Ben (Tye Sheridan) Augie (Joey Morgan) and Carter (Logan Miller) are 16-year-old boy scouts, seriously considering giving up their scarves when an outbreak of zombies changes their priorities.
Now, if the three of them can get to the big high school party before the zombies do, they might be able to save the day and make scouting cool again.
We say, “It’s another rip-off of other movies teenage boys will like.”
TAYLOR: Sometimes a movie has a great idea, “Can you get a merit badge in scouting for surviving a zombie outbreak?” Unfortunately, the execution of the idea fails to live up to that greatness, “Yes you can, but it’s not going to be much fun.”
All zombie movies have certain characteristics in common: survivalism in groups, combat against the undead, but Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse owes what few strengths it has to other films. There’s nothing original about it.
HOWE: That’s because it had nearly nothing to do with scouting. It’s as if they had written the script, found that it was like other zombie movies, albeit not as good as they thought, then they said, “I know, let’s make it with boy scouts to conquer the zombies. That will be different!” The problem is they don’t do anything scout-like, except for Ben who mends a handbag strap by tying it together.
TAYLOR: Agreed. If they had made these boys a bit younger, taken out a bit of the very average gore, nudity and swearing, it would have worked.
Here is a list of other horror films that inspired this film and are superior to it. If you are in the mood for what it is, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse attempts to deliver, and if you haven’t seen any of these films, perhaps check them out instead: Zombieland, Return of the Living Dead, Re-Animator.
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse tries to be too many things at once and comes across as crass, blunt and base.
HOWE: Come on admit it, you thought it was bad, just as much as I did!
This is now two movies in the past two weeks I had been looking forward to that wasted my time; Crimson Peak being the other. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is perhaps the worst movie I have seen this year and that’s saying a lot because many of the films have been rubbish. Save your money, your dignity and don’t go to see it.
– Taylor gives Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse 1.5 boobs out of 5.
– Howe gives it 0.5 “I’d rather spend 90 minutes cleaning the toilet” out of 5.
Brian Taylor and Peter Howe review the latest films for The Morning Star every Friday and Sunday.
