Office of the Dead (2009, dir: Matthew Chung; cast: Edward
Chen, Christina July Kim, Shawn Parikh, Natasha Nova)
Office of the Dead is not a horror film.
It doesn't even try to be a
horror film. It's an office comedy (e.g.,
Office Space).
There's this computer software firm, and the software turns most of
the office workers into rampaging zombies. But there is no gore,
no blood, and no scares. Just wacky, shuffling zombies vs. snarky cubicle
workers trying to survive.
I don't need blood
or gore for my horror, but there are no scares or suspense either.
It's just not horror. It's a comedy. That would be okay, if it were
funny. It's not. No big laughs. Some weak smiles, but as a comedy,
it's pretty flat and tepid.
There's one funny
moment. Raj (Shawn Parikh) a nerdy computer geek, tries to pick up the CEO's sexy
assistant (Natasha Nova) as they're crawling away from zombies. Raj nervously
whispers (so the zombies can't hear them) his suggestions to take the
assistant out to dinner after this is all over.
But she can't hear
his whispers. She keeps saying, "What? What are you saying? What are you asking
me?" But Raj keeps whispering, failing to communicate, in typical
nervous nerdy fashion. It's a funny moment.
But most attempts
at humor are lame. The lead couple constantly bicker, but without
funny or original lines. It's along the lines of "You always
micro-managed me!" "Did not!" "Did too!" "Did not!"
It's hard to make
an indie film, but dialog costs the same for all filmmakers, big
budget or small. So please, take the time to polish your script until
every line of comedy is sharp, original, and funny.
Even so, I enjoyed
Office of the Dead because
I love office comedies. They don't make enough of them. But this film
will only interest hardcore, indiscriminate fans of office comedies -- those who want to see
every film in the genre. (The best
of which remains
Clockwatchers).
Review copyright by Thomas
M. Sipos
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