For years man’s best friend has been his dog, Fido takes this love between man and his pet and gives it a unusual new spin in 1950’s America.

Made and released in the United States back in 2006, Fido sneaks its way into the UK under the radar and sadly going straight to DVD, why I hear you cry? Well it’s not because it bad, as is often the case the problem with Fido is that it provide a challenge for the British Board Of Film Classification.  Aspects of the movie just were too difficult for the BBFC to accept under similar certification as was suggested in the US. Fido takes a simple family movie and spins it sharply on its axis replacing man’s best friend with a zombie.

After the fall of space dust the dead came back to life and became flesh eating zombies, those that die or those that are eaten too become zombies very much like any other zombie movie. The premise of Fido is that a renowned scientist desperate not to be parted from his wife created a collar that domesticates a zombie allowing them to be a pet cum servant. In this alternate version of 1950’s America a sign of status is the possession of one or more zombies, something the Robinson family does not possess.  In an attempt to keep up with the Jones’ Helen Robinson (Carrie Anne Moss) purchases a zombie who later becomes named Fido (Billy Connelly).

Fido focuses on relationships chiefly, most notably in this case the relationship between young Timmy (K’Sun Ray) his zombie Fido, and then in turn his unusual relationship with his father Bill (Dylan Baker) and his mother Helen.  With the exception of Timmy’s relationship with Fido, all other encounters are initially dysfunctional; but the movies big story is all about change, those that can make change and those that are incapable.

Fido is a strange combination, it’s so much a family movie and then Connelly’s Fido goes off on one tearing someone’s limbs off and devouring them, even with this sudden downbeat turn and the sight of dismemberment there is no real gore, nothing to really offend its audience, I’d happily let a child of any age watch this if they so felt the need, I see no difference between this and a movie like Free Willy.

Rather like some of the more recent Disney or Pixar movies, Fido has a special humour about it while younger audiences will see the movie in a perfectly innocent light, older viewers will be able to read between certain lines and see far more adult jokes carefully sandwiched into the most innocent of conversations. It’s this aspect as well as the innocent child like aspects of the movie that make Fido such a striking and enjoyable movie.

When not charming you with its humour, or alternate storyline the next endearing feature is the wonderfully idyllic 50’s setting. From the vehicles, locations, and sets you long to live in the town this movie is set in. When not charmed by the beautiful lifestyles and magnificently 50’s furnishings your captivated by the movies music, it’s a strange thing to understand that Fido is set in the same year as 1985’s Back To The Future but the musical tastes are dramatically miles apart. Fido is filled with Twee post war style music, while Back To The Future focuses on the birth of Rock and Roll, an aspect that seems a million miles away from Fido. Add this unusually kitsch score to some unusual set pieces of devouring granny, or catch with a zombie and the picture starts to become complete.

I loved Fido, I enjoyed the humour, and especially the storyline that takes George Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead and makes it gospel, as if it was a real event. While nobody can question the performances of Billy Connelly who literally plays untrained dog for the most part, Moss or Day; the movies most enjoyable role is take by Murder One’s Dylan Baker as the uncomfortable father of Timmy. As the pieces of the story assemble you get to understand the reason why Bill behaves the way he does, and at the same time feel his need to belong to something more, and be seen in a different light. If you can find it in your heart to dismiss Fido as a horror movie you’ll find yourself on very familiar child friendly ground, the horror category being something that was only generalised at the time of certification and the unfamiliarity of the movie on UK audiences due to the lack of publicity surrounding the piece. And even now the movie is deprived of the acclaim it deserves, there were no reviewers discs circulating the movie went straight to general DVD release, which I suspect could be the reason why you might be hearing about Fido for the first time.

If you enjoyed the Tim Burton version of Batman, Beetlejuice, Willy Wonka, and  Call Of The Wild you are sure to enjoy Fido.