Neil [Danny Dyer] and Mikey [Noel Clarke] gather together the lads and head to Mikey's Nan's house in the remote village of Moodley to help one of their friends Vince [Stephen Graham] get over his divorce. No sooner have they arrived when they discover that all the women, only the women, have been infected with a virus that makes them man-hating and man-eating zombies. A night out with the boys turns into a night of terror in Jake West's Doghouse.
The screenplay by Dan Schaffer wastes no time setting up. In the opening minutes we already know what each of the boys is like and what they are like with the women in their lives, if they have any at all. And no sooner have they warmed up at their local pub, had a laugh and taken the piss, hired a coach, and landed in the middle of nowhere Moodley then things begin to go to hell right quick. Jake West and his art direction team give us a couple visual cues that things are not right in the village as well as a couple nods to his previous films but the lads have no time at all to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Waste not. Want not. The first 'zombird' comes out swinging and lads make a hasty retreat to Mikey's Nan's house. The rest of the evening is devoted to staying alive, knocking off zombirds, finding out what caused all of this to happen in the first place all the while still making time to put the kettle on and have a cup of tea.
With a bigger budget and more support Jake West has a bigger sandbox to play in. Incorporating a lot of practical and makeup effects into his film it may be small on budget but it is big on gore. Severed heads, split skulls, getting tapped like a maple tree and more limbs than I dare count and our boys are just going to be added to the pile, literally. Gorehounds rejoice. Jake West has responded to your howls at the blood red moon and delivered a gory delight. And his zombirds are very cool, each incorporating some sort of fear or phobia that men have: ie. fear of commitment or fear of domination. At their highest peak Jake said they had 30 makeup artists preparing the zombirds for the big finale. We also have them to thank for making Emily Booth [Evil Aliens] completely scary and unattractive. Clearly West is in his element and loves dishing out the blood and guts.
As far as the story goes, well, this is a lads movie. And by Schaffer's script the guys who are alive at the end of the film are the biggest prats of the bunch. You know, like how guys who are assholes always have the hot girlfriends. That kind of thinking. So perhaps Schaffer is his script laments the decline of manhood as he saw it in his dad. Sure, men populate most of the armies in the world but what is scarier? An army at your door or your wife and all the wives in your town or city being turned into zombirds and wiping out half the population quick like. So Schaffer knows what a man's place in this world really is and is frightened by the prospects. Yeah, the screenplay is a tad misogynist but there is no reason to think that anyone survives in regards to the Sundance Kid end to the film. Assholes may survive longer but eventually they'll get their comeuppance.
The funny and entertaining screenplay from Schaffer combined with the blood and gore of West make for a good combination.