By Staci Layne Wilson
@StaciWilson

The Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as she grapples with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage, in the gentry society of the British Regency as the Napoleonic Wars rage in the background.

Elizabeth’s family has fallen on hard times, and she and her four sisters are considered currency by their parents. The goal is to fling their daughters into wedlock. Then one day Fitzwilliam Darcy enters their lives and nothing is the same again.

The book endures, fans say, because its themes are universal and it’s the rom-com of all rom-coms. Modern-day screen adaptations like Bridget Jones’ Diary found ways to reinvent the tales, but not since author Seth Grahame-Smith came along in 2009 and added zombies to the mix has the story been so untraditional. His book is called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and as the title implies, it’s a mashup combining Austen’s classic literature with elements of modern walking-dead fiction.

It was only a matter of time until it was made into a film, and that time is now. While it’s rated PG13, there’s enough zombie mayhem to keep horror hounds interested as they unwittingly absorb the moralistic message originally intended by Austen.

Lily James plays Elizabeth as a mannered young lady of marriageable-age who also happens to be master of martial arts and wicked weaponry. She teams up with ace zombie-killer Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) to battle the undead as the fiends infiltrate the Regency and converge upon those dearest to them. As the zombie outbreak intensifies, the two must swallow their pride and join forces on the blood-soaked battlefield… flirting all the while.

Darcy confesses his love for Elizabeth with lines straight from the book, “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” And she replies with a brand-new retort, “I shall never relinquish my sword for a ring. The right man would never ask me to.”

While it sounds a bit hokey, I must say writer-director Burr Steers straddles the line between tradition and terror, fidelity to the source, forging new territory, and showing societal roles filled by brain-sucking zombies, with admirable aplomb. Also, the cast is great. Aside from the two amazing leads, Jack Huston as Mr. Wickham and Bella Heathcote as Jane are great. Lena Heady plays Lady Catherine de Bourgh as you’ve never seen her – with an eyepatch, a hair trigger, and martial arts moves that would give Jean-Claude Van Damme pause.

Even if you’re pretty sure you couldn’t wrap your head around this kind of movie, I urge you to give it a shot. You will probably be pleasantly surprised.

Rated PG-13
1 Hour 40 Minutes

Get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES Review — Monster Mash Up