Vague Visages’ Hung Up on a Dream review contains minor spoilers. Robert Schwartzman’s 2023 documentary film (released theatrically in 2025) on Amazon features Colin Blunstone, Rod Argent and Hugh Grundy. Check out the VV home page for more film criticism, movie reviews and film essays.

Most rock and roll fans know the English band The Zombies, formed in 1961, from their classic 1969 single “Time of the Season.” Like many groups of that era, however, the musicians from St. Albans, Hertfordshire disbanded became of financial problems and began new careers in the late 60s, primarily due to their industry naiveté about recording contracts. Sixty-plus years after their initial formation, The Zombies reunited for Robert Schwartzman’s deep cut documentary Hung Up on a Dream, which further establishes the subjects as one of the most influential rock groups from the British Invasion. The director links the past and present to showcase the career achievements of each group member, and how they collectively created a sound that many bands have imitated over the years.

Schwartzman — the nephew of legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the son of actress Talia Shire and the lead singer of the Los Angeles-based band Rooney — creates a musical family portrait with Hung Up on a Dream. There’s lead singer Colin Blunstone, who was known as “the boy who sings” during his childhood before struggling with his confidence as The Zombies’ primary vocalist. And then there’s keyboardist Rod Argent, who complements Blunstone’s soft-spoken anecdotes with contextual tales about Elvis Presley’s influence and the practical/accidental techniques that innovated The Zombies’ sound. Together, with the assistance of late guitarist Paul Atkinson (who later introduced the world to Elton John and ABBA as an A&R executive for CBS Records UK), Blunstone and Argent ultimately joined forces with drummer Hugh Grundy and bass guitarist Chris White. Through extensive interviews and archival clips, Hung Up a Dream spotlights the humanity of each musician, and — perhaps most importantly — the rock doc demonstrates how and why The Zombies’ creative chemistry help each band member persevere from the late 60s into the 70s and beyond.

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In one of Hung Up on a Dream’s most riveting sequences, Blunstone and company acknowledge their manipulative first manager, Tito Burns (who is featured in Don’t Look Back — D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 Bob Dylan documentary), but don’t call him out him out by name, perhaps because they were just teenagers when they connected the dots about booking fees and their actual income during the late 60s. This high-road approach is consistent throughout the documentary, as the featured musicians speak highly of their collaborators and industry friends/associates, even when it’s revealed that two American musicians, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, briefly toured as The Zombies, capitalizing financially upon Blunstone’s alleged death (as reported by Rolling Stone), before forming ZZ Top.

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Blunstone, whose singing voice still sounds amazing in his late 70s, emits a quiet confidence in Hung Up on a Dream while reflecting about his past accomplishments. Likewise, Argent seems more invested in the creative process than his rock star persona. The testimonies of both men drive the documentary’s narrative, communicating how cultural trends of the late 60s and early 70s, both in America and England, allowed them to reinvent themselves. (Blunstone briefly worked in an office after The Zombies’ disbanded in 1967 and later performed under the pseudonym Neil McArthur for one year in 1969, just as “Time of the Season” became a #1 hit in the United States.)

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Speaking of office jobs, here’s a personal connection to Hung Up on a Dream: in the early 2010s, I worked for a Los Angeles post-production company and crossed paths with cinematographer Michael Rizzi, who was then filming the rock doc Lt. Dan Band: For the Common Good (2011). Over a decade later, I discovered that he also shot Schwartzman’s Hung Up on a Dream, which is intimate with its tight interview compositions and expansive with its concert footage. Both Blunstone and Argent still look like rock stars though Rizzi’s close-ups, but it’s the B-roll footage that offers crucial context as the subjects meet with adoring fans and fellow musicians. The Zombies’ founding members truly earned their rock star credentials before their initial 1967 break-up, and subsequently continued to influence rock music through their behind-the-scenes work, whether it was Grundy pushing a young band named Queen to American executives or Atkinson spending two weeks with Nirvana on a tour bus before the band hit it big. So, press play on Hung Up on a Dream for the music, stay for the wild and interconnected industry stories that span seven decades.

Hung Up on a Dream released theatrically on May 12, 2025.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film essays at Vague Visages.

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