''Stalled'' is a 2013 British
zombie comedy
Zombie comedy, often called zom com or zomedy, is a film genre that aims to blend zombie horror motifs with slapstick comedy as well as morbid humor.
History
The earliest roots of the genre can be found in Jean Yarbrough's '' King of the Zom ...
film directed by Christian James. It stars Dan Palmer, who also wrote the screenplay, as a man confined to a bathroom stall after zombies attack. Produced by Richard Kerrigan and Daniel Pickering, the film's cast also includes Mark Holden and Antonia Bernath. It has been screened at several film prior to its release.
Premise
On
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
, office maintenance worker W. C. (Dan Palmer) attempts to avoid being eaten by zombies after he becomes trapped in a woman's toilet cubicle during the
zombie apocalypse
Zombie apocalypse is a subgenre of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Usually, only a few individuals or small bands of human survivors are left living.
There are many d ...
.
Production
The film was directed by Christian James.
Dan Palmer, who wrote the film's screenplay, starred as W. C. in the film,
with
Mark Holden
Mark Ronald Holden (born 27 April 1954) is an Australian singer, actor, TV personality, record producer, songwriter, and barrister. He was a pop star in the 1970s and had four top 20 hit singles, " Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" (May 1976 ...
and Antonia Bernath co-starring.
[ The cast also includes Giles Anderson, Sarah Biggins, and Victoria Bloom.] The film's production company was Cubicle Hero. Richard Kerrigan served as producer. Sashi Kissoon did cinematography and Mark Gilleece edited the film.[
]
Reception
''Stalled'' has received positive reviews. Kim Newman of ''Screendaily
''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned ''Broadcast''.
The magazine is primarily aimed at those involve ...
'' wrote that ''Stalled'' "is a worthy successor to ''Shaun of the Dead
''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden London salesman who is caught alongside his loved ones in a zombie apocalypse. It also star ...
'' and ''Harold's Going Stiff'' in its mix of homage to past zombie film glories and very British social comedy."[ Scott A. Grey of '']Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
'' praised ''Stalled'' and considered it "a welcome addition to the limited pantheon of successful zombie comedies."[ A writer for ]Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book proj ...
opined that "the zom-com has been tried before, but very few of these films are as successful at being entertaining as ''Stalled'' is."
Edward Boff, writing for ''Film Juice'', gave ''Stalled'' four stars out of five, writing that "Just the right mix of thrills, gore, laughs and genuinely touching character moments, using the very limited location to the fullest."[ Todd Brown, writing for ]Twitch Film
ScreenAnarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...
, considered the film "proof that sometimes all you need to sell a movie is a good concept" and that it was "just pretty damn funny".
Release
''Stalled'' premiered at the London FrightFest Film Festival
FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween eve ...
on 24 August 2013. ''Stalled'' also screened at PiFan
The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, formerly known as Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Inaugurated in 1997, the fe ...
and at the Lund International Fantastic Film Festival
The Lund International Fantastic Film Festival (, abbreviated FFF or LIFFF) is a popular film festival in Lund in southern Sweden that mainly shows fantasy, science fiction and horror films. LIFFF is the largest fantastic/ genre film festival i ...
, where it won the "Feature Film Méliès d'Argent" award. The film screened on 14 November 2013 at the Prince Charles Cinema
The Prince Charles Cinema (PCC) is a repertory cinema located in Leicester Place, north of Leicester Square in the West End of London. It shows a rotating programme of cult, arthouse, and classic films alongside recent Hollywood releases – ...
, where the filmmakers will attend and give away props from the film. The DVD was released in 2014.[
]
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 2140429
2013 films
2013 comedy horror films
Parodies of horror
British zombie comedy films
2010s English-language films
2010s British films
English-language comedy horror films