Attack of the Herbals

Attack of the Herbals
Directed byDavid Keith
Written byAlisdair Cook
David Keith
Liam Matheson
StarringCalum Booth
Claire McCulloch
Steve Worsley
Richard Currie
Liam Matheson
Release date
  • May 11, 2011 (2011-05-11) (Cannes)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Attack of the Herbals (also known as Attack of the Nazi Herbals[1]) is a 2010 Scottish horror comedy directed by David Keith[2][3][4] from a screenplay written by David Ryan Keith, Liam Matheson and Alisdair Cook.[5] It stars Calum Booth, Claire McCulloch, Steve Worsley, Richard Currie, and Liam Matheson.

The film is about a group of locals who try to save Lobster Cove, their sleepy village, from disruption caused by a plan to build a new supermarket complex.

Premise

Set in a small Scottish village named Lobster Cove, the local community is enraged when a retailer is granted permission to build their supermarket complex on a nature spot. A WW2 German crate is discovered washed up on shore and one of the group makes tea out of it.

Some of the local residents band together to create a herbal-tea cottage industry as a way to raise funds to fight the retailer. The tea proves incredibly popular and with its rejuvenating properties the elderly are finding a new lease of life. Unfortunately, there are side-effects.

Cast

  • Calum Booth as Jackson McGregor
  • Claire McCulloch as Jenny Robertson
  • Steve Worsley as Russell Wallace
  • Richard Currie as Steve Roadrunner Robertson
  • Liam Matheson as Bennett Campbell
  • Lee Hutcheon as Danny the Pincer

Production

Attack of the Herbals was filmed in and around Aberdeen, Scotland, on a single Canon 5D with follow focus.[6] Much of the film focuses on the Aberdeen harbour area.[7]

The music is by Leah Kardos,[8] who collaborated with David Keith on previous works,  two short films called "Demonic" and "Dead Funny".[9]

Release

Camelot Entertainment Group have gained distribution rights to Attack of the Herbals. Darknight Pictures, a division of Camelot Entertainment, confirmed they were to auction Attack of the Herbals at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[10]

Reception

Robert Cherkowski of Filmstarts found Attack of the Herbals to be "a likeable project" though "rather bland for long stretches".[11] Horrornews.net reviewer Dave Gammon called the film "a fine balance of terror and knee slapping fancy".[12] In the book Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema, the author Jamie Russell said Attack of the Herbals was a "redundantly anodyne" work that blends elements of Local Hero and The Crazies.[13]

Empire's Kim Newman said the film leans a bit too heavily on Shaun of the Dead though manages to be amusing at times.[14] VideoHound gave the film one star.[15] Regarding the film poster, The Hollywood Reporter's Kevin Cassidy called it the "Best Use of an Unscary Beverage in a Horror Movie".[16]

References

  1. ^ "Attack of the Nazi Herbals". Filmstarts (in German). Archived from the original on 2025-07-20. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  2. ^ North-east filmmaker’s movie attracts fans in America
  3. ^ Attack of the Herbals - David Keith interview
  4. ^ Crazy Nazi Tea Runs Amok in Latest Attack of the Herbals Trailer
  5. ^ "Welcome to the official movie website". Clear Focus Movies. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Making 'Attack of the Herbals'". Clear Focus Movies. pp. 08:18–10:00. Archived from the original (Video) on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  7. ^ MovieSet Production Report Archived July 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Attack of the Herbals official website. "Original Music Score by Leah Kardos". Clear Focus Movies. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  9. ^ Leah Kardos Blog Archived April 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ HollywoodStarsHoney report Archived March 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Cherkowski, Robert. "Attack of the Nazi Herbals: Kritik der Filmstarts-Redaktion" [Attack of the Nazi Herbals: Review by the Filmstarts editorial team]. Filmstarts (in German). Archived from the original on 2025-07-20. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  12. ^ Gammon, Dave (2021-01-23). "Film Review: Attack of the Herbals (2011)". Horrornews.net. Archived from the original on 2025-07-20. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  13. ^ Russell, Jamie (2014). Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema. London: Titan Books. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-78116-925-4. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ^ Newman, Kim (September 2012). "Movie Dungeon". Empire. No. 279. p. 132. ProQuest 1242449959.
  15. ^ Tyrkus, Michael J., ed. (2017). VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever. Detroit: Gale. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-4103-1643-1. ISSN 1095-371X. Retrieved 2025-07-20 – via Internet Archive.
  16. ^ Cassidy, Kevin (2011-11-08). "Best Use of an Unscary Beverage in a Horror Movie: Attack of the Herbals". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2025-07-20. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
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