Fido (2006/Lionsgate)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Film: D

 

 

In George Romero’s underrated Dawn Of The Dead, there is a sad ugly moment where we learn that people-turned-zombies were being trained, possibly to be pets.  It is something sadly not followed up on in Land Of The Dead and who knows if it will be in his next film.  Andrew Currie tries to make a comedy out of it in Fido, but if Gene Siskel were still alive, he might dub it a “dog of all time” in its idiotic treatment of an interesting premise.

 

It looks, sounds, feels and plays out in such a phony way, it looks like a bad 1980s cable telefilm, but with a lobotomy.  Despite a cast that includes Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker, Tim Blake Nelson and Henry Czerny, it is forgettable, a one-joke 92 minutes without a laugh and dies quickly.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is soft, has some motion blur and is not memorable, while the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix never impresses either and some of the recording shows limits in its fidelity.  Extras include two feature length audio commentaries, deleted scenes with the same, stills, DVD-ROM convention piece, making of featurette and original theatrical trailer.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo