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Let me preface this review by saying I don’t watch horror films. If I wanted to be scared by what I saw on the screen I would watch the news. Let me now say I have never seen a zombie movie in my life. Finally, I have to admit that I hate blood and gore. Not even gore. Mainly blood. I have trouble sitting through medical dramas without flinching.

Now let me say that I enjoyed Zombieland. A LOT.

This funny zombie movie isn’t really about zombies. It’s actually a Road Movie using a zombie-fied apocalyptic America as its backdrop.

While I spent the first two minutes of the film wondering what on earth I had got myself into, I then realised that the squirting of the blood was intentionally excessive, and is part of the film's shtick.

Any way enough about the zombies. This is, after all, a road movie.

So, the basic premise of the film is that college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) teams up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) on his way to Ohio to find his parents. They run into sisters-turned-con artists Wichita (Emma Booth) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and join forces.

Laughs abound, zombies die, hilarity ensues, but there is a quiet character study underpinning the film that makes it so likeable.

We first laugh at Columbus’ lifelong goal of wanting to tuck a girl’s hair behind her ear, yet we feel for him when we realise the difficulty of achieving such a simple expression of human interaction in a world of the un-dead. In fact, all of the characters are in search of humanity - Tallahassee is driven by his search for a Twinkie( for us Aussies, this is a Twinkie); Wichita wants to take Little Rock to a theme park in Los Angeles so her sister can experience a childhood away from Zombieland.

The film is a not so subtle reminder of the importance of family, however unconventional that family might be. The zombies might as well stand for a society that has become addicted to excess and cover commercialisation at the expense of humanity. It is perhaps fitting, then, that the final show down takes place at an amusement park, which are, by definition full of artifice.

I should perhaps mention the performances. Jesse Eisenberg is great; a very endearing, likable loser. the perfect narrator for this film. Woody Harrelson is too cool. Booth is unexpectedly good, and Breslin is, well, Breslin.

The film enjoys throwing out clichés and then destroying them a moment later. Every hero moment, every mushy moment, is undercut by a humour that keeps the film bouncing along.

Just make sure you ignore the “where do they get their endless supply of bullets from?” question that will nag you throughout.

Don't let the title put you off. This film is incredibly enjoyable, but probably not for those with weak stomachs (or an irrational fear of clowns).

Should I See It?

Absolutely!