Jake West

Written by Brad McHargue

A plethora of zombie films have saturated the horror film landscape for almost a decade, drawing the ire of those who simply want something more than the same ol' same ol' out of the walking dead. Every so often, however, we're given a unique zombie film, be it outright horror or the increasingly popular zombie-comedy ("zom-com"), to satisfy our lust for originality. Sadly, many of these fail to get the recognition they deserve and as such, they tend to make the rounds at film festivals and gain popularity through word-of-mouth before ultimately being released to DVD without so much as a limited theatrical release. With luck, Jake West will buck the trend, as his splatter zom-com Doghouse is a triumph of horror-comedy that takes basic zombie tropes and turns them every which way. The result is one of the most inventive and gut-busting horror comedies to be released in years.

The plot is simple yet creative. A group of British lads, in an attempt to cheer up one of their own after being left at the altar, make theor way to the isolated town of Moodley for a weekend of drinking, debauchery and, presumably, wild sex. Upon arriving, they soon discover that the town appears to be completely empty, with nary a nubile young woman in sight. After some exploration and startling discoveries, they discover all the females of the city have become wild, animalistic, man-eating cannibals. So much for women being the fairer sex. Thoughts of bottomless pints and easy women give way to panic, fear and hilarious dialog as our protagonists spend the night fighting for survival.