Hide and Creep (2004)

The South Rises Again!! Out of their graves, that is...

The town of Thornsby, Alabama is having a rough day. First comes the reported sightings of UFO's, then the reports of the dead coming back to life and the final straw is when the biggest football game of the year keeps getting preempted by news broadcasts!

On this fateful day, Michael wakes up naked in a tree, not having any idea how he got there. He sets off to find his car and his girl, whom he last remembered seeing near the cemetery.

Video store clerk Chuck has problems of his own. There has been a run on zombie movie rentals as of late, he kills a man that looks suspiciously like a zombie, and the local diner carries Pepsi instead of Coke.

Gun club leader Keith, along with members Ted, Ned and Lee, run into some trouble of their own when their clubhouse in the woods is overrun with zombies.

At the church, the reverend deals with a greedy, uncaring congregation and a zombie attack as well.

With zombies taking over the town and the Chief out of town, it's up to the remaining townsfolk, including police secretary Barbara, to band together for survival against their RC (reanimated corpse) problem!

A great indie comedy, Hide and Creep has many laugh-out-loud moments and features a great cast of characters all played to a tee by the actors. The script features many in-jokes that horror fans will recognize and delight in...including the distinction that Evil Dead is not, in fact, a zombie flick.

The actors (including Kyle Holman playing Keith, who is also in the great short I reviewed, Golden Age) do a great job portraying each of their characters. Chuck (Chuck Hartsell) is a stand out and reminiscent of Randy from the Scream franchise. Each performance is spot-on and each actor, in either a small or larger role, has great comedic timing.

The stellar acting is aided by the great script, written by Chance Shirley. It never stereotypes its characters and is intelligent, entertaining and funny. Shirley writes clever dialogue and his writing is sometimes akin to Kevin Smith's style.

While there isn't too much gore due to budgetary constraints, it doesn't hurt the story. It featured just enough gore to keep me happy and many will enjoy the zombie lesbians (though the film doesn't take this where you might think...sickos!) featured in one scene.

A delightfully entertaining and comedic indie flick, it is the Southern version of Shaun of the Dead. Track this one down! I plan on buying an actual copy of Hide and Creep for myself this holiday season...

Order it on Amazon!