Review of SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: Silly, Shallow but Sweet?

November 12, 2015

Ben, Carter and Augie are three high school boy scouts whose camping trip was disrupted by a relentless attack of zombies in their town. The boys use their practical scouting skills to try and stem the murderous tide of the undead. Meanwhile amidst the ruckus, Carter is itching to attend a Secret Seniors Party, Augie sees the inside of a girl's bedroom for the first time and Ben gets valuable lessons about the opposite sex from a stripper

Despite the crazy premise of this film, the film is engaging because the actors playing the three scouts were likeable with their nerdiness. We wanted them to beat those zombies and get the girls as well. The juvenile humor can be raunchy and offensive, just as how the teens like it. The special zombie effects of the bursting heads, spilling guts and splattering blood are right up the teens' alley of gruesome violence as well.

Tye Sheridan, who plays straight scout Ben, is one very busy actor. I saw him earlier this year in Dark Places where he played a very intense dark role. It turns out, "Scouts Guide" is already his fifth film this year alone. He already has four films lined up for 2016, including a role in "X-Men: Apocalypse" where he will play Scott Summers. Nowhere to go but up for this charismatic young man. 

Logan Miller, who plays the rascal scout Carter, is also a very busy actor, with three films shown this year including this one, aside from his work on TV. He also has three films lined up for next year as well. Joey Morgan, who plays the overweight scout Augie, makes his film debut with "Scouts Guide". He may be typecast in these sidekick roles for a while. 

The tall and sexy Sarah Dumont plays the statuesque stripper Denise, who is also a mean shot with the shotgun. Pretty and blonde Halston Sage plays Ben's crush Kendall. She is also another busy and up-and-coming young star, appearing in two bigger films this year namely "Goosebumps" and "Paper Towns."  

This is one of those movies that the long title already gives away fully what we should expect from it. We already know beforehand that we need to check in our brains at the ticket booth since this will be a shallow no-brainer.  With such low expectations and if you don't mind the rude humor, I think you could actually enjoy this silly and mindless little film, as written and directed by Christopher Landon (of "Paranormal Activity" fame). 6/10.