''Corona Zombies'' is a 2020 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Band, and produced and distributed by

Full Moon Features Full Moon Features is an American motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series '' Puppet Master'', ''Trancers'', and ''Subspecies'', as well as the film ''C ...

. Inspired by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the film stars Cody Renee Cameron as Barbie, a woman who finds herself facing an outbreak of

zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...

s infected by

coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

(COVID-19). Alongside Cameron, the film stars Russell Coker and

Robin Sydney Robin Sydney (born Robin Sydney Heymsfield; January 4, 1984) is an American actress. Biography Sydney began acting at the age of eight in local theater in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado. At age seventeen, she moved to Hollywood with her moth ...

. ''Corona Zombies'' was released digitally through Full Moon Features' website and app on April 10, 2020. Later that year, it was followed by two sequels also directed by Band, ''Barbie & Kendra Save the Tiger King'' and ''Barbie & Kendra Storm Area 51'', with Cameron and Sydney reprising their roles.

Cast

* Cody Renee Cameron as Barbie * Russell Coker as Corona Zombie *

as Kendra

Production

''Corona Zombies'' was filmed over a period of 28 days. The film consists primarily of redubbed and repurposed footage from ''

Hell of the Living Dead ''Hell of the Living Dead'' ( it, Virus – l'inferno dei morti viventi) is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Bruno Mattei. The film is set in a laboratory in Papua New Guinea that releases a dangerous chemical, turning the technicians an ...

'' and ''Zombies vs. Strippers'', as well as clips of real-world news footage.

Release

The film premiered digitally through Full Moon Features' website and app on April 10, 2020.

Reception

Stuart Heritage of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' called the film "the sort of thing you'd watch drunk in your house at midnight. But then again, that's how you're going to watch all films for the foreseeable future, so it has to be worth a go." '' The National''s Katy Gillett, in her review of the film, wrote: "If zombie movies are your thing, and you can acknowledge them as pure escapism that isn't to be taken seriously, then you're probably fine. If not, I'd skip it." Alan Ng of ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

'' called ''Corona Zombies'' "a hilarious satire of this whole pandemic", comparing it favorably to the 1966 film '' What's Up, Tiger Lily?'' and the television series ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1 ...

''.

Accolades

Sequels

''Corona Zombies'' was followed by two sequels, ''Barbie & Kendra Save the Tiger King'' and ''Barbie & Kendra Storm Area 51''. Both sequels were directed by Band, star Cody Renee Cameron as Barbie and Robin Sydney as Kendra, and were released in 2020.

References

External links

* * {{Charles Band 2020 comedy horror films 2020 films American comedy horror films American zombie comedy films Collage film Films directed by Charles Band Films about the COVID-19 pandemic American satirical films American exploitation films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films