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Night of the Living Dorks
Starz / Anchor Bay // Unrated // February 20, 2007
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
So there's this movie, and it's a German teen sex comedy/zombie horror spoof, and you're absolutely right, those seven words together in that order are bound to make with the not funny.
The film in question is being released Stateside as "Night of the Living Dorks," which seems like a lame lost-in-translation title until you discover that the original German name works out to pretty much the same thing. Those dorks are stoner Wurst (Manuel Cortez), four-eyed Konrad (Thomas Schmieder), and Philip (Tino Mewes), our everyday hero of sorts. Philip pines for the hottest girl in school, while ignoring his former best friend-turned-goth chick Rebecca (Collien Fernandes). The geeks team up with Rebecca's goth freak pals to try a voodoo ritual; nothing happens, until the nerds die in a car crash, only to pop back to life as indestructible zombies.
Ignoring for a moment any comparisons to the mildly amusing 1993 teen zombie comedy "My Boyfriend's Back," "Living Dorks" gets by for a while on a decent amount of originality and charm - the leads all make likable losers, and their jokey foray into the occult has some delightfully silly moments (instead of a live chicken, a frozen one from the supermarket will suffice).
But then it becomes depressingly clear that writer/director Mathias Dinter has no intentions of satirizing either the teen sex or zombie horror genres. By combining the two, Dinter has nothing of interest to say - he merely smushes them together clumsily, resulting in a pale retread of both, hoping that the dick and fart jokes will be enough.
They are not. The idea has potential, especially as the trio begin using their zombie powers to fight back against school bullies, or as side characters make reference to the boys' new "heroin look," or as the goth kids accidentally draw a Star of David instead of a pentagram. Then the script loses focus: Konrad develops x-ray vision (?), Philip throws a super-cool party, tired drug jokes land left and right. Philip gets stuck in that age-old plot device, that of the uncool kid scoring with the popular chick to the dismay of the nice girl he'll wind up with by the closing credits. And then, oh my, we get tossed one too many montages of things happening at high speed (cleaning the house before the parents come home montage!) while a hip punk-pop tune blares on the soundtrack.
Worse, oh my again, the comedy goes for the gross-out all too quickly. Taking a cue from the disturbingly unfunny Jake Busey clunker "Tomcats," we get to watch as one character's testicle rolls across the room in supposed hilarity. Later, as a buddy tries to reattach the genitals (with staples - the first staple-on-a-body-part gag was clever; the seventeenth was weak), the whole affair is mistaken by others as gay oral sex, which the boys frantically attempt to deny, and let's face it, this is the final sign that the screenwriter has completely run out of ideas.
"Living Dorks" disappoints because for a while, there's so much potential and manic charm to the proceedings that we overlook the faults. But then the charm falls off and the faults stack up, and soon we're left with an obnoxious sex romp that knows just enough about the teen comedy genre to mimic it but not enough to make it worth revisiting, even with this zombie twist.
The DVD
Video & Audio
The anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) presentation is good all around, crisp and solid. The original German soundtrack is given the Dolby 5.1 treatment, while an English dub (which captures the cartoony nature of the comedy) is provided in stereo. Optional English subtitles are offered.
Extras
Interviews with cast and crew (14:43) are pure EPK fluff, with actors blandly telling us the story of their characters. "Behind the Scenes" (2:42) is a quick collection of a few bits of video footage taken on the set, with no narration. Both are presented in 1.33:1 full frame, windowboxed for widescreen displays.
A collection of extended/deleted scenes (11:39) and an alternate ending (14:40) add little to the experience. The "Fun Scenes" (8:42) - outtakes - are equally overlong and uneventful.
Also included German and English versions of the trailer (1:58 each). All of these extras are presented in anamorphic widescreen.
Finally, a preview for Anchor Bay's much-maligned "Night of the Living Dead" 30th Anniversary Edition plays as the disc loads; you can skip it if you choose.
Final Thoughts
There's plenty of promise but not much of it used in "Night of the Living Dorks," which stumbles into teen sex romp territory much too easily. Rent It for the early good parts, then keep a heavy thumb on the fast-forward button.
