Phil's Halloween Horror Watch: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES (2016) from Screen Gems/Sony Pictures - October 10, 2016

PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES Blu-Ray

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES
Starring: Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Ellie Bamber, Millie Brady, Suki Waterhouse, Sally Phillips, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith
Based on the novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Written by Burr Steers
Cinematography by Remi Adefarasin
Edited by Padraic McKinley
Produced by
Directed by Burr Steers
Released by Screen Gems/Sony

Hello again folks and welcome back to horror movie marathon! Now I'm sure you're all familiar with the name Jane Austen, since many of you (including me) had to read her novels back when we were in school. "Sense and Sensibility", "Mansfield Park" and "Emma" are literary treasures, but her most famous novel is "Pride and Prejudice." Hailed as an instant classic, the book has been adapted in many other mediums ranging from the theatre to television and the silver screen. In 2009, writer Seth Grahame-Smith combined Austen's 1813 novel with modern day zombies to create his parody novel entitled "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", which he cited Austen as co-author. It became a huge success, prompting Hollywood to come calling. Then finally in January of 2016, the film PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES was finally released to theaters.

The film's official synopsis: A zombie outbreak has fallen upon the land in this re-imagining of Jane Austen’s classic tale of the tangled relationships between lovers from different social classes in 19th century England. Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) is a master of martial arts and weaponry and the handsome Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) is a fierce zombie killer, yet the epitome of upper class prejudice. As the zombie outbreak intensifies, they must swallow their pride and join forces on the blood-soaked battlefield in order to conquer the undead once and for all.

Original Theatrical Poster (2016)

OK, so I have a confession to make and here it is: I loved this movie!! This was not what I had expected it to be. It was freaking awesome!! It had it all!! Beautiful British women dressed in Victorian clothes who did Kung Fu moves and killed zombies! Blood and gore galore!! Humor and horror blended perfectly together!! A cool story and  interesting, funny and bad ass characters!! And of course, it had zombies!! Yup, I absolutely loved watching this movie!!

Lily James is incredible as our heroine Elizabeth, who is both breathtakingly beautiful and a bad ass warrior! Strong, independent and opinionated and knows how to open a can of whoop ass on zombies, Jamesalso brings a little bit of vulnerability to her character, especially when she meets Sam Riley's Colonel Fitzwilliam Darcy. Like Austen's original novel, it isn't quite love at first sight but soon their love grows while trying to survive the plague of zombies. Another fun character was Parson Collins played by the great Matt Smith. Smith made a name for himself portraying the Twelth Doctor on the long running BBC sci-fi television series Doctor Who. Here, he's playing against type, making Parsons wimpy, cowardly and hopefully romantic. And he's very funny too.

While the book received mass amounts of rave reviews, the film itself performed rather poorly at the boxoffice. The budget was a staggering $28 million but only reaped in a measly $10.9 million in tickets sales. While there was a huge fan base for the novel, it translate into theater goers which is quite a shame. The film stayed pretty faithful to the original source material and it was entertaining as hell, but it didn't bring in the audience that it was trying to attract.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES is an action packed, zombie crawling, blood drenched, fun-filled ride for the whole family!! Pay no attention to those naysayers out there in the cold, dark world!! Check out this movie for yourself and form your own opinion, but don't be surprised when it's over, you'll want to watch it over again! 4 out of 5 stars!! Highly recommended!!

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES is available on both Blu-Ray and DVD. The movie is also available on iTunes, Video On Demand, digital download and Netflix.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the screaming!