Tad Pole . . . with maybe a little A BOY AND HIS DOG thrown in for good measure. Just as in PETER PAN, this movie focuses on the three Darling boys, but in an incestuous twist, one of the trio is hung up on just-like-a-sister Wendy. As the littlest Darling notes in his opening voice-over, "Patrick was never ready for Wendy to be dead." So Patrick plays dress-up all summer with Wendy's occasionally-animated corpse (mostly in a friend's bathtub), while his little brother Beetlejuice falls in love with the dogs belonging to Wendy's likely killer, Rody, who is incommunicado for the season, while the other main suspect in Wendy's demise--her actual lover, Brian--has moved on to getting "sleaze comfort" from middle brother Carol and the late Wendy's mutual crush, Addy, while oldest brother Patrick--whose umbilical cord was wrapped around twin Carol's throat during delivery--is busy feeding his own second crush Rody's dogs (now beloved by Beetle) to the carnivorous Wendy before feeding himself to her at the bottom of his backyard swim pool. While Wendy may seem to be the quintessential ZOMBIE WITHOUT A CAUSE to her tribe of Lost Boys, none of the parents in MAKE OUT WITH VIOLENCE really give a hoot whether any of their children will survive the summer, since they all have important grown-ups stuff to do which monopolizes all their time and attention. Hey, this is Tennessee, where no one has heard of science, so Beetle's other interest--bugs--must be purely gastronomical.

Paul Magne Haakonsen The DVD cover for "Make-Out with Violence" had the 'the year's rom-zom-com' on it, and that is what caught my attention along with a couple of other high praise lines from various magazines and websites. And being the zombie aficionado that I am, I just had to get it and see what it was.And now having seen it, I must say that it wasn't anything at all what I had expected it to be. The movie was incredibly slow moving. That being said, then I am not saying that the movie was bad, because it was really nicely filmed and edited, plus it had a good enough storyline. I, however, had just expected something more from it and more than just one decomposing girl, zombie-wise. And the 'zombie' is more of a backdrop character to help the story along.The story in "Make-Out with Violence" is about two brothers, Patrick (played by Eric Lehning) and Carol (played by Cody DeVos) who is trying to deal with and come to terms with the loss of their close friend Wendy (played by Shellie Marie Shartzer). They happen to come across her body, as it was never found, but Wendy is now a living dead. They bring her to a house, where they try to keep her alive and have something that resemble a life.Actually, the storyline was well put together and worked out well enough, I just had a whole other expectation to what it would be. And as such, I wasn't really enjoying the movie, because it was a drama and not a horror (as the DVD cover had listed as the genre). Don't expect this movie to be a zombie fest, because it only have that one zombie in it.The people they had hired for the various roles were actually doing good jobs with their roles, and they really helped the movie to step up a notch. Most noteworthy, in my opinion, was Eric Lehning; his performance was just incredible.If you enjoy zombie movies that aren't mainstream, then "Make-Out with Violence" might just be something for you. Just bear in mind that it is a drama about the lives of the brothers and their friends and their morbid situation of having a living dead amongst them, and not being a horror zombie movie. It is a beautiful movie, to be honest, but hardly an ordinary zombie movie.

jeromestiller A previous reviewer says it all, and says it well. This film reeks of indie cred, and has a few good performances (and a few awful ones) and a great soundtrack, but it's not funny, quirky, offbeat, frightening, thought-provoking, or anything else worthwhile. It would be a fairly impressive film school project. Why it won awards and so much notice I will never know, but I suspect it has something to do with yet another triumph of form over substance.Best high school oriented not-quite-dead girl double bill ever: Deadgirl - truly frightening and truly funny and an intense ending; Jennifer's Body - not really a zombie film but who cares? Brilliant. Best. Ever.Skip Making out with Violence.Spoiler Alert: There's really no making out in this film. Also no violence.

larry-411 The Deagol Brothers' "Make-Out with Violence" is a stylish, smart, sweet little American indie that is sure to leave the viewer buzzing. This isn't your typical genre film, and the quirky mix of comedy and horror defies description. Films that terrorize with tongue firmly planted in cheek are among my favorites, but "Make-Out with Violence" doesn't even fit that profile.The film opens with the slightly creepy voice-over of little brother Beetle (scene-stealer Brett Miller), segues to flashbacks shot with a soft, dreamy, oversaturated look, then takes the viewer on a ride through the most perverse summer this group of slightly off-kilter misfits has ever had. The soundtrack is one of the film's strongest elements, mostly the work of composer Jordan Lehning (who also plays lead character Rody). The writing, direction, editing, and production of the film are all the handiwork of a small group of multitalented family members. Even the actors had a hand in the film's creative process. The two brothers at the center of the film (Eric Lehning and Cody DeVos) are also credited as writers, along with the Deagols. The film is shot and edited with such precision that there isn't a single frame of filler. Every word, every camera angle, every visual and sound effect is devoted to advancing the story. The filmmakers certainly made the best use of their low budget -- from all appearances there were no post-production special effects. Everything appears to have been done in-camera. No small feat for a genre film. This is quite an impressive calling card for these first-time feature filmmakers.