Note: The movie review portion of this article is reprinted with kind permission from eFilmCritic.com, because when you have to watch a bad movie all over again, your brain is too weak to think up new complaints. I mean, that testicle gag just never gets funny.
The film in question is being released Stateside as "Night of the Living Dorks," which seems like a lame lost-in-translation title until you discover that the original German name works out to pretty much the same thing. Those dorks are stoner Wurst (Manuel Cortez), four-eyed Konrad (Thomas Schmieder), and Philip (Tino Mewes), our everyday hero of sorts. Philip pines for the hottest girl in school, while ignoring his former best friend-turned-goth chick Rebecca (Collien Fernandes). The geeks team up with Rebecca's goth freak pals to try a voodoo ritual; nothing happens, until the nerds die in a car crash, only to pop back to life as indestructible zombies.
Ignoring for a moment any comparisons to the mildly amusing 1993 teen zombie comedy "My Boyfriend's Back," "Living Dorks" gets by for a while on a decent amount of originality and charm - the leads all make likable losers, and their jokey foray into the occult has some delightfully silly moments (instead of a live chicken, a frozen one from the supermarket will suffice).
But then it becomes depressingly clear that writer/director Mathias Dinter has no intentions of satirizing either the teen sex or zombie horror genres. By combining the two, Dinter has nothing of interest to say - he merely smushes them together clumsily, resulting in a pale retread of both, hoping that the dick and fart jokes will be enough.
They are not. The idea has potential, especially as the trio begin using their zombie powers to fight back against school bullies, or as side characters make reference to the boys' new "heroin look," or as the goth kids accidentally draw a Star of David instead of a pentagram. Then the script loses focus: Konrad develops x-ray vision (?), Philip throws a super-cool party, tired drug jokes land left and right. Philip gets stuck in that age-old plot device, that of the uncool kid scoring with the popular chick to the dismay of the nice girl he'll wind up with by the closing credits. And then, oh my, we get tossed one too many montages of things happening at high speed (cleaning the house before the parents come home montage!) while a hip punk-pop tune blares on the soundtrack.
Worse, oh my again, the comedy goes for the gross-out all too quickly. Taking a cue from the disturbingly unfunny Jake Busey clunker "Tomcats," we get to watch as one character's testicle rolls across the room in supposed hilarity. Later, as a buddy tries to reattach the genitals (with staples - the first staple-on-a-body-part gag was clever; the seventeenth was weak), the whole affair is mistaken by others as gay oral sex, which the boys frantically attempt to deny, and let's face it, this is the final sign that the screenwriter has completely run out of ideas.
"Living Dorks" disappoints because for a while, there's so much potential and manic charm to the proceedings that we overlook the faults. But then the charm falls off and the faults stack up, and soon we're left with an obnoxious sex romp that knows just enough about the teen comedy genre to mimic it but not enough to make it worth revisiting, even with this zombie twist.
The DVD
Video & Audio
The anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) presentation is good all around, crisp and solid. The original German soundtrack is given the Dolby 5.1 treatment, while an English dub (which captures the cartoony nature of the comedy) is provided in stereo. Optional English subtitles are offered.
Extras
Interviews with cast and crew (14:43) are pure EPK fluff, with actors blandly telling us the story of their characters. "Behind the Scenes" (2:42) is a quick collection of a few bits of video footage taken on the set, with no narration. Both are presented in 1.33:1 full frame, windowboxed for widescreen displays.
A collection of extended/deleted scenes (11:39) and an alternate ending (14:40) add little to the experience. The "Fun Scenes" (8:42) - outtakes - are equally overlong and uneventful.
Also included German and English versions of the trailer (1:58 each). All of these extras are presented in anamorphic widescreen.
Finally, a preview for Anchor Bay's much-maligned "Night of the Living Dead" 30th Anniversary Edition plays as the disc loads; you can skip it if you choose.
Final Thoughts
There's plenty of promise but not much of it used in "Night of the Living Dorks," which stumbles into teen sex romp territory much too easily. Rent It for the early good parts, then keep a heavy thumb on the fast-forward button.
Note: The movie review portion of this article is reprinted with kind permission from eFilmCritic.com, because when you have to watch a bad movie all over again, your brain is too weak to think up new complaints. I mean, that testicle gag just never gets funny.
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