Strange Co-Dependent Relationships
Zombie Honeymoon Tests Wedding Vows

Stories abound of newly married couples who discover hidden truths about each other. Too young or too inexperienced, these couples often go their separate ways rather than cope with the imperfect reality of marriage. Others promise to stick to their wedding vows "in sickness and in health." The new horror/romance Zombie Honeymoon takes this test of a new marriage to the extreme when the groom develops a taste for human flesh.

Zombie Honeymoon
Danny (Graham Sibley) is having a bad start to married life when he becomes one of the flesh-eating undead in Zombie Honeymoon. (Fabrication Films/Showtime, 2006)
Directed by: David Gebroe
Written by: David Gebroe
Starring: Tracy Coogan, Graham Sibley, Tonya Cornelisse, David M. Wallace, and Neal Jones

Rated Not Rated
Running time: 83 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 7 out of 10.

The story follows newlyweds Danny (Graham Sibley) and Denise (Tracy Coogan) on their honeymoon. Denise's uncle Barry has loaned them his beach house, so the two have nothing to do for a week but soak up the sun and surf.

As the young lovers relax on the beach, an undead man shambles out of the water and attacks Danny. In an intense, gory moment, the zombie vomits blood all over Danny, choking him to death.

It would be a short movie if it ended there. Instead, Danny wakes up in the hospital after being legally dead for ten minutes. They keep him for observation, but Danny slips out and returns to the beach house. The next day, the police stop by to return his surfboard and ask him if he knows the whereabouts of the man who shared his hospital room. It seems the old man has gone missing. Denise soon learns the grisly truth, however, when she discovers her new husband is chowing down on the neighbors.

The film is a balance of horror and romance. Yes, it's mildly amusing, too -- in a macabre sort of way. But this isn't Shaun of the Dead. The comedy comes more from the absurdity of some of the situations. How do you not laugh at a man taking a bite out of his travel agent? Or two people cleaning a gore-soaked bathroom before guests arrive?

This doesn't feel like a shoestring-budget indie feature. It's a slick production. The makeup is very good, the special effects are well done. Done with a "less is more" approach, the gore is only used as needed. Yes, there are a variety of flesh-eating scenes throughout the movie but most are not especially graphic. The true horror comes from what is happening between Denise and Danny.

The acting is convincing. With the exception of one hospital scene, I had no trouble believing the characters in the film. Coogan and Sibley are well paired. It's easy to believe they are on their honeymoon. They are in love, but without resorting to sappy stereotypes. The supporting cast is also fairly good. Tonya Cornelisse plays Nikki, a budding palm-reader and psychic, who picks a lousy time to start giving genuine readings. David M. Wallace plays their stoner friend, Buddy. Unfortunately, Wallace seems like he's trying to do an impression of Steve Zahn.

Zombie Honeymoon has more in common with a drama about co-dependent relationships than a horror film. Replace "flesh-eating" with "drug and/or alcohol abuse" and you have a film for the Lifetime or Oxygen networks. As her new hubby slowly succumbs to his undead nature, Denise teeters between love and terror. She wants to help, but doesn't know how. For anyone who has watched a loved one slip into a terminal illness, the feeling is very real. She tries to cope with it as best she can, but she is clearly losing her grip on reality.

The world is filled with tragic love stories, and a zombie film is probably the last place we would expect to find one. It is hard not to feel sorry for Denise as she sees her love fall into flesh-eating madness. It may not be Romeo and Juliet, but it is touching. Any story of young love ended too soon is tragic, whether set against a backdrop of Renaissance Italy or the Jersey shore.