This month Chris and I watched the 2012 “Cockneys vs Zombies” an East End/Shaun of the Dead/Bank Heist comedy mashup starring Alan Ford, Matthias Hoene, Rasmus Hardiker. Two brothers in East London rob a bank to save their grandad’s retirement home, only to cross paths with a horde of zombies released from a nearby plague pit (by the very company that’s trying to take the retirement home!).
I have to admit that this one was a lot of fun for me purely for the cast (though ti’s also very entertaining anyway). Sure, everyone talks about Alan Ford – the role of Ray was written with him in mind – but the supporting cast are sensational. I watched the 70s TV show ‘The Good Life’ so when I saw Richard Briers in this film, I couldn’t help but laugh and enjoy his usual bolshy cheek, even in a zimmerframe.
Honor Blackman is, of course, a legend. If you don’t know the name, you will when you see her face, you recognise her. Actors/Actresses like her have done so much work over decades that I bet she is like a litmus test for what generation you are – maybe you know her from The Avengers (although that might be mostly for a British Corwd?); maybe from Jason and the Argonauts or Goldfinger ? I probably first saw her in Goldfinger… but, of course, my younger cousins probably know her from Bridget Jones’s Diary. She was also in another great London Horror film – To the Devil a Daughter.
And I also want to put some laughs out there for Tony Gardner, who – bless him – often plays a bit of a knob, but is really good at it. He is all over British Television but I saw him first in The Thick of It.
With all that talent and a real personality, Cockneys vs Zombies is a horror movie that looks like it was a lot of fun, and that is really infectious when you watch it. With some of the craziest kill scenes of any zombie movie, lots of heart, and a dash of social commentary, we had great fun watching this one! Join us to hear the best bits, the funniest lines, and if it taught us anything about how to survive (or not) a zombie apocalypse.
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Lauren Jane Barnett 