Harold's Going Stiff

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Harold’s Going Stiff – 3 out of 5

There are so many zombie films and they all follow such an amazingly specific formula that it is really hard to find one that is truly unique and stands out.  Even if you are able to come up with an idea that is unlike the rest, the product still needs to come to life in a way that makes excellent use of its premise because even a bright bulb can glow dull when not properly installed (hey, that almost sounds profound).  Harold’s Going Stiff has a very neat idea but its presentation definitely needed some work.

Zombies invade what?!?

A virus is spreading among people that are turning them slowly into creatures that can only be described as zombies.  Harold (Stan Rowe) is in the early stages of the virus and his body is going into various degrees of painful stiffness.  Penny Rudge (Sarah Spencer) is a nurse who has come to help Harold along with his virus and tries to give him the most he can out of his remaining days before he turns into a mindless monster hell bent on violence.  Over time, the two develop a friendship and hope is offered when a new drug is created that could be the cure.

Luckily the camera man wasn't standing closer to Harold or that extended
leg caused by the man's disease would have resulted in something painful.

Harold’s Going Stiff is a film that I like in concept more than I like in execution.  The idea is cool and has the potential for a great dark comedy and the presentation of a mockumentary is a great idea that could make effective use of its premise.  However, the film is hindered by some minor elements.  These elements weren’t total entertainment killers because the premise is just that sound but it did hold it back from achieving the greatness it was capable of having.

I'm fairly certain that is not a microphone.

The zombie said "PC Load Letter" and they went
crazy.

A well mockumentary is hard to pull off because it requires a keen eye and a thorough understanding of the documentary genre.  If done wrong, they can look lazy and haphazard.  Harold’s Going Stiff handles this presentation fairly well but, sadly, not entirely without flaw.  It lacks the minor details that would sell the film as a piece of investigatory work and often feels utilized for no other reason than for character development and for plot progression.  It works for what it is but this element could have really caused this movie to command more attention if fine tuned.  Unfortunately, this element is just upped and abandoned at one point and this abandonment didn’t feel natural and more like the production just plain grew tired of it.

Slow news day, eh?

From an acting standpoint, the film is fairly decent.  There isn’t a performance in the bunch that will be show-stealing but the majority of the main cast comes off natural and realistic.  This really helps sell the mockumentary performance and it makes the two main characters of Harold and Penny very likeable and sympathetic.  Alongside the film’s premise, this is probably the strongest aspect of the film.

I found both Sarah Spencer and the bond her character formed with Harold
to be so adorable.  In fact, I'd qualify it as "totes adorbs."

The problems that hold the film back are simple but enough.  Aside from the mishandling of the mockumentary format and some bad acting from the extras playing the zombies, the film is hampered by some bad makeup effects and a bad habit of its narrative dragging.  The relationship between the two main characters is adorable and very sweet to watch but it’s not enough to assist the plot or change how the story doesn’t develop Harold’s progression very well.  At worse, sometimes the film doesn't truly feel like it has a destination in mind.  As cool of a premise as this film offers, the sad reality is the story and plot didn’t feel that feathered out or developed very well and sorta like it was made up or was just a bare bones outline than a concrete path to follow.

Guys, Iggy Pop got into the bad zombie makeup again.

Harold’s Going Stiff has some flaws to it that I won’t deny but those flaws didn’t destroy the entire project I saw.  I will admit that due to it being a low budget feature I predicted that I wasn’t going to enjoy the film and it was just going to be another scrambled together zombie film in a sea of scrambled together zombie films.  However, the story had heart and charm to it and it was able to latch onto much of its potential and make something that was pretty entertaining and unique.