'Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse' Star Sarah Dumont Reveals Which Horror Films Inspired Her Character

Sarah Dumont has always been a fan of comedy, action and horror, which makes her role in “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” so perfect for her. With the movie hitting theaters Oct. 30, the actress opened up to International Business Times about her role in the film and the classics that inspired it.

For those that were captivated by the trailer for “Scouts Guide” when it dropped in August, you may remember Dumont as the shotgun wielding cocktail waitress (definitely not stripper, and don’t you forget it!) who saves the main characters when they realize their night will be no ordinary night.

“Denise is a girl that went to high school and dropped out. Now she works at this podunk town’s crappy strip club as a cocktail waitress,” Dumont told IBT of her character in a phone interview. “She’s the kind of chick where no one knows a lot about her and when the sh-- starts to hit the fan, they need her to save their lives. After that, she’s with them for the rest of the movie. She’s definitely part of the crew. She’s not a Scout, but she’s an unofficial Scout you could say because she’s with them the rest of the time.”

Dumont revealed that she was particularly excited when she read the script to “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse,” which she described as a “rated-R version of ‘The Goonies,’” because it blends three of her favorite genres (horror, comedy and action) into one beautiful amalgam of over-the-top gore and laughs.

“I like to do comedy the best, comedy is always fun and I really like doing action too. So those are two of my favorites to work on,” she said. “But, I like watching horror movies and being scared. I like to watch scary movies all the time and I’m the one in the theater that’s definitely doing the jumping. But comedy and action are what I like best as an actress.”

Dumont was quick to mention the films that both scared and inspired her into taking a role in a zombie movie. Among her favorites are “28 Days Later” and “Zombieland,” which she confessed were obvious inspirations for “Scouts Guide.” She was fast to bring up the other flagship zombie-comedy tentpole “Shaun of the Dead,” but made sure to explain the difference between the Simon Pegg cult hit and her film.

“‘Shaun of the Dead’ is more of a parody,” she explained. “It’s funny, but the zombies in [‘Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse'] are very real zombies. They’re a lot different because they resemble who they were in real life. They move fast and they have characteristics of the people that they were before they became zombies, which makes it really funny to encounter them throughout the movie.”

This specific zombie mythos was teased in the trailer for the movie, posted below, in which a zombie stripper continues to do her act before the insatiable need to feast on flesh overtakes her. Luckily, Dumont and her shotgun are there to make sure things don’t get too out of hand.

Take a peek at the "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" trailer below. Comment below or tweet @TylerMcCarthy to continue the conversation.