With a name like Cooties, it has to be gross. And boy, is Cooties a really disgusting movie. But like the Evil Dead series (not that's in its league), it's both gory and hilarious and occasionally terrifying.
Elijah Wood plays Clint, a failed writer earning some cash by teaching classes at the elementary school he went to as kid. And he has the worst first day of work anyone's ever had. After striking out with his old crush (Alison Pill, radiant as ever) and insulting her boyfriend (Rainn Wilson on the wrong side of goofy and obnoxious), a food-borne virus turns most of the students into zombies. This is after most of the kids have proven to be some of the worst humanity has to offer.
Much of the rest of the film takes place in the school as the few remaining teachers try to survive the plague. Jack McBrayer is his usual high-pitched self, and Nasim Pedrad plays one of the most poorly written, one-dimensional characters in any movie I've ever seen. (I think she's supposed to be a caricature of an Ann Coulter-type, but it's poorly executed and completely unnecessary.) But it's co-writer Leigh Whannell who steals the show as the perpetually awkward Doug. As usual, this group of wildly different people will have to stick together to survive.
While the film occasionally is a little too self-aware and smug for its own good, it's also consistently funny and engaging. There's a real spirit of chaotic fun here, which is too rare nowadays. This is the first film directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion have made, but they have a real flair and knack for visual humor. It will be exciting to see where they go next.
Cooties may not have a wholly original take on the zombie flick, but it's bloody fun and infectious.
