In the grand tradition of films like “Night of the Living Dead,” and “Chud II: Bud the Chud,” there is the horror comedy “Dead & Breakfast,” a film I assumed would be one of the most grueling experiences of all time. Yet, as I watched, I was shocked to discover: This was actually not that bad. I laughed a lot, I cringed at the bad jokes, but man, was this ever fun. It’s in no way paralleled to “Shaun of the Dead,” as early reports indicated, but it’s a competent zombie comedy that possesses odd humor many will either love or hate. I laughed a lot, and often for the wrong reasons. It may not make a lot of sense, but that fact is undercut by hilarious dialogue, and characters so thinly painted that you still manage to root for them in spite of it. Director Leutwyler doesn’t provide us with likable characters, and even the likable ones are offed in favor of the heels, but that’s what’s so fun about “Dead & Breakfast.”

When it comes down to despicable morons, or hokey ghouls, you’ll find yourself rooting for the morons. How often do you see ghouls trying to torment their hostages by digging up their secrets of adultery when they fail to break in time after time? And how often do ghouls use decapitated heads as hand puppets? Much of what develops is broadcast way before it actually happens, and audiences will find it’s not too difficult to get the plot twists. In one instance, the cliché sheriff of the town (Jeffery Dean Morgan being bad ass in spite of his comedic character) whose entire dialogue is based on Southern puns (“You look more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”), takes away the groups car keys for fear they may leave town. Which means, yes you guessed it, they have no way to escape. But “Dead & Breakfast” for being touted as a gory horror film has some physical humor that works surprisingly well. Palladino’s discovery of the chef’s dead body after a midnight snack had me literally hysterical, and still makes me chuckle when I think back.

I never could figure it out, but we are left with a damn good bar room slaughter sequence in which we see people being killed by flying cymbals, and a woman having rat poison shoved down her throat. But then, we’re given a Nam flashback with “Night of the Living Dead,” as the remaining survivors take shelter in the bed and breakfast, and the ghouls come looking for them. This makes for some truly funny and eerie sequences, as the group of ghouls outside taunt the survivors and make every attempt to enter, while the group fights back with a truly creative plot device in the appearance of a homemade shotgun. Much of this is helped by the hilariously stupid one-liners delivered with dead pan accuracy by the cast. Then “Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things” suddenly comes to mind as part of the group escapes to stop the ghouls, while the others fight them off. But then the zombies have their assorted fun with the survivors, including a large musical number, and a poorly choreographed dance sequence.

And did I mention the wonderful musical interludes by Zach Selwyn who plays a honkey tonk guitarist Randall? He’s the resident narrator who announces the situations while taking part in some awfully funny musical segues, and becomes even funnier when he’s turned into a ghoul and begins egging the survivors with a rap/country war chant. Selwyn almost steals the movie from everyone else, but most of the cast are very memorable in their own right, from Morgan, to Erik Palladino as the pumped up jock, and Jeremy Sisto who comes out ahead. You’ll get that line, later. Ever Carradine is a very entertaining heroine, who is both clever, and utterly resourceful. Meanwhile, Gina Phillips plays the blubbering female for once, and the likes of Vincent Ventresca, and Bianca Lawson all round out a surprisingly good cast, for what is obviously a low budget production. “Dead & Breakfast” is one of the funnier horror comedies to come around in a while. It’s not “Shaun of the Dead,” but then, nothing is.

If you’re expecting sheer originality, then you’d best look elsewhere. “Dead & Breakfast” is typical. It’s a typical plot, revolving around typical characters, in a typical situation. It’s a group of characters locked in a small house while some form of monster waits outside, all of which is helped by them being stranded. Oy vey. Leutwyler takes an awfully long time to get to the actual point of the plot. He meanders with endless poorly constructed sequences involving the group of drunkards and schmucks, and when we finally get to the plot progression, the audience may have already lost their patience. Leutwyler’s direction is more often than not, very sloppy. With long pans on characters, poorly edited scenes involving weapons gathering, and an all too obvious reference to “Evil Dead,” that was about as subtle as a billboard. In terms of pacing, exposition, and direction, “Dead & Breakfast” leaves very much to be desired, and it keeps the film from becoming a true gem in the genre in the end.

The dialogue is atrocious, most of the humor is stupid, and the plot is hardly original, but I had fun with “Dead & Breakfast,” in spite of, and likely because of what I listed. I laughed, I marveled at Gina Philips and Ever Carradine, and did I mention that I laughed? It’s a fun horror comedy that’s so bad it’s good.

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