The Weird Kidz
“The Weird Kidz” is not a film a lot of people are going to see. For the “animation is for kids” crew, it’s too out there. For mainstream audiences, it doesn’t have any names that would get them to the theatre to watch it. And it’s, honestly, more a curiosity than an event. Those are the types of movies, however, that sometime become gems to individuals, and we find ourselves remembering them by the end of the year. I think “The Weird Kidz” will find its audience, and if me writing this review leads people to check it out, I’ll consider that a success.
Writer-director Zach Passero has built his film out of tropes anyone familiar with 1980s horror movies- as well as recent iterations of those tropes like “Stranger Things,” “IT” and “Cabin in the Woods”- will recognize. Though the film is not explicitly said to take place in the ’80s, everything about it says it is the ’80s. Three pre-teen friends (Dug, voiced by Tess Passero; Fatt, voiced by Brian Ceely; and Mel, voiced by Glenn Bolton) are invited on a camping trip by Dug’s older brother, Wyatt (Ellar Coltrane), who has also brought his girlfriend, Mary (Sydney Wharton), with him. They stop to get beers and other things pre-teens shouldn’t have, and the gas station attendant (voiced by Angela Bettis) tells Dug the legend of the Night Child, a local folk tale of danger. Turns out, it’s not so much a folk tale but a town secret. Oh yeah, there’s a little bit of “Wicker Man” here, as well.
“The Weird Kidz” is produced by Lucky McKee (“May”), and that’s the name that got me interested in watching it. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I enjoyed what Passero had in mind here. You will not get the smooth animation of a Pixar or Studio Ghibli here, but I appreciate the shaggy style. It feels like someone brought the characters and images they drew in class when they were bored to life, and it brings us into the world Passero has in mind. Yes, it’s vulgar and juvenile, but it’s a movie where the title has a “z” in place of an “s,” what do you expect? The movie is silly, and not that deep, but it was a lot of fun to watch. Probably could have trimmed some of its 81 minutes, but the story takes some unexpected turns that ended up being quite satisfying, and sometimes, a lot weird. To be fair, the title does warn us of that. I’m glad it delivered.
