Zombeavers

Catfish and rabbits were two of the more unconventional killer critters in horror by way of Beneath and Night of the Lepus – at least until Zombeavers splashed by.

Three college women, Mary, Jenn and Zoe (one of whom is an exhibitionist – thanks, producers!) descend on their California cabin for some fun in the sun frivolity, absent their boyfriends. Soon, however, their beaus “surprise”-join them to ratchet up the sexual tension, er, body count.

Nearby, however, a truck driven by pre-Breaking Bad comedian Bill Burr of all people – accidentally spills some chemicals…right into a nearby creek.

And soon, much like The Toxic Avenger, creatures exposed to the pollutants mutate. And that’s not good news for the collegians, whose vacay is already off to an inauspicious start with no cell reception and after a local hillbilly gives the girls a verbal dressing down for not dressing up. After all, the townsfolk are priggish people who don’t care for skinny dipping and itsy-bitsy bikinis.

But this is an animal attack movie. And interspersed with the ample T&A, Zombeavers delivers with some silly and spirited hungry mutant beaver practical effects.

And it delivers in another respect too: after all, for a movie called Zombeavers, it’s important to lower your expectations to submersible undercarriage levels. And this indie effort occasionally has smarts too, referencing the giardia lamblia parasite and showcasing some good back-and-forth ribbing.

While hardly one of the better nature run amok flicks, it’s not one of the worst either. For fans of Primal Rage, Alligator, Day of the Animals, Grizzly, Man’s Best Friend, etc. etc. Which, for the purposes of the Really Awful Movies site, means everyone reading this.

*** (out of 5)

Check out the Really Awful Movies Podcast discussion of Zombeavers.