The Stranger

The new horror comedy Zombieland somehow rises above the Hot Topic–ization of its subject matter and becomes an absolute, occasionally surreal hoot. Beginning with the best credit sequence of the year, director Ruben Fleischer's film follows a dweeb (Jesse Eisenberg) whose Warcraft expertise and lack of social skills serve him well during the zombie apocalypse. Teaming with Woody Harrelson's psychotic, garden- tool-festooned loner, he heads to Hollywood, location of a rumored zombie-free zone. Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick clearly came up with the punch lines first and the connective tissue later, but the loose, episodic feel serves the material well, with numerous well-orchestrated moments of splatstick mixing with one or two genuine jolts. It's difficult to talk much more about the film without divulging the identity of its super-secret guest star, who walks in halfway through the film. Suffice it to say that the appearance transforms a sloppy, charmingly gooshy flick into one of the most unexpectedly entertaining movies in recent memory. Now let it die, already. By Andrew Wright

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