Warm Bodies (2013)

Swooning over a corpse who can’t remember his own name is the whole ask of Warm Bodies, and somehow it mostly works. Nicholas Hoult plays R with a stiff shuffle and a running inner monologue that’s funnier than most rom-com dialogue, nervous and painfully aware of how bad he is at talking. He lives in an abandoned airplane stuffed with vinyl records, which is the best bachelor pad in any zombie movie. Rob Corddry gets huge laughs out of grunts as his buddy M. The trouble is the third act. The Bonies, skeletal monsters who’ve gone fully bad, look like cheap video game bosses, and the climax turns into generic chasing. Teresa Palmer’s Julie is likable but thin. The movie also asks you to forgive R for something early on that’s a lot to forgive. It made $117 million worldwide on a reported $35M. A 6.3 because the romance is sweet and the monster movie around it is not. $4,337 says you put on a vinyl record tonight and sway around the living room like you’re thawing out.

What works: Hoult’s funny, sweet narration, Corddry’s grunts and a clever, gentle spin on the zombie apocalypse.

What doesn’t: The Bonies are cheap-looking villains, and the action-heavy finale is far more generic than the romance.

Who it’s for: Teens and grown-ups who want a horror comedy that’s more sweet than scary.