38 thoughts on “SNARK WEEK: I don’t know how to feel about “Pride + Prejudice + Zombies”

      1. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve read the book and listened to the audio book but I believe there was some nonsense about the Bennett sisters wearing “sparring clothes” when they trained that may not have had corsets/chemises. The one thing I DO remember is the ridiculous notion of one of the sisters doing a handstand in full Regency while another tied a string around her skirt and ankles for modesty.

  1. First of all, I don’t like zombie movies. They’ve completely overrun the traditional definition of the zombie as a living person who has been rendered into a deathlike state OR a reanimated corpse, neither with any mind of their own. Whatever these creatures are, they’re not zombies, and I find all those movies and series b-o-o-o-o-o-o-ring! Now, if the Bennett sisters were fighting vampires… I might watch it when it gets to Netflix. For sheer violence, weird costuming and stunning anachronisms, watch “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.”

    1. Agreed. I never have cared for zombie flicks in general, but now that they’re this generation’s vampires, I’m even less enthusiastic about them.

      Although, I will say that “Fido” was probably one of the best films in the zombie genre and well worth watching. It’s actually a period piece, taking place in the 1950s, and starring Billy Connolly and Carrie-Anne Moss. I was surprisingly charmed, but that’s also because it wasn’t trying to be the standard zombie flick.

  2. I am so going to see this. It looks like trashy fun. (I also loved Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter — which has one of THE CUTEST little romances ever.)

    Anyway… I’m conflicted about Matt Smith — because I LOVED him as the Doctor and now he’s playing Mr. Collins of all people?! One of THE most annoying characters on the planet?!

    1. I just can’t get into Matt Smith. People always deride Benedict Cumberbach for looking weird (like, as one of my friends puts it, “an alien wearing a human suit”) but I think he’s way more handsome than Matt Smith. He’s all angles and weird proportions.

      1. For me it wasn’t about his appearance — it was that luminous delight in his eyes that reminded me of a child, enraptured with the world. He made a 911 year old Time Lord a delighted overgrown boy, and I adored that about him. It was quite a shock to transition into a grouchy, somewhat cynical 12 from the bombastic 11.

        1. Since we’re completely derailing into DoctorSpeak here… I didn’t like 11 because he was a goofy muppet… I understand after the War Doctor that he was in denial, but I still prefer my Time Lord with some gravitas. I adore 12. He’s practical and uses all of his considerable experience.

          1. I like 12 too. I love all the different variations on the Doctor. But 11 delighted me with his joy in life. It was refreshing after all the angst of 10.

          2. YES goofy muppet! Gah, not my Doctor. Ppl said Matt Smith was hearkening back to Patrick Troughton’s Doctor 2, but no. Just no. 2 was playful without being a dork. Hell, my One True Doctor is #4, and Tom Baker was the ultimate ‘what’s the point of being grown up if you can’t act childish,’ & he had so much more gravitas than Smith.

  3. Ok, this looks like a total popcorn and snark movie. That being said, the coat that Elizabeth Bennet is wearing in the promo is McCall pattern 6818 without the stiffened collar and no cape. Which puts it in the Regina from Once Upon a Time cosplay collection. Couldn’t they even bother to use the Butterick Historical stuff?!

  4. Conflict, the name is snark. I am enthusiastic about the movie since I liked the book. I also like Lily James. I like how it looks almost ‘steampunk’ sorta in a steampunk-zombie way.
    But I CANNOT ACCEPT (*she stresses, not shouts*) a sexy Lady Catherine de Burgh. The costumes look more of a cross of Regency and Steampunk, sorta. (There’s that word again). Not bothersome per se, as say W&P is so far. but would like to see more before I say if I like it. There’s interesting pieces. Lizzie’s Reddingcoat for one. I can just see her pull her sword and attack.

  5. I know I’m going to watch this, and I know I’m going to hate every second of it. I mean I love Jane Austen, I love a good zombie flick, and I normally love weird mash ups like this, but Jane Austen, in my opinion, is sacrosanct. My test for boyfriends used to be whether or not they would sit through all five hours of the one and true production of Pride and Prejudice and like it. (To date only one boyfriend ever did. I married him three months ago.)

    1. I guess I’m an Austen Purist, too. And I’m one of those assholes who insists that NOTHING can be better than the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice.

      DO NOT FUCK WITH MY LIZZIE. SHE IS PERFECT THE WAY SHE WAS WRITTEN.

      Obviously, I’m a total riot at parties.

