In Cooties, Clint (Elijah Wood) gets a substitute-teaching gig in his hometown. The job offers him a chance to take a break from writing his novel about a dumb boat, make some money, and see Lucy (Alison Pill), a girl on whom he used to have a crush.
During his first class, one of the little girls takes a bite out of the school bully’s face. It turns out she ate a bad chicken nugget, and now she has cooties—which spreads through the school like wildfire. This version of cooties is less about tagging others and making them “It,” and more about ripping out intestines.
Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion direct this old-school horror film with a new zombie twist, and it’s a good time. The cast includes Rainn Wilson as a gym teacher, Nasim Pedrad as the staff snoot, and Jorge Garcia as a mushroom-taking crossing guard. The carnage is fairly well done, and the actors get a chance to be funny.
Leigh Whannell, no stranger to horror films (he was in the Saw and Insidious movies), is especially funny as a science teacher who performs autopsies and examinations without any real knowledge—and without gloves.
This one would work nicely on a movie night that also includes The Evil Dead, Basket Case and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.
Cooties is available on demand and via online sources including iTunes and Amazon.com.
