The story follows several people from the small northwestern island town of Port Gamble, all of whom are outsiders in one way or another. Frida (Janette Armand) is of Iranian heritage, was born and raised in Port Gamble, and yet has to constantly deal with the ignorant yokels who think she's Iraqi and don't consider her a "real American". Tom (Doug Fahl) is a successful gay man who was born in Port Gamble, and is returning with his partner Lance (Cooper Hopkins) to come out to his mother, about which prospect he is rather nervous. Cheryl (Cornelia Moore) is an iconoclastic high school teacher who is running against the conservative and small minded Mayor Burton (James Mesher) who has an ally in the equally small minded minister Reverend Haggis (Bill Johns).

A zombie outbreak of essentially unexplained origin (though it is reported in news programs that it is the result of a terrorist attack, and that an Islamic fundamentalist had taken credit) throws the small island into havoc. Tom and Lance's coming out dinner is interrupted by Tom's mother succumbing to the zombie infection, and Frida is overwhelmed while talking in a car with her boyfriend. Many hijinks ensue. Most notably, Frida is interrogated and tortured (by having a nail driven through her foot) in her neighbor's basement for no more reason than that she is of Iranian descent, and the scuttlebutt is that the zombies are a terrorist attack. Tom, Lance and Cheryl meanwhile take shelter in the church hall with the crazed and homophobic (though not zombified) congregants who believe that the apocalypse is nigh and only sinners become zombies, and thus strive to cure the Tom and Lance of their homosexuality to ensure their entry into heaven.

There are a number of good things to report about Zombies of Mass Destruction. The performances are all pretty good, though not quite good enough to make the satire work. (More on that in a moment.) And the special effects and makeup are first rate. The gut munching, limb hacking and arterial spray are very effective and quite fun, residing firmly in the Evil Dead 2 and Braindead end of the spectrum, rather than the more realistic Zombi 2 and Day of the Dead end. A few gags, a woman who has her lower job bitten off and a knife that gets jammed upward through a man's chin, are particularly effective. The production values side of things is very respectable as well. The film looks good.

However, despite that, the film fails to deliver the wallop of the four films mentioned above, or even that of non-zombie satirical films. Director Kevin Hamedani seems to intend a stinging comedic attack on small minded, provincial America, but significantly overplays his hand. First off, most of the jokes and humorous situations are simply too broad or ham fisted to work, or suffer from slightly defective timing. Secondly, the subjects of his satire, as represented in the backward locals, are too clearly cardboard caricatures, entirely without sympathy. A scene which exemplifies both of these problems is that in which Frida finds herself tied to a chair in her neighbor's basement. Mr. Miller (Russell Hodgkinson), despite the fact that his son has a major crush on her and that he himself has known her for years, is convinced that Frida is a secret terrorist. To try and determine whether she is a true blue American, he quizzes her about the minutia of civics, makes her sing The Star Spangled Banner, and forces her to eat ham, all before nailing her foot to the floor regardless of her correct answers and pork ingestion. Really? Is the audience expected to accept that any real person would react this way when besieged by zombies, even within the broad confines of social satire? This goes ditto for Rev. Haggis and his flock, who keep their gay conversion machine and risibly homoerotic movies on hand for just this sort of circumstance. While there are undoubtedly folks around who believe that homosexuality can be cured, it is simply too ridiculous to be credited as presented here.

This isn't to say that there do not exist buckets of material to satirize in small town America. There certainly is an abundance of fodder, just as might be found with any other group or geographical location one chooses in this multifaceted country. But the material in Zombies of Mass Destruction will be no more than mildly amusing to anyone but uncritical true believers. Hamedani uses a sledge hammer when he should be using a scalpel. While his protagonists are well fleshed out (for a horror movie, at least) the backward citizens of Port Gamble are quickly sketched cartoons, and the film suffers significantly for it.

There is much to enjoy and admire in Zombies of Mass Destruction but also much to dislike and cringe at, making it only mediocre when considered overall. It certainly fails as a social satire, but largely succeeds as a gore fest. In this case, a little subtlety would have gone a long way.

The DVD

Video:
The video is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, and looks good. The image is bright and the colors are rich. The bright red of the arterial spray particularly stands out.

Sound:
The sound is in Dolby digital 5.1 channel, and does the job but is otherwise unremarkable. The dialogue is always clearly audible, and no hiss or other audio problems are discernible. Subtitles are available in Spanish and English, but no alternate language tracks are provided.

Extras:
The disc is a bit scant with the extras. They are:

The Making of ZMD: The Zombies of Mass Destruction
This six minute featurette includes interviews with the director, much of the cast and lots of the crew. It is moderately interesting, but very slight.

Trailers
The original trailer for Zombies of Mass Destruction is included, and is effective and fun. Also included are a trailer for Saw VI and promos for Horrorfest 4 and Horrorfest 3 in general, plus some commercials for fearnet.com and Epix.

Final Thoughts:
Zombies of Mass Destruction is a film with high production values, exciting and fun splatter and gore effects; it's a film that looks good and has better performances than most horror movies released today. What it doesn't have is the spot on timing, stinging wit and innate grasp of just how much to caricature its intended victims that makes for a truly incisive satire. Because of the over broadness, and just a few beats off lack of timing, a good portion of the film's thrust falls flat. The dumb yokels we see here are simply too reprehensible and ignorant for the humor to work. Hopefully, Hamedani will bring his not insignificant talents into a tighter focus and hit the mark more squarely in the future.