Zombie Compromise

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEB (B) - I'm not a fan of zombie films, not even most of the spoofs. But I've never been in one before, either.

This clever zom-com enthusiastically makes a case for its genre. It is a romp through Portland, Maine, with a charming, wisecracking couple trying to survive after an apparent water contamination turns the city into dead-eyed, flesh-craving citizens. A winning cast from top to bottom brings home a winking script by director Kyle Rankin and first-timer Andy Selsor.

Maria Thayer (TV's "Eagleheart") stars as Deb, a behind-the-camera TV newswoman who wakes up in the bed of hunky Ryan (Michael Cassidy, "The O.C."), an environmental do-gooder who is resisting the pressure to join his father's evil corporation. Deb is denied a dignified "walk of shame" by the breakout of a zombie apocalypse. It's the millennial version of a meet-cute.

Thayer and Cassidy are sharp throughout, mastering the breezy but smart dialogue and the ironic plot twists while their characters slowly bond and banter in classic Tracy-Hepburn fashion. They are assisted by a deep bench of mostly TV comedians who make even the smallest roles sparkle. That includes Rankin regular Ray Wise ("Twin Peaks"), who balances menace with madcap as the brownie-baking corporate titan, and Chris Marquette as Ryan's antic brother. Julie Brister (a faux panelist on the Onion News Network's cable-roundtable spoofs) has a nice turn as Deb's pal Ruby. Even the uncredited paramedics who show up at the end of the movie sell the hell out of their one-liners.

Rankin debuted as part of a Portland, Maine, filmmaking team featured in the second season of HBO's "Project Greenlight," emerging with the feature film "Battle of Shaker Heights." His 2012 post-apocalyptic web series "Nuclear Family" (also, memorably, featuring Wise) shares an attitude with "Deb" -- a subtle, winking subversion of a genre while reveling in its playful tropes. He and Selsor take some fresh swipes at the TV news industry

Thayer's Deb, with her fiery red hair and cheerful energy, could be a cousin of Ellie Kemper's unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Scanning the spare, healthy offerings in Ryan's refrigerator, Deb chastises him: "Coconut water? Are we in Portland or on Gilligan's Island?" Cassidy holds the center as the straight man among the crazies.

And I pop on the screen for about 5 seconds as a manic vlogger, just before a perfectly understated anti-climax, complete with fireworks and the requisite rom-com kiss. It's a minor bonus in a movie full of pleasant surprises.

BONUS TRACKS
The trailer, which features one of the film's best gags, an homage to The Clapper:



And our title track, one of the great surf noir songs, a literal howl of joy from Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet: