"Shaun Of The Dead" was one of the better cult comedies of recent years, but like so many cult comedies — "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Dazed and Confused" spring to mind — it went straight-to- video in Japan. So it's all the more surprising that "Fido," released as "Zombino" in Japan, a new movie that is clearly stealing from the zombie-comedy schtick of "Shaun," is getting a theatrical release here despite being far less funny than its predecessor.
"Shaun Of The Dead" had two things going for it: one, a good working knowledge of zombie movie tropes to base its parody on, and two, the nasty idea that the living were more out of it, more zombified, than the undead.
"Fido," for its part, also has a pretty decent premise, but that's about all it has. It imagines an alternative America where zombies have been domesticated, thanks to controlling electrical collars, and employed as domestic servants and service-sector drudges. Unfortunately, "Fido" is one of those movies where you spend the first half hour wondering when the laughs are gonna come and the next hour realizing that they're not going to.