  6. Just saw a screening of it tonight. I liked it! Not fantastic, but fun. If you go in expecting historical accuracy you will be disappointed. If you go in expecting a spoof with Plunkett and MacLeane level of accuracy (and silliness) you won’t be.

    Actually, it could have been even sillier and I would have liked it even more.

    p.s. Lady Catherine is pretty freaking badass and I think I might need a Lady C costume now…

  7. In the pic where Lily James’ dress is bright blue, the colour of the pic has been messed with – it’s the same dress as in the other pics.. And it’s not polyester! Please remember, this is a zombie film- how the hell can you get worked up about period inaccuracies when ir’s a film with zombies! Please calm down.. it’s not meant to be an Austen documentary.. It’s a fantasy world..

    1. Er… This is a costume film snark site and we do this thing for entertainment. So, no one is getting pitchforks out about P+P+Z, as far as I can tell, but we ARE going to talk about what is and isn’t historically accurate. Because that’s what the site is about.

  8. Pretty sure the “patterning” on Lizzie’s redingote is blood… But I guess we’ll have to wait for the film to know for sure!

  9. Well….. I feel quite strongly this film will be awful, that the costume desgins were done so cosplayers would have something to fawn over and I am conflicted because .. I met Jack, Matt and Lily at comic con last year in a bar and they are throughly delightful and now I feel like I have to go.

    1. Even bad movies can happen to awesome actors, so don’t feel bad. Besides, I’m pretty sure I’m wildly in the minority here and everyone will love the shit out of this film and it will make all of the actors a gajillion dollars and cement their legacies for an eternity.

      That said, does Matt Smith look less weird in real life? I am genuinely curious.

  10. I can NOT get past those frilly ruffle panties! I mean, I get that this is supposed to be campy, but… :-P
    Lily James looks good as a brunette. I wonder if that’s her natural color?

  11. I feel like nothing can ruin the One True Version of P&P (or the book)- no matter how this movie turns out. So, I guess I’m not worried. I’ll grab some friends, smuggle some whiskey into the theater, and let the camp wash over me. If its truly terrible, I’ll go home and play the Jane Austen Drinking Game with a better film.

  12. I, too, feel very conflicted about this movie, but primarily because I really enjoyed the book – and I’m an Austen purist, too. And the very reason I loved the book is exactly why I think it would be hard to make a really good movie from it. The book isn’t campy, that’s what I think is so clever about it. It’s all of Austen’s original text, supplemented by the zombie stuff. So it retains the playful, yet dignified tone of the original – which to me is what made the zombie addition so darn funny, and I’m not into the zombie thing, either. So the book really, literally is P+P +Zombies. To me, the best and funniest way to do the movie would be deadpan. Make it HA, not the least over the top, and make all the zombies stuff just matter of fact. My fear was that they’d go full camp/Steampunk-Regency with it, and it does look like that’s what they’ve done. Bugger.

    And what is it with using silk charmeuse for regency-set stuff all over the place lately? Now, I love silk charmeuse, but it’s just too glossy and not quite the right drape for this period and can too often come across as synthetic. That’s annoying me as much as the ridiculous frilly knickers.

  13. Seth Grahame-Smith wrote the novel from which this movie is based. He also wrote “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter”, which was made into a movie in 2012. I have some fond memories of the movie, including Benjamin Walker’s portrayal of Lincoln. But I also have some not-so-fond memories . . . including this costume worn by the actor – http://kissthemgoodbye.net/movie/displayimage.php?album=349&pid=765742#top_display_media.

    I like to call it a 19th century prom suit.

  14. As a Regency outfit, the “prom dress” is good, right down to the M notch lapels. But for 1860’s? “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter” was the first film I ever saw from the Asylum that I liked. Most of their earlier stuff was no-budget crap.

  15. I think I have to see this BECAUSE of Matt Smith, despite the zombies, the horrible costuming and the fact that I’m a hardcore Janeite (you do NOT. MESS. WITH. JANE.). Just not a zombie fan, but it does look like it could be kind of fun. And I adore Matt Smith. Yes, he’s weird looking (seriously–is his chin less bizarre in person?), and maybe his Doctor was a little too kid-in-a-candy-store-knocking-shit-over (debatable; even though I luuurvved broody, angsty David Tennant, too). But he’s really a tremendous actor. And I want to see what he does with Mr. Collins. If only there were no zombies… I just don’t DO zombies. You can’t reason with them.

  16. As another “Austen purist”, I am not in the least conflicted, for I find the whole concept of book and movie both loathsome and absurd. (However, if they *had* to do something of the sort, inserting vampires into Northanger Abbey might have worked. ;-) )

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