If you find yourself enjoying the likes of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter or Abraham Lincoln vs the Zombies… or Sharknado..chances are Pride & Prejudice and Zombies is for you. The title says it all. ​

Taking it from someone who knows the ins and outs of the movie/book/play – the idea of adding undead flesh eating monsters to the Jane Austen classic seems kind of ruthless, while being morally strange. Still, there is plenty of blood guzzling PG13 zombie mayhem to go around for even the casual moviegoers, who perhaps might find the story of Pride & Prejudice so daunting after seeing the book adapted about ten dozen different times. Whether it was the BBC miniseries with Colin Firth (who was great mind you) or the Keria Knightley film a few years later, you probably know the story.

Set in the backdrop of the normal Regency Era England where you’ve got the pride and prejudice with Mrs. Bennet who, under normal circumstances, is trying to marry off her daughters. I say ‘normal’ because, well..you know … the zombies. But Instead of learning how to become ‘proper’ woman, the Bennet girls were raised in an environment to wield their cunning blades than stand down to the likes of marriage. You’ve got Mr Billingsley trying to court Jane, while Elizabeth is repulsed by the arrogant Mr. Darcy, because of his hatred for Mr. Wickham due to personal conflicts..yadda, yadda. What makes all this interesting this time? it’s set in the backdrop of an apocalypse An apocalypse where we get to see the gorgeous, stunning and kick ass Lily James (last seen as Cinderella) behead a few sluggers. So when the film truly derives into typical PP slump (right about the time Mr. Collins shows up) the undead are thrown in to make the film seem unpredictable, and it works.

For the most part, as ironic as it may seem, this film is faithful to the original story which inspires it. I mean aside from Lady Catherine Debourgh reimagined as an eye patch wearing zombie mercenary, but c’mon it’s all in good spirits. Adapted from the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith (fun fact: he also wrote the aforementioned Vampire Hunter), and directed by Burr Steers (he also wrote the screenplay) – PPZ pushes the bounds of the PG13 rating a bit (there are some strong mutilations depicted on screen) – it still has fun along the way.

The performances are easily commendable, coming from Sam Riley playing the stiff Mr. Darcy or James taking the reigns as Elizabeth Bennet, even Charles Dance has some fun moments playing Mr. Bennet (although his screen time is vastly undercut). PPZ does stumble towards the second act where it tries to add a whole subplot involving a zombie uprising which I don’t know If I agreed with it, and some of the coincidences are not easily forgivable. SPOILER alert, when a character  is in grave danger, someone usually shows up to blow the head off a zombie. It’s a formula, but with a movie like PPZ I can’t look to much into it, and neither should you.

You may grow restless with the idea of another zombie movie, (I did not care much for Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse or what The Walking Dead is doing on television right now) but PPZ is one of the few movies that doesn’t waste its potential, and gives us some new heroic action starlets to root for. The film does leave room for a sequel, but at this point I’d be willing to watch Romeo & Juliet and Zombies. B