near you, rent it if it comes to your video store, or stay up 'till 2 on a weeknight if it's playing late on the teevee. You won't be disappointed.