The good news is, The Coed and the Zombie Stoner is not an irredeemable movie by all means. It at least knows what it is and what it's trying to do and be, which is always a good thing after seeing many movies recently that don't. It's very silly, but there is a simple sense of fun and charm when it doesn't get too random, at least there aren't any awkward tone shifts or a completely-different-movie feel. There were some fairly neat touches, notably the 28 Days Earlier on-screen caption(not an original one but will raise a smile) and one external review talks of Rigo's hand wiggling reminding them of Wallace and Gromit and I agree with that. Grant O'Connell is engaging and pretty likable, the best actor in the cast and Rigo is the only character we get close to caring for. The production values are not great, neither are they amateurish. Coed and the Zombie Stoner does have its fair share of problems. A lot of the script apart from some endearingly silly parts does feel and sound like a rough draft and really could have done with a few more re-writes. The story gets off to a very slow and dull first 15 minutes and while the pace picks up and there are signs of a story(and one that feels like the movie knows who it's aimed at) the structure often does feel too random and chaotic, with its fair share of repetition too; there is also some inoffensive nudity and the like that wasn't cheap as such but you did wish they toned down a bit. Apart from O'Connell the acting while eager does scream of inexperience, Catherine Annette is a very pretty girl but her constant talking/yapping got very annoying after a while. And of the characters the only one that is close to being developed is Rigo, most of them were very cardboard and others like Chrissy got on my nerves. The direction also shows some inexperience but there were glimpses of potential so it was not a hack job. The music has some nice moments but was a bit too constant and repetitive in other spots. Overall, neither a good or terrible movie, aspects are lame while other aspects were reasonable. 5/10, though in honesty the movie was not an easy one to rate without being too harsh or generous. Bethany Cox
