Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse Movie Poster Image

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

(i)

 

Gory teen zomcom doesn't have many fresh scares or laughs.
  • Review Date: October 30, 2015
  • Rated: R
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Release Year: 2015
  • Running Time: 93 minutes

What parents need to know

Positive messages

Underneath the extreme content is a message about friendship; two friends "ditch" their goofy third friend in an attempt to be "cool," but they discover that their friendship is really more important.

Positive role models

Though the characters learn a lesson about friendship, the movie is more about celebrating bad/outrageous behavior in general.

Violence

Gory, comical zombie violence. Bloody gashes and wounds, severed heads and limbs (including a penis), stabbing in the eyes, gallons of blood and blood splatters. Homemade weapons create a storm of zombie goo. Fighting. A car hits a deer/dead deer, with guts. Deer and cat zombies. Explosive device, plus explosion.

Sex

Two topless female zombie-strippers are shown; a teen boy squeezes one's breasts. A main female character works at a strip club. Two teens almost have sex (oral sex is discussed crudely); a zombie with a protruding tongue interrupts and performs oral sex on the girl. Zombie penis and scrotum shown for many seconds. Heavy innuendo. Women objectified (wearing skimpy outfits, shown walking in slo-mo, etc.). Kissing between both opposite-sex and same-sex couples. An old lady zombie tries to eat a teen boy's bare bottom.

Language

Regular use of "f--k," "s--t," "hell," "ass," "asshead," "a--hole," "p---y," "t-ts," "c--k," "d--k," "d-bags," "bitch," "slut," "nutsack," "goddamn," "oh my God," "Jesus Christ" (as an exclamation), most of it spoken by teens. Middle finger gesture shown.

Consumerism

Dasani water vending machine, TicTacs, bag of Takis Fuegos chips shown and mentioned, U-Haul truck shown. Weapons assembled in a TrueValue hardware store, with many logos shown.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

Teens get someone to buy beer for them, but they don't drink it.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is an over-the-top comedy packed with language, gore, and sex. The heroes are three high school boys who use plenty of strong language ("f--k," "s--t," and much more), and the zombie killing includes lots of graphic, outrageous (albeit comic in tone) displays of gore, from severed body parts to exploding heads and gushes of blood. Teens are shown kissing and thinking about sex, and one scene shows a zombie performing oral sex on a teen girl. Two topless female zombies are shown, and a teen boy squeezes one's breasts. Women are also objectified in general -- shown in skimpy clothing, walking in slow motion, etc. The teen heroes arrange to buy beer for a party, though they never drink it.

What's the story?

Friends Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller), and Augie (Joey Morgan) are the only scouts in town, and though it's embarrassing, they stick together to support Augie. But on the night Augie is set to get the coveted Condor badge, Carter's invited to a senior party, and he wants Ben to go with him. So they ditch Augie at the campsite and head into town, only to discover that everyone is gone, and flesh-eating zombies are on the loose. A shotgun-wielding strip bar hostess, Denise (Sarah Dumont), helps them out. Before long, they realize they have to evacuate, but not without finding the party and rescuing Carter's pretty sister, Kendall (Halston Sage), whom Ben has a crush on. The scouts will have to use all their merit badge knowledge to survive.

Is it any good?

QUALITY

Though it centers on some likable-enough characters and has a spirited mood, this zom-com isn't terribly inventive with its zombie attacks and gore, and it offers very few surprises or fresh laughs. SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE borrows ideas from dozens of other movies, ranging from Dead-Alive and Zombie Strippers to Zombieland, but it passes them off as fresh to viewers who might not know any earlier zombie films.

The movie also goes for quick, easy (lazy?) shocks via nudity, blood spatters, and foul language. It's a choice that tends to spoil the goodwill built by the main characters, who are all innocent goofballs. The "scout" angle is the only new idea here, but even that isn't used well. Everything leads up to a "stockpiling artillery" montage of the kind already used in many other movies; the boys' scout skills don't necessarily contribute anything. This movie should "be prepared" to be forgotten.

Families can talk about...

Movie details

Theatrical release date:October 30, 2015
DVD release date:January 5, 2016
Cast:Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Halston Sage
Director:Christopher Landon
Studio:Paramount Pictures
Genre:Comedy
Topics:Friendship, Monsters, ghosts, and vampires
Run time:93 minutes
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:zombie violence and gore, sexual material, graphic nudity, and language throughout

This review of Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse was written by

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Quality

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Learning ratings

  • Best: Really engaging; great learning approach.
  • Very Good: Engaging; good learning approach.
  • Good: Pretty engaging; good learning approach.
  • Fair: Somewhat engaging; OK learning approach.
  • Not for Learning: Not recommended for learning.
  • Not for Kids: Not age-appropriate for kids; not recommended for learning.

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What parents and kids say

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Adult Written byChrisD 2 October 30, 2015

Haven't seen it just a reminder to parents

Ok so I don't know exactly why but I feel the need to have to remind parents that this movie is rated R and is about a group of Guys who sneak into a strip club and a striper helps them fight zombies parents pleassssseeeeeee keep this in mind just because the movie is about kids dosent make it kid friendly
What other families should know
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
Adult Written bybebzery November 22, 2015

Classic zombie comedy

All graphic violence and sex scenes are all comedic and funny. Mature teens will understand the humor and know that the violent scenes are fake. Otherwise a great first R-Rated movie for teen boys and girls.
What other families should know
Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
Teen, 17 years old Written byironkid21 February 16, 2016
This is a film made for me (of the teenage male demographic), so naturally I liked it a lot and it made me laugh hard! It could've been a lot better in making it's characters more 3-dimensional (Augie was 3-dimensional but that was about it) and there's a love story that was pretty much just there to have a love story but otherwise this movie is a blast! While they could've been a little more 3-dimensional as I said before, the characters were still really likable and really interesting to follow, the script is full of exciting zombie chases, action, and outrageously bizzarringly hilarious raunchy humor (there's a scene where Ben {Tye Sheredian} is hanging for his dear life onto something, and I was laughing so hard my chest was hurting!),and really effective drama. Carter doesn't want anything to do with scouting anymore whatsoever, Ben is conflicted as he can see how Augie is really passionate about it, and when Augie finds out about all of this, the three's friendship is tested, and I felt that was really well done. All three of the actors are hilarious and great in the roles. There's definitely some scenes/lines of dialogue that are really unfunny and don't work at all (some of it can unfortunately come from the courtesy of Carter) but it's easy to get past them as there's so much clever, funny, interesting stuff that happens throughout. Overall, this is definitely a really underrated gem to check out.

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