A low budget fun film with a decent script and a massive heart. Harold (Stan Rowe) is an OAP with ORD, a disease which affects mobility and slowly eats away at mental faculties too over time. It seems that a lot more people in the UK are slowly getting ORD and as the virus spreads with time so does the severity of the disease, going from a mild stiffness to ultimately create zombies. A group of locals decide to take matters into their own hands and wielding baseball bats and whatever they can find they seek to find any ORD zombies and lay waste to them. Penny (Sarah Spence), a local care worker assigned to Harold is a flame in the darkness as she tries to help Harold survive the disease and then anyone fighting against it - or threatening Harold. Contrasting the loneliness and isolation of growing old against a disease is a very clever and very original in the zombie film world. This film is more than a horror and like a lot of underground British low budget horror has a vast range of emotional themes from tongue in cheek humour to bitter-sweet drama. Set in the beautiful backdrop of South Yorkshire, Keith Wright's film is beautifully crafted and goes to prove that you don't need millions of millions upon millions of dollars/pounds/euros to make a great film. Don't go into watching this film thinking it's an out and out zombie film because you any be disappointed, zombies do feature but they aren't the main draw, instead just lose yourself in the story being told which happens to have zombies too. I'm a big fan of low budget and British films, if you are too this will be a good investment of 77mins.

As the first person to ever contract Onset Rigors Disease (ORD), a condition that ultimately turns the sufferer into a violent zombie, Harold Gimble's deterioration is much slower than others; to help him cope with the gradual stiffening of his limbs, Harold (Stan Rowe) is appointed a nurse, Penny (Sarah Spencer), who relieves his pain and brings some joy back into his life. When Harold is talked into taking part in tests for an experimental drug for ORD, he initially shows improvement, but then takes a rapid turn for the worse, a fact that delights the local community volunteers, whose job it is to bash in the heads of sufferers who 'turn', but which proves hard for poor Penny to handle.In a world over-run by low-budget zombie movies, many of which are sorely lacking in originality, I admire any attempt to do something fresh with the genre; Harold's Going Stiff is not only incredibly innovative, tackling its zombie theme from a whole new perspective, but it's also a wonderfully made film, a real gem that benefits from touching performances from stars Rowe and Spencer, a brilliant and often very funny script, and sharp direction from Keith Wright, whose handling of the faux documentary style is nothing short of brilliant. A tragic tale with bags of heart, that touches upon sensitive issues such as old age, crippling illness, and euthanasia, this is worlds away from the movies of Romero or Fulci, and even Shaun of the Dead (which will no doubt get mentioned in many reviews), but it is certainly no less worthy for serious zombie fans.

At first glance, this is a low budget horror/comedy/mockumentary film with a barely known cast and a cheesy title, but basically just ignore that. No, seriously, ignore it all. The zombies aren't the walking dead, they're just men suffering from a weird illness that causes stiffness of the limbs, reduced mental ability and eventually violence. The film focuses on the first man to suffer from it, Harold, who also has a much slower progression of the symptoms, so while there are others limping about with silly walks and making groaning noises, Harold still has most of his wits about him. He's a nice warm hearted old man who struggles to manage, and begins being cared for by a kind young nurse called Penny. The comedy comes mostly from three daft lads who are self appointed vigilantes, inter-cut with British regional TV news reporting at it's finest. There are 'zombies' and some slapstick-esque violence with baseball bats and ketchup blood, but that's all the horror you get. There's no battles, no action sequences, no graphic be-headings, no guns, no brain eating and no end of the world. What there is however, is a really brilliantly told story about a lovely man and the person that cares for him, that is joyous at times and completely heartbreaking at others. Depending on where you are in your own life and how it relates to you and/or your family, it'll easily have you in tears. Not a film for everyone's tastes or expectations, but that doesn't make it any less wonderful. Thank you.

Harold's Going Stiff is a zombie docudrama about men suffering from ORD or Onset Rigors Disease which starts out with extreme stiffness, and eventually leads to its sufferers becoming zombies. The main subject is Harold Gimble who was the first man diagnosed with ORD, and is slightly different from other victims, as his symptoms are progressing at a much slower pace than everyone else. Can a cure be found before he too becomes one of the zombies?I went into this movie thinking it would be far different from what it was, and that's a good thing, because I'm not sure I'd have decided to see it had I known what it was like. I prefer my zombie movies to have plenty of zombies and gore, and Harold's Going Stiff doesn't meet those criteria. It's more of a character study that centers around Harold and his nurse Penny dealing with the everyday hardships of his unfortunate affliction. Before meeting Penny, Harold is lonely and reclusive, but with Penny's help he finds himself beginning to enjoy life again. This friendship is also beneficial for Penny who is suffering from loneliness herself.The two leads, Stan Rowe and Sarah Spencer, have great chemistry, and despite having almost no acting experience whatsoever, are very adept at creating complex characters that really make you feel for what they are going through. Some of their interactions are happy and heartwarming while others are downright heartbreaking. I'm not ashamed to say that before the movie ended, Penny and Harold's plight caused tears to well up in my eyes. 9/10, highly recommended for those that are looking for a not so average zombie flick, or a good tearjerker. Just don't expect much horror since the only thing in it related to horror is the presence of zombies.