If vampires can fall in love, why not zombies? That’s the premise of Summit Entertainment’s upcoming horror-comedy-romance “Warm Bodies,” starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer. The brand new trailer gives you a good look at the film’s tone.
After the zombie apocalypse, the undead stumble around in a grotesque parody of everyday life, while the remaining humans, led by a hawkish general played by John Malkovich, try to survive. One of the zombies, known only as R (“X-Men: First Class'” co-star Hoult), still has some humanity left in his cold heart and soon falls for a warm-blooded girl (Teresa Palmer), who happens to be the daughter of said general. Can their love exist in a world where mindless “boneys” seek to feast on human flesh? Can R regain his humanity?
Directed by Jonathan Levine (“50/50,” “The Wackness”), “Warm Bodies” is based on the novel by Isaac Marion and attempts to take the zombie genre into new territory. While other filmmakers (George Romero and Edgar Wright among them) have tried to bring a little bit of humanity and dignity to the undead, “Warm Bodies” seems to be the first young adult romance in which brains are consumed.
It also stars Rob Corddry, Analeigh Tipton and Dave Franco.
While much of “Warm Bodies” looks light, fresh and amusing (Hoult’s voiceover is a definite plus), it also promises some gory ghoul gimmicks. It’s aiming to be more than just another zombie story, but there are some aspects that feel too familiar, including a scene with a human pretending to be undead which feels too reminiscent of similar gags in both “The Walking Dead” and “Shaun of the Dead.”
“Warm Bodies” opens February 1.
We’ll be running a set visit report soon as well. What do you think of the trailer?