• Straight to Video
• Director: Justin Powers
• Written by: Justin Powers, Matt Powers, Joseph Amdahl, Chris Laster
• Running Time: 55 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: UNRATED
• Cast: Starla Anderson, Lloyd Kaufman, Amy Brown, John Phelan, Melody Cottrell, Monique Dupree, Blag Dahlia, Stan Dobbs, Brian Frederick, Richard Houghton, Mark E. Howell, Patrick Knoles, Scott Krakowski, Chris Laster, Henry Martin, Misty Matthews, Jason Mullins, John Phelan, Alecia Peterman

"Pot Zombies” is a niche film that is designed to appeal to two groups of people; horror fans and pot smokers. Incidentally, the two are often interchangeable, seemingly, in my opinion, a by-product of the degrading quality of horror films in recent years. Sadly, horror fans that aren’t users will likely come away from watching this wishing they were. What am I trying to say? Well, the film is pretty bad; actually, it’s quite terrible. Even referring to it as a film is a bit of a stretch, considering that aside from a running theme, this is more in keeping with a instructional video on how to enjoy pot, capped off with a punchline involving zombies. I guess it’s hardly a surprise that Troma Entertainment agreed to distribute this film, especially considering some of the dreck they’ve pushed over the years. If anything, the title is catchy and will surely appeal to those searching for something different to watch.

Tossing aside a genuinely consistent narrative in favour of a central linking theme, the filmmakers are content to shoot a series of ten to fifteen minute vignettes, most of which are unconnected in any way, and then string them together until the running time reaches a distributable length. Unlike most films that take this route, there isn’t a character that connects the segments. The film seems to start off well, offering a news reporter who acquaints the audience with the crisis facing a small American town – an aptly named “demonic chronic” has been turning the locals into cannibalistic zombies hell-bent on total destruction, but, sadly, the newscast disappears twenty minutes in and from that we’re left with one stand-alone segment after another featuring people we don’t know, or care about, smoking heaping helpings of pot, turning into greenish zombies (the kind with digitally enhanced glowing red-green eyes) and then cannibalizing anyone in their vicinity.

From what I could gather from trudging through this mess, there's only one segment that features a character who returns in a later segment. Lloyd Kaufman himself, the head of Troma Entertainment, does the honours, playing a tongue-wagging mentally challenged pizza guy who reappears twenty or so minutes later as somebody’s dad, for no apparent reason. There's also bit piece about a guy and his late-for-work girlfriend, who both appear in their own designated segments, neither of which end with a desired zombie kill. Outside of these two, every situation is autonomous of the other, and after a good hour of this derivative nonsense, the wires begin to cross and it becomes a rather tedious test of endurance. Spotty at best is the story of how the zombie producing chronic came to exist. The only thing I could figure from the hazy black and white opening sequence is that some kind of surreptitious nuclear facility was involved, mixing a radioactive substance into a small town's most recent weed shipment. It isn't long before word gets out across town about how good the stuff is. Pretty hard to get the word out when you're turning into a zombie four to five minutes after smoking it but that's a plot hole I'm not interested in delving into. 

Granted, while some of the portions are interesting or titillating (see: lesbians), the majority run too long or seem to go nowhere, even within their own limiting windows. Some of the better segments include a pair of gorgeous lesbian groupies who stop momentarily to smoke a joint before hungrily devouring each other, in every sense of the word. Another segment features a rock band who partake in a little of the demon chronic backstage only to transform during the subsequent concert, turning the whole thing into an orgy of blood and mayhem. My favourite segment however, has to be watching former body-builder, John Pelan, playing a placid old school hippie-type who attempts to temper a gruff police officer intent on busting him. This Phelan guy, who has appeared in over a dozen films, is actually a fine actor. There are plenty of segments featuring fake gore (some digital) and fake vomit, but one scene in particular almost caused me to cough up real vomit. Watching as a heavily tattooed Texan, Rob Swarthout, is strung up by fish-hooks (pierced through his back – no harness, just skin and lots of blood) is gag inducing. The whole segment defies logic but alas, it works to shock, which I'm guessing was the whole point.

Each instance seems to designed to draw parallels between those who smoke pot and the walking dead, and works as a sort of off-kilter anti-drug movie, much in the same vein as those produced in the 1940s and 1950's, movies like "Alice In Acidland", "Reefer Madness" and "Acid Eaters". While the consequences may be implausible and laughable, people turning into zombies - the message is clear: you smoke pot, you turn mindless and vicious. Boogah! Everything presented here is done in a sort of half zonked tongue in cheek way, so there's little to get all up and arms about if you are a pot smoker. There's plenty of social issues that "Pot Zombies" could have dove into, delivering an unconventional platform to address the legalization of marijuana and the other federal vs state injustices, but 26 year old filmmaker, Justin Powers, is happy to spend the film's 10,000 budget on meaningless segments, none of which speaks to anything much deeper than what a typcial pothead might muster up after a few bong hits.

The editing and special effects here leave a lot to be desired. After getting in the requisite number of tokes, the actors are given a nice thick coat of green paint, and in post-production, digitally glowing eyes are inserted. The end result isn't totally bad but pales in comparison to some of the other cinematic zombies we've seen over the years. One of the more egregious uses of digital effects occurs during the John Phelan segment where flashing police lights are digitally inserted to give the impression a cop is hot on Phelan's tail. The digital work here is attrocious, however, I'm wondering if it was intentionally made to look that way. But if so, why? Scenes that run a little too long and are pieced together with an animated talking and dancing joint, speak to an editing issue (as well as a lack of creativity) that only worsens as the film goes on. The segment featuring Kaufman and some metal-heads hungry for pizza is agonizingly drawn out. Other segments, one of which features a man turning his dog into a zombie, and a girl in a cab listening to a talkative driver, feel like an eternity has gone by, before each arrives at their less than thrilling conclusion.

As the only recognizable star, Lloyd Kaufman, someone I personally appeared with in another zombie comedy, David Francis' "Reel Zombies", is kind of a breath of fresh air in his couple of scenes. At this point, Lloyd is like an old friend who stops by from time to time to brighten up your day. The film boasts a few other faces who have made the rounds on the low-budget horror film circuit including Amy Brown (2004's "The Rockville Slayer"), Mark E. Howell (2004's "Suburban Nightmare"), Monique Dupree (2008's "Zombthology") and, of course, John Phelan (2006's "Monster Cops: The Midnight Special"). I have to say that Phelan's work was the most impressive of the lot. Judging from the number of names with "Powers" at the end of it in the cast list, most of the film is comprised of the director's friends and family. Director Justin Powers, the guy who directed the mostly forgettable segment "History of the Lurkers" in "LovecraCked! The Movie" seems to have a knack for getting people to work for him. It's sad however that he's not able to muster up a genuinely good story, something for which their talents might be put to good use.

All in all, I'd say skip this mess. It might be out of the mainstream but it is definitely not worth your time or hard earned money. I doubt potheads will even find much to enjoy about this picture. For more information on this film check out the imdb.com. There's also a website.