If you go into this "Down South" tongue-in-cheek horror comedy expecting oodles of gore and plentiful blood then you'll probably be disappointed as the red stuff is kept to a minimum (although there is one cool as Hell "headshot" moment in a church near the end of the movie). In fact, for most of the running time Hide And Creep doesn't really feel too much like a zombie movie at all. Sure, there's a handful of flesh-eaters roaming around the small Alabama town of Thornsby but we never really feel much threat from them and, honestly, they really don't chew on that many people.

Co-directors Chuck Hartsell and Chance Shirley (who also wrote the script) have watched the movies of Kevin Smith quite a few times and that's obvious by the opening scenes that has video store clerk Chuck (Hartsell) spouting lots of movie geek talk and explaining to a customer all about "black bars" on the DVD he rented. Sadly, I could relate.

From there we're introduced to a fairly big cast of characters who all have to band-up together to deal with the zombies. There's police station secretary Barbara (Melissa Bush), the local Reverend Smith (Barry Austin), gun-touting redneck Lee (Michael Shelton), and Chris (Chris Hartsell) who woke up naked in a tree with no recollection of why. They basically argue with each other, spout off some wannabe "hip" dialogue, and try to not get eaten.

Hide And Creep can't quite keep up the comedic pace it starts out with and eventually it wears out its welcome, but it gets marks for at least trying something different. It's not quite a horror film and there are a few slower moments in the mid-section but it gets good performances by the amateur cast, a few moments offer up good chuckles (and there's a huge belly laugh in the finale involving a machete), and there's enough subtle references to Romero's zombie flicks to show that Hartsell and Shirley are at least fans of the sub-genre they're ribbing fun at.

For a debut feature it shows a lot of promise, if the co-directors tighten up the pace of their next movie, add in a bit more bloodshed to the proceedings, and try to avoid adding scenes that seem pointless (the entire "lesbian zombie" moment for example, which just seems thrown in to add some skin to the proceedings) they should be able to come up with something truly great. But so far they've made a movie that's fairly entertaining and better than expected.

Visit The Asylum for more info. (Chris Hartley, 8/19/05)

Directed By: Chuck Hartsell, Chance Shirley.
Written By: Chance Shirley.

Starring: Chuck Hartsell, Michael Shelton, Melissa Bush, Chris Hartsell.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: There's a few specks here and there but generally the transfer here is quite clear and overall looks good for a low-budget flick.

Extras: We get a trailer (plus trailers for H.G. Wells' War Of The Worlds, Frankenstein Reborn, Jolly Roger, and Lethal Eviction), a brief "behind-the-scenes" featurette, the short film "Birthday Call" which was the inspiration for Hide And Creep, and a decent commentary track with co-directors Hartsell and Shirley.