The peaceful town of Port Gamble is thrown into turmoil when a zombie virus strikes. When it is discovered that the source of the outbreak is a group of Middle Eastern terrorists it doesn’t take long for the townspeople to find some easy targets to place the blame on.
Frida (Janette Armand) is a second generation Iranian immigrant who would like nothing more than to be recognised as being an American. Instead she is frequently referred to as an Iraqi by the ignorant locals who have known her all of her life. When the virus hits the town Frida finds refuge with her neighbours, the Millers, but paranoia soon creeps in and creates more danger inside than out.
Tom (Doug Fahl) has been away from Port Gamble for many years, making a life for himself in the city, free from the town’s homophobic atmosphere. Tonight he is on a mission though; he is going to his mother’s house with his boyfriend Lance (Cooper Hopkins) and plans on ‘coming out’ to her over dinner. Unfortunately the zombie virus complicates the issue, leaving Tom and Lance no choice but to flee into the relative safety of the local church. It’s only a matter of time before members of the congregation begin to suspect that the two men are not as they seem.
One of the posters for Zombies of Mass Destruction calls it ‘A Political Zomedy’ and this is an accurate enough statement; there are plenty of zombies throughout, a good dashing of comedy (not all of it finding a mark) and lots of political statements too. The script raises some complex issues about small town attitudes towards those perceived as being different; from the plight of Middle Eastern immigrants thoughtlessly labeled as terrorists to the prejudice experienced by gay couples from various religious groups, ZMD has a crack at each issue in turn.
At its heart though ZMD is a solid zombie movie, with all of the action and gore you’d expect from the genre. The dual story-lines make it different enough to stand out from similar movies; it’s not often that you see a couple of gay guys and a Middle Eastern college girl team up to kick zombie ass!
Well worth a watch, 3 out of 5.