Movies | July 03, 2009 | 30 comments

Zombies: Still Undead, And Suddenly Everywhere

source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105510752&surl=http://www.northcountryp...

Image
JulyJones
George A. Romero certainly didn't invent zombies, but with his 1968 cult classic Night of the Living Dead, he created a lasting cinematic mythology for them.

In Romero's taxonomy of horror, zombies are undead creatures that feed on human flesh. If they bite you, you die — and then return from the dead, a zombie yourself.

"Rule 1 for zombies: You have to want to kill people," says horror screenwriter Kirsten Elms. "You have to want to rip someone's throat out — it doesn't matter if they are your mother or your wife or your dog."

The simple but satisfying explanation Romero offered for their existence? That when "there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth."
  1. groups:
    Entertainment,   Movies,   Editor's Picks,   Zombies
  2. tags:
    Entertainment,  Movies,  Editor's Picks,  Zombies
  3.     
    |

30 comments // Zombies: Still Undead, And Suddenly Everywhere

  • medinasoul
  • medinasoul
    • 0
      medinasoul  

    • hey does anyone remember the 80s b-movie Dead Dudes in the House?

      i've been trying to find that on DVD for years... any know of anywhere i can find it??

    • 2 years ago
  • JulyJones
  • remanns
  • medinasoul
    • 0
      medinasoul  

    • my wife and i are big fans of the zombie genre.. but some of the movies have gotten downright ridiculous or boring... even Romero's Land of the Dead was a bit of a stretch.... zombie's evolving? using language? language implies intelligence... intelligence implies not a zombie... leguizamoimplies not a good movie.... (at least as a bad ass... i liked the happening)

      i also bought my playstation back in the day just to buy the resident evil games... (those movies are big let downs also)

    • 2 years ago
  • gran_prix
  • Bigdog_mike
  • JulyJones
    • 0
      JulyJones  

    • Initially I was upset with the fast moving zombies because I was used to the Romero style zombies. I got used to them though and now think both are equally scary.

      I think part of the appeal of Zombie movies is people like thinking of what they would do in that particular situation. Any one into zombie movies or anything dealing with post apocalyptic situations always thinks what would they do if faced with the situation.

      While the undead waking from grave to attack is really unlikely (who knows the world is a strange and weird place anything is possible) I think movies like 28 days later and it sequel present the most plausible way a zombie type of thing could occur. They weren't zombies in the old school sense but where infected with a virus.

    • 2 years ago
  • bailey78
  • t_
  • DarkVeneficusss
  • Hunnter
    • 0
      Hunnter  
    • t_:

      I LOVED Dead Set.

      The only thing that let me down was that they never actually done this for an actual Big Brother, in one way or another.
      Obviously sane people would have to be chosen so that they don't end up going nuts and not caring anymore about their, or others, safety.
      Oh, and no guns obviously.

      After say, 5 days, some gunshots, screams.
      Inject a few new housemates into the house.
      Someone will inevitably go to the roof to see whats going on.
      Cue the zombies walking around, chewing on fake bodies.
      Then after that, nobody else will be on stage. No more zombies.
      Some places would have to be blocked off intelligently.
      Some other new housemates could be locked in another building somewhere with food and drink, phone in the room, stream of the housemates
      Then suddenly when they see and hear the housemates going nuts, they will panic, phone Big Bro, no reply, "oh no".

      So many good ideas.
      But for an idea like this, it would require a large place they could use 24/7 for a long period of time, and a LOT of effort.
      If they had the money to buy a large plot and build fake houses, some real houses to explore, blah blah etc, this would be the ultimate reality TV show ever!
      We can always dream...

    • 2 years ago
  • JulyJones
  • t_
  • Giganticus
  • DarkVeneficusss
    • 0
      DarkVeneficusss  

    • There is just two minor things wanna correct ot tht article (ok am nitpicking but hoping to do so in an small and entertaining way that wont have you guys unleash you're own hordes on me!) -

      - in Romero's zombieverse any type of death (that didn't result in brain trauma upon demise) would always lead to later reanimation of the cadaver.
      Also decapitation alone wasn't enough (as shown in 'Day', 'Land', & 'Diary' ) and only complete destruction of the brainstem would service....

      ...you may now return to your normal broadcasting... :p

    • 2 years ago
  • KitsuneP
    • 0
      KitsuneP  

    • I'm more of a "28 days later" zombie girl myself. At least movie-wise. If the zombie apocalypse was to happen today I hope they would be the classic slow, non intelligent easy to "re-kill" kind. My husband love all kinds and regularly discusses how to properly Zombie proof our house.

    • 2 years ago
  • EmperorThan
    • 0
      EmperorThan  

    • I fucking hate zombie shit. I don't understand the fascination with zombies that so many people have. Is this some big joke everyone is playing on me or something?

      Zombies are stupid, how is this now a 'Genre' of movies???

    • 2 years ago
  • numinant
  • TheBrownKid
    • 0
      TheBrownKid  
    • EmperorThan:

      For me, at least in the video game sense, it makes me feel better i'm "killing" something nonhuman in the most violent way possible. Yeah, it's a pretty brutal and primal excuse, but I suppose it's that we all have this schema that animals hunt and kill for survival.

      Zombies don't have that reason. They just.. feeeeed...

    • 2 years ago
  • Renee_RR
    • 0
      Renee_RR  

    • George A. Romero did create zombies as we know them today. If he would have remembered/known to copyright his first film, he would have one heck of a piece of the pie today! There are some great interviews out there with him and he talks about how he doesn't regret that. Yes, im a big fan of George!

    • 2 years ago
  • DarkVeneficusss
    • 0
      DarkVeneficusss  
    • Renee_RR:

      The original title was gonna be "Night of the Flesh Eaters" or somehting along those lines, but at the last moment they decided to change it - and the person doing the editing had cut off the Copywrite logo with the original titles, which noone noticed until after the film's distripution.
      What makes it worst is the first prints with the alternative title ( + that important C ) got destroyed along with half of their film stock during a massive flood.

    • 2 years ago
  • Anacrusis
  • wintermadness90
  • Bigdog_mike
  • Giganticus
  • TheEmpireGuy
  • Bigdog_mike
  • kjyn69
    • 0
      kjyn69  

    • This story would be even cooler if it talked about the mass amount of zombie walks going on across the country. There must have been one just last year in Grand Rapids, MI. I wish there was one in Atlanta, that would be cool.....

    • 2 years ago
  • JulyJones
more from Movies:
from the community

top videos