Better Late Then Never

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

All American Zombie Drugs on the surface may sound like yet another one of those low budget zombie comedies, which at times it is, but this film with its odd little charm and very interesting characters and dialogue will win you over by the end of the film. This film centers around two slackers who are the kids that you knew in school would never really amount to anything, and that being Vinny and Sebastian who after a chance meeting with a kid they bullied in school named Barry, decide that they should get into the drug business. Well, as you can guess things do not go as planned and our hapless duo who with the help of Sebastian's insane girlfriend and her best friend seem to encounter geeks, gangsters and zombies.This film starts off oddly enough, with some very odd humor that I am not sure whether I should have laughed or been scared to keep going with the film. To see a guy who claims he suffers from narcolepsy dry humping on anything was an odd way of introducing us to a character who we would want to invest in. The humor was hit and miss, the hit stuff was not really laugh out loud funny but maybe oddly amusing. The miss stuff was not as bad as it could have been, it was not irritating or boring, it was a comedian who you think can make a joke that will catch your attention trying to warm up with not so funny material. When the drug addicts turn to zombies is when this film really showcases what it can do, and that was the part I would recommend to anyone to give this film a shot. Alex Ballar who directed this film, also has a bit role as the deceased brother and conscience of one of the characters who is trying to make them stop using drugs and maybe growing up.This film for the most part is really a fun ride. It has a few bumps here and there, but overall I really like this film. The title though is a bit deceptive because this film is not what you will expect if you think this is going to be Zombieland or even Mourning Wood. This film has so much charm and personality, that you can overlook the negatives because by the end of the film you know you are going to be very entertained. This film almost guarantees that Alex Ballar's best days are coming. This film is comedy, zombies and lots of fun. You are really going to be entertained by this film, and I really hope we see more from Alex soon.

I viewed All American Zombie Drugs on December 10th and again on the 11th of 2011 at Angelika Film Center in Dallas. The event was teamed up with Twisted Central (http://twistedcentral.com) to benefit Operation Kindness (http://operationkindness.org). There was a red carpet event with actor/producers Alex Ballar and Beau Nelson as well as actor Wolfgang Weber and photographers including me, William Shea (http://everprint.biz).The movie itself was a reverse Pinocchio story complete with a conscience that no one else could see or hear. When the tale begins we find our Pinocchio, Vinny (Wolfgang Weber), wasting his life away following the whims of a narcoleptic drug addict, Sebastian (Beau Nelson), with active hallucinations of sexual intercourse.Throughout the course of the movie Vinny fears losing his "real boy" status and turning into a zombie complete with some very rousing interactions with some drug addicts turned zombies attempting to feast on his flesh after he and his "friends" create some homemade drugs to sell. In the end Vinny realizes that his conscience, his deceased brother Michael (Alex Ballar), is right and that he should kick the habit and drives off into the sunset with his romantic interest headed to rehab.Overall this was a very funny film. The acting of Natalie Irby, love interest of Vinny, left something to be desired and was the only real downside of the movie. I recommend this movie to fans of Kevin Smiths earlier work.

All American Zombie Drugs is a bit deceptive. Firstly, zombies are a secondary to the plot. It is a small budget film that has high budget story and performances. Shot over a ten day period it tells the story of a couple stoners that decide to make their own drugs and their adventures. It involves gangsters, geeks and zombies. It also has a classic death scene that still has me chuckling. I hate spoilers so that is as far as I am going into the plot. Do I recommend this movie? Hell yes! Bring your sense of humor, sit back and enjoy this thoughtful, zany and masterful bit of storytelling. Watch out for the cast as well. Beau Nelson, Wolfgang J Weber and Alex Ballar are all incredibly talented professionals and artists. They impressed the daylights out of me.

A very fun film to watch, with excellent acting, and a very different story line than usual. It was fascinating, funny, and unusual, with very bazaar characters. Mixed in with very odd choices, making for a wonderful new film. I really enjoyed this film!! It was a film that kept me wanting to see more. I was originally supposed to be in this film, but was working on another project at the time, so I had to back out. I feel this film will do very well at festivals and should get distribution. Alex Ballar did a very good job directing and acting in this film. He appears to have a very bright future!!! And his choice of actors was excellent. A very different type of comedy, with also a message.