Horror comedies have been around for many years, what with poorly
choreographed action terror often coming off as slapstick and wretched effects
work and sub-competent acting often feeding revisionist interpretations of such
low-budget genre pieces. Horror comedies of willful intent are fewer and
further between, though — the degree of difficulty is greater, after all. But Edgar
Wright and Simon Pegg’s Shaun of the Dead,
a spot-on homage to George Romero’s classic zombie films, opened the international door to
grander commercial possibilities, and it’s into this breach that the zombie
comedy hit Night of the Living Dorks
— a big commercial smash in its native Germany, where it was released under the moniker Die Nacht der Lebenden Loser — steps,
slowly dragging its feet.
turns to a bit of voodoo. During a drive, their bong malfunctions, spewing
smoke into their Scooby-type van, and causing a crash. After inhaling some
ashes bought on eBay that allegedly can raise the dead, the friends become
indestructible zombies with an insatiable appetite for human flesh, wild
parties and gym class revenge. At first these powers make them the newly
christened big men on campus, but things eventually take a turn for the worse,
and much mayhem ensues.
import Sex Is Zero
— to Porky’s and similar type
American T&A comedies of the 1980s. Blending together shenanigans of the
sort found in Idle Hands, Shaun of the Dead and American Pie, the movie sails along
courtesy of its high marks in personality and blitheness. The gore level is
fairly suppressed, with gruesome appendage severings mostly swapped out for
sight gags and anarchic bloodletting.
Dorks is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, enhanced for 16×9 televisions. Naturally,
English subtitles are provided for the Dolby digital 5.1 audio mix, alongside
an English-dubbed track in Dolby digital stereo. Alongside the cursory bonus
inclusions of the movie’s English and German theatrical trailers is a nice
collection of behind-the-scenes footage, and deleted and extended scenes,
including a more action-infused alternate ending. Interviews with cast and crew
are also featured. B (Movie) B+ (Disc)