"Zombo, the Zombie Musical" and Your Next Human Meal: A Short Film Review

Director: Alberto Belli.

Writers: Jason Lerner and Joe Swanson.

Cast: Michael Patrick Breen, Nicci Claspell and Kelly Connell.


According to the Urban Dictionary, a zombo is one of either five definitions and there is no unanimous agreement over which is the correct term. In the short film of the same name, it is the nom de plume of the lead character, a zombie hobo looking for the sound of music to sing along to in the world of 1930's Broadway.

In this little alternate universe, zombies are a fact of life and they retain their human intelligence. Because of that, these creatures are treated like dogs. When they become a nuisance, they can be carted away to a pound. With Zombo (Nicholas Joseph Harden) and Frank (Kelly Connell) looking for their next meal, how each of them embraces their life on the streets differs from how they interpret success. Frank is rather withdrawn from society and Zombo is trying to break free from his misfortune. He believes that there’s more to his life than his peers who are literally putting new definition to the term, “making ends meat.”

Zombo also has the same charm as Don Lockwood from Singing in the Rain. The exuberance Harden puts into the role can easily draw plenty of parallels with this 50’s product that looks back at the 30’s. Even with this movie, that bygone era is nicely reproduced.

On the other side of the coin, Diane (Nicci Claspel) and Monty (Dylan Vox) are rehearsing for "Phantom of the Ice Cream Parlor," an obvious setup for the Beauty and the Beast theme. The beast can mean anything. It can be someone horribly disfigured because of a hot fudge accident to just simply being a happy-go-lucky zombie. When the monster musical genre is often fixated on a girl-meets-boy scenario, to be original is tough. Instead, what this film does is to deliver a positive message: you can do anything as long as you put your heart into it.

That also includes Monty, the narcissistic actor who gets fired mid-film and he thirsts for vengeance. Vox does a great job in delivering that tone, even though that’s a characteristic people should not aspire to. Even Mel, the director of Phantom, thinks every player in the world stage has a role. He said to Zombo: “never apologize for who you are.” And he takes a bite out of the big man as his way of hugging him.

Director Alberto Belli does an impressive job in making sure the message is delivered, and he handles this movie’s offbeat humour with a subtle approach. He also delivers a beautifully structured classic musical. By working with composer Austin Wintory, a Gershwin-style flavour in the scores can be felt. With some more tinkering, the fluidity in the tunes can be more poetic than narrative driven. As it stands, this product shows plenty of potential if the producers decide to develop the concept further.

When considering that "Zombo" is a student film, made as an advanced graduate school project at the University of Southern California, the production team behind this product did a phenomenal job in delivering the goods. This movie clearly shows their strong passion for a good story and establishing some new zombie lore. With this film now available on iTunes, more people can examine this unique gem. And when horror musicals are few and far between, to have another addition is heartily welcomed.

Although the horror community may be divided with this particular subgenre, people should be reminded about other classics like Little Shop of Horrors, Sweeny Todd and Repo! The Genetic Opera. Acceptance is growing, especially when Texas Chainsaw is now part of the list.

Overall: 8.5 and 10.

*available on iTunes ($1.99).

The film's website is here:

Zombo's Homepage

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Posted in: 2011,cannibal horror movie review,movie review,musical,short film,theatre,zombies