Starring: Colin Blunstone, Rod Argent, Hugh Grundy, Søren Koch, Steve Rodford, Tom Toomey, Chris White
Directed By: Robert Schwartzman
Studio: Utopia

The Zombies have their own music documentary called Hung Up On A Dream that was played at some festivals in 2023 and 2024 but opens in select theaters nationwide today. I always loved the Zombies’ hits but never knew the story behind the band and Hung Up On A Dream gives you a nice overall view of what happened over 60 years.

The Zombies only released 2 albums and a handful of singles in the 1960’s, but it didn’t stop them from becoming a highly influential band for many others. ’The documentary goes into depth on how the band met as teenagers, navigating the rocky music industry over the decades including making the highly influential ‘Odessey and Oracle’ album and having a number 1 track right after the Beatles with “She’s Not There.” The band would call it quits and then they missed out on being together when “Time of the Season” gained a ton of traction to skyrocket to number 1 in the US charts. It’s an interesting look at the band that just loved creating music and how the management & promoters screwed them over.

I consider 3 of the Zombies hits some of my all-time favorite “oldies” songs like “Time of the Season,” “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No.” It brings back family memories hearing “Time of the Season” in the car at night as my Dad was driving. It’s such a dream-like song and perfect for driving for some reason. I feel like this documentary is for hardcore Zombies fans, or just lovers of music in general. I don’t think everyone will enjoy this but it was interesting to see how the band came to be, and went on their separate ways when the money just dried out. I didn’t know about a lot of things so the entire movie was a good insight on the band.

It’s a good overall film about the Zombies with lots of interviews with the band, and it was cool to see the archive footage and photos of their shows. Some may say it’s a bit of a puff piece but Colin Blunstone, Rod Argent and the others just generally seem like really happy and positive people. Maybe the movie was a little bit long but I still enjoyed learning more about the Zombies.

Bottom Line: An interesting look at the band The Zombies and what took place over 60 years.
Running Time: 116 mins
Rating: NR
Overall Rating: