TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

BA_Harrison As the first person to ever contract Onset Rigors Disease (ORD), a condition that ultimately turns the sufferer into a violent zombie, Harold Gimble's deterioration is much slower than others; to help him cope with the gradual stiffening of his limbs, Harold (Stan Rowe) is appointed a nurse, Penny (Sarah Spencer), who relieves his pain and brings some joy back into his life. When Harold is talked into taking part in tests for an experimental drug for ORD, he initially shows improvement, but then takes a rapid turn for the worse, a fact that delights the local community volunteers, whose job it is to bash in the heads of sufferers who 'turn', but which proves hard for poor Penny to handle.In a world over-run by low-budget zombie movies, many of which are sorely lacking in originality, I admire any attempt to do something fresh with the genre; Harold's Going Stiff is not only incredibly innovative, tackling its zombie theme from a whole new perspective, but it's also a wonderfully made film, a real gem that benefits from touching performances from stars Rowe and Spencer, a brilliant and often very funny script, and sharp direction from Keith Wright, whose handling of the faux documentary style is nothing short of brilliant. A tragic tale with bags of heart, that touches upon sensitive issues such as old age, crippling illness, and euthanasia, this is worlds away from the movies of Romero or Fulci, and even Shaun of the Dead (which will no doubt get mentioned in many reviews), but it is certainly no less worthy for serious zombie fans.

morrison-dylan-fan With recently discovering that a friend was a big fan of the Zombie Horror Comedy Shaun of the Dead,I decided that for Hallaween,I would surprise her by sorting out a "serious" Horror,and a Horror Comedy that she could watch on the Hallaween weekend.Picking the 2010/11 movie Insidious to be the "serious" title,I went searching around on the IMDb Horror board,which led to me getting rec'ed a movie from a fellow,kind IMDb'er that sounded like one of the most off-beat Horror movies you could possible find.The plot:Being labelled as "the first victim" of a new disease spreading in the UK called O.R.D (rigor disease) widowed pensioner Harold Gimble lives his life isolated at home,with his bones slowly stiffening as the O.R.D. starts to turn him into a Zombie.Feeling uneasy around new people due to local gangs wanting to get hold of him for spreading the disease and local doctors desperate to perform tests on him,Gimble is initially nervous when nurse Penny Rudge pays her first visit to help him with the effects of his illness.Showing Harold a good natured,sunny side up personality,Gimble begins to feel much happier than he has been for months.But,with the O.R.D. beginning to have a serious effect on his health,Harold begins to fear that he does not have much time left before he completely turns into a zombie.View on the film:Setting the movie against the hauntingly beautiful South Yorkshire backdrop,writer/director Keith Wright's tremendous screenplay goes in the opposite direction of past Zombie movies to create a folksy Horror tale that even people who run away from Zombies will find impossible to resit.Focusing on the relationship between Harold and Penny,Wright uses the Zombie illness in a manner to paint a touching portrait of the light that Penny brings into Harold's twilight days,whilst also never forgetting to include a good dose of warm Comedy (with Harold putting washing up liquid into everyone's cup of tea being a particular highlight.)Watching an interview with Wright on the DVD,I was shocked to discover that the movie only took 9 days to film!.Impressivly,Wright makes sure that the limitation never get in the way of the story or the character's,with Stan Rowe and Sarah Spencer both giving heart-warming performances as Harold and Penny,and Wright also taking a delicate docudrama approach to the directing of the movie,which helps to create a real intimacy with the character's,and also leads the viewer in wanting to pay a visit to the nicest Zombie there has ever been right away again.

Joshua Hillyard there are two ways to make a zombie movie:1. round up a bunch of people. cover them in oatmeal and red corn syrup. have them wear dirty clothes. . and tell them to go "UUUUUUUAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" over and over again. oh, and one last thing: throw away the story. it'll just get in the way of making an unoriginal, mediocre zombie flick that we've all seen a million times.or2. set out to make an original movie with compelling story telling that just happens to also have zombies thrown in the mix.Harold's Going Stiff falls into option #2. this is by far one of THE most unique zombie movies ever made. there's strange bit of irony with most zombie movies. i'd say about 90% of all zombie movies are pretty much the same thing. it's like people don't really care about making a good and original movie. they do the same thing over and over again. tell the same story over and over again. use the same 'zombie' effects over and over again. over and over and over again. it never stops. the filmmakers become mindless zombies making a movie about zombies. over and over and over again.but it's worth it. it's worth enduring the monotony of non-stop mediocre zombie movies to have something like this come along. the hordes of zombie movies that are out there are a reflection of how generic something can get when milked dry, and cashed in.it seems to me, those involved in the making of this movie aren't doing it because it's a hip and easy way to make a movie. they're doing it because they appreciate the craft that goes into storytelling and put it to good use to make a great film. calling this a 'zombie movie' is like saying Forrest Gump is a movie about some guy who's a little slow. this movie embraces storytelling. those involved with telling this story used their brains to do it in a creative, fresh manner. to put meaningful thought behind what they're doing. and not go for the usual(often typical) milling around and doing the same ol' thing using very little brain activity. as little as, say, zombies.

Billy Smith I enjoyed this film. It's quirky, different and whilst it is a bit amateurish in a way; I prefer to see it as quaint.I've watched it twice. It reminds me of "I, Zombie: The Chronicles of Pain" with a bit of a "Series 7: The Contenders" slant.Hollywood glitz is all well and good but sometimes it's great to watch something different and appreciate it for what it is, not berate it for what it isn't.There are a few plot holes but this clearly isn't supposed to be a "solid" narrative, the endearing characters more than make up for any inconsistencies for me.I can't wait to see what's next from Keith and the star of the show Sarah Spencer!