Cooties Trailer Sees Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson Battle Pre-teen Zombies

It’s hard to pinpoint which part of ‘Cooties’ seems least likely: the fact that it’s a collaboration between the creators of ‘Saw’ and ‘Glee’ (supremely unlikely bedfellows on paper), or that it takes one of the biggest taboos of cinema - violence against children - and would appear to play it for laughs.

Well, okay, so ‘Cooties’ isn’t a comedy about child murder per se, but there’s no denying a certain relish in the act for Rainn Wilson’s over-the-top gym teacher when the time comes to defend himself against a school full of zombified pre-teens.

Those with an aversion to be bad taste humour may not be amused - but then, when were such people likely to be fans of zombie movies anyway?

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Finally set to reach screens in the US later this year having premiered at the Sundance Film Festival way back in January 2014, ‘Cooties’ is the brainchild of ‘Saw’ and ‘Insidious’ writer Leigh Whannell and Ian Brennan, creator of TV’s ‘Glee’ and the upcoming ‘Scream Queens.’

Wilson, Elijah Wood, Allison Pill and Whannel himself star as teachers at an elementary school, whose lesson plans go straight out the window when a lunch of contaminated chicken nuggets turns all pre-pubescents who have consumed them into zombies. It's every teacher's worst nightmare, after Ofsted...

Still, while the little 'uns may be a vital part of the action, ‘Cooties’ clearly isn’t a film for kids. In a review from the Sundance screening, Variety’s Peter Debruge complained of “profanity, pot jokes and other wildly inappropriate gags, only a few of which seem to have anything to do with the elementary school setting.”

Sam Fragaso at RogerEbert.com was also unimpressed, saying it was “a great premise wasted.” However, Crave Online called it “damned entertaining,” and The Hollywood Reporter said it “stands a severed head or two above the zombie comedy pack.” And based on this trailer, it looks like fun to us.

Lionsgate release ‘Cooties’ in the US on 18 September - no word yet on when we can expect it in the UK.

In the meantime, Leigh Whannell’s directorial debut ‘Insidious Chapter III’ is out on 5 June.

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Picture Credit: Lionsgate