Film Review: HAROLD'S GOING STIFF (2011)

 HAROLD'S GOING STIFF (2011) UK 1hr 17mins

Director: Keith Wright

"I don't know a lot about zombies but I do know they are the living dead and that's not very nice!" - Harold Gimble

"He's my best friend" - Penny Rudge

Widowed pensioner Harold Gimble (Stan Rowe) is the first to contract a new disease called Onset Rigors Disease (ORD). Stage one causes the afflicted to stiffen up, stage two is the loss of all their faculties and stage three turns them violent and puts them in a zombie like state. When they reach this phase there is no going back. So far ORD has only been discovered in men. Harold is slightly different to the other cases though as he is not turning as quickly as the others. Because Harold lives alone he is assigned a home nurse, Penny (Sarah Spencer) who comes around everyday to help him. Using a combination of stretches and massage Penny helps Harold to stave off ORD and they become the best of friends. The disease is rife around Harolds town which has led to outrageous news reports and a vigilante crew going out on the streets, killing other rogue stage threes. Harold is also number one on their list as he is patient zero. It isn't long before the doctors are knocking on Harolds door again asking for his help in their tests to find a cure. Reluctant to be experimented on again Penny convinces Harold to do it if she comes along with him. To start off with it seems like Harold might be getting better thanks to the pill the doctors have given him... but it is short lived and as Penny over hears stuff about Harold she shouldn't she decides to break him out and go on one last picnic that Harold will remember.

Billed as essentially a horror/comedy HAROLD'S GOING STIFF is so much more than this. It is funny and often silly with tongue wedged firmly in cheek but it is also incredibly wholesome and cute but not in the conventional way. It's the characters you truly fall in love with. Stan Rowe as Harold is the kindest, sweetest guy you will ever meet. Everyone knows a Harold, he could be your next door neighbour or even your own Grandad so seeing him suffering the effects of ORD is truly heartbreaking. All I can say is thank zombie Jesus for Penny! Sarah Spencer is truly wonderful and everyone should have a Penny in their lives. You really do just invest everything in these two. The rest of the characters are either bumbling idiots like Jon (Andy Pandini), Mike (Lee Thompson) and Colin (Richard Harrison) the laughable buffoons that make up the vigilante crew or are people who are only looking out for themselves like Doctor Norbert Shuttleworth (Phil Gascoyne). There is an obvious social undertone and a huge gap between the authorities and the normal people in this. The doctors insist that they are working on a cure they even say that ORD sufferers are not dead, yet people are still being killed and authorities are doing very little to stop them.

In terms of the zombies there are quite a few of them and they look pretty good yet they do act in a more comedic way then some. They start off as the slow type as the stiffness takes over so cue lots of straight limbed shuffling, they do also try to run once the disease has hit stage three which is very funny to watch. They are not meant to be taken seriously but they are portrayed in a sympathetic light. FX wise visually the zombies are created with great make up and prosthetics. There isn't a lot of gut munching and only one head shot I can recall but again it is done practically. I don't actually remember even seeing a kill through to the end as they use that low budget movie trick of less is more and a few off screen fatalities. There are no high action sequences or a single firearm. This makes the kills more harrowing and prolonged due to the fact they use blunt trauma implements to carry out the kills. The black comedy manages to flow through the whole movie so even though the poor zombies are getting chased down and beaten you can still have a laugh. There is something for everyone whether it's Harolds insistence for pepping up cups of tea, Colins enthusiasm for the hunt, Pennys tragic love life or the shock discovery of ORD's origin. It is not exactly a laugh out loud thing but it is just so endearing, giggly and sweet. I guess that it won't be to everyones liking as it is quieter than your usual zombie romp and it is very typically English which may not translate to all but stick with it. For a fun, quirky take on the genre then you have got to give HAROLD'S GOING STIFF a go, you invest so much in the characters the shock, bleak ending really does take a piece of your soul with it. I score HAROLD'S GOING STIFF a solid 3 brains out of 5.

HAROLD'S GOING STIFF is available on DVD through Amazon.