Cooties Review: A New Cult Classic

“Cooties” starring Elijah Wood, Alison Pill and Rainn Wilson is a perfect concoction of zombie-gore and laughs that is part “Return to Nuke ‘Em High” and part “Shaun of the Dead.”

Directed by freshman duo Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, who have made their mark in the world of advertising – collaborating with brands like Nike and Panasonic – Milott and Murnion have crafted a film that delivers on both the laughs and scares.

Opening on Wood’s Clint, a “writer” and teacher living at home in a small Illinois town called Fort Chicken – writer is in quotations because not even his own mother finds the characters in his manuscript likeable. Clint is called in to sub at his old school, where he runs into an old classmate Lucy played by Allison Pill and her gym teacher bae (Wilson). Clint is not exactly given the welcome an awesome writer who lived in the coolest place on earth according to many aspiring Cobains and Salingers, Brooklyn.

Things seems pretty normal for Clint outside of the fact that a child in his class happened to eat an infected chicken tender that makes her more bite happy than Luis Suarez. After said student attacks a bully in Clint’s class and runs off the fun begins, that is if you love zombie kids devouring adults. Once the zombie kids begin spreading their cooties, the movie is non-stop fun.

Directors Milott and Murnion do not pull any punches. The two come out swinging with this feature directorial debut, they go all in whether it is with the horror or the comedy even going as far as pulling a “Lord of The Rings” joke on Wood – yes, they went there. And it is glorious. Milott and Murnion’s ad experience is on full display in montage scenes that have the energy and visual comedy of the aforementioned cult classic “Shaun of The Dead.”

Milott and Murnion do not carry the entire load though, the film’s cast does their part. Actors from Wood to Jack McBrayer have a signature moment and their chemistry radiates off the screen. Everyone, outside of maybe the nameless adults who are eaten alive, has a good time and that translates well, nothing feels forced. Underneath the blood and brain-hungry kids, there are some character moments and these are facilitated by Pill.

Pill’s Lucy is the emotional rock of the film; although Clint is the protagonist, Lucy brings about some of the film’s more serious moments and makes “Cooties” a little more than just a film finding another way to bring on the zombie apocalypse.

Shedding his yellow short-sleeved button down, Rainn Wilson as Wade is the comedic standout. Just being an all-around badass and delivering one-liners on cue, Wilson’s balanced performance chews up the screen and has a lot of his co-stars playing catch-up when he’s on.

By now you’ve got the idea that this is a movie with a cruising speed of 90 MPH, quickly getting to the juicier parts and it does – this is detrimental when it comes to the film’s ending. There is no M. Night Shaymalan twist; however, “Cooties’” botches the ending Sin Cara style – failing to provide a conclusion to the film’s story. It feels more like an ending to the penultimate episode of a season rather than the ending of a movie.

“Cooties” due to its lack of a fitting finale fails to cement itself as an instant cult-classic, this not mean it is not worth a viewing. Directors Milott and Murnion use a talented cast and visuals to cultivate what is an 88-minute joy ride that any horror/comedy fan will appreciate.

“Cooties” hits theaters and VOD Friday, Sept. 18.