The Cooties Trailer Is Really Funny, Even Though It Involves Murdering Children

Even the best-behaved children in the world can sometimes behave like little monsters - but rarely quite to the degree seen in the upcoming horror comedy Cooties. That's because the kids in the movie are infected with some kind of virus that causes them to be all zombie-like. See what I mean in the brand new trailer below.

Yahoo! posted this first look at Cooties, and while the idea of zombie kids isn't exactly anything new - see: George Romero's Night of the Living Dead - this is still looks both clever and funny. Plus, the movie is outfitted with a rather fantastic cast that should ensure some real entertainment value.

Based on a script by Leigh Whannell (Saw, Insidious) and Ian Brennan (Glee), Cooties tells the story of an isolated elementary school that sees all hell break loose thanks to a batch of tainted chicken nuggets. Before long, all of the children are infected and transformed into canibalistic savages, leaving the teachers with no options but to try and survive. Helping to fight off hordes of zombie 4th graders are Whannell, Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, Jack McBrayer, Jorge Garcia, and Rainn Wilson - who inspires some "Ash in Evil Dead II"-type transformations, and creates a prepared zombie-fighting team:

Cooties Rainn Wilson

As noted in the headline, this film does seem to be playing with an interesting line, as there will certainly be many moments in this film where children are killed - whether they are burned or beaten with softballs (you'll note that this green band trailer doesn't actually show any kids clearly being taken out, but does imply it heavily). One can expect that this might rub some audiences the right way, and it wouldn't be surprising if it stirred up a bit of controversy, but if Cooties actually earns it, the film could also be a fun horror-comedy treat.

If this film sounds vaguely familiar but you're not sure why, it's because it's actually been floating around and waiting for release for a good long while now. It first made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2014, and while it opened in India, Taiwan, and Thailand in the latter half of last year, it never made its way to the states. Critics who have seen the film have given it a mixed response, but we also know that it's since been edited to have a better ending. It's now on track to be released on September 18th.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.