Zombies

[podling]

I was speaking to dreadpiratetait the other day, and the topic of zombies came up (naturally). It seems that there's been a shift of zombie behavior over the last thirty years or so. I mean, think back. In the early zombie movies, zombies were slow moving, flesh-eating, and tenacious. Part of what made them really scary was the fact that they were relentless. Even if you remove part of their bodies, they just keep on coming. In contrast, the majority of zombies these days are fast moving. Still relentless, still flesh-eating, but no longer slow (with the exception of Shaun of the Dead but then that was a comedy). Zombies now move at a frighteningly fast pace. And I was wondering if it was a cultural thing. The zombies of the MTV generation need to be faster maybe?

I don't know, but I know that there has been a shift in zombie lifestyle. Discuss.

Comments

[digriz.livejournal.com]

Comes from the wide-spread steroid usage. There's a book about to be released on the topic. I believe it's called Braaaaiin of Shadows.

[podling]

But were they using steroids before or after they were turned?

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

Before, obviously. All they eat after is people. Maybe they're eating people who are using steroids. And crystal meth, to get Mal's theory in there.

[kfringe.livejournal.com]

Crystal meth usage among the recently deceased? 20,000 volts making exe parrots go "voom?" I don't know.

I think that it's partly a failure on the part of filmmakers to grasp the difference between "suspense" and "surprise." I suppose one might think that the audiences are so limited in imagination that they might not even see the slow moving zombies as a threat.

[teapot-farm.livejournal.com]

How does the timing of the change match up with the release of 'Resident Evil' (which is the first zombie-shooting game that I can remember, but if there's an earlier one, look at that also)? Because for a decent shooting game, people want fast moving targets... and that may have crossed back over into movies and caused the fast-zombie plague there.

[mowglikat]

but even in resident evil they were slow moving. They could have a last-second burst of speed, but for the most part they were (as Milla Jovovich said) "conserving...their...energy...for...that...last, final....RAH!"

There were other non-zombie fast moving targets...but no running zombies.

[teapot-farm.livejournal.com]

Damn. It was a really good theory up til that point :)

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

I don't remember the game so well. I think it was the dogs that always got me. They really need to release it for something other than Nintendo. Bastards.

[podling]

I thought it was on Playstation, actually.

[digriz.livejournal.com]

The original original was. However, Capcom redid it on the Gamecube, updating it with all of the latest graphics, sounds, and effects.

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

You might be right. See, it's been that long.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Actually, you may have a point there.

IIRC, they are not traditional zombies, but zombie-like through medical manipulation (which, I believe, even the "non-zombies" are.)

Besides, if we can keep increasing processer speed, (mad) scientists could also find ways to speed up the manufacture of lethargic zombies.

Or it could be due to the Starbucks on every corner and overwhelming popularity of highly caffeinated energy drinks found in the convenience stores on the other corners.

[podling]

The thing is though, I'm not sure the root cause of the zombification is that important. I mean, take Night of the Creeps. Those zombies were caused by alien slugs. The most common zombification cause seems to be weird meteors or something, but it shouldn't discount the other causes.

And if it was just about caffeine, wouldn't there be Mountain Dew zombie tie-ins?

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Mountain Dew is a Pepsi product, and Pepsi has distanced itself from Michael Jackson after trying to set him on fire, and Michael Jackson's zombie-filled video 'Thriller' formed a basis of at least one of their ad campaigns, so, as a corporate rule, they shun zombies, just by association.

As for the root cause that is all important. Take the alien slugs - they've got a certain chemical composition, and it creates a certain flavor of zombie. Weird meteors in and of themselves aren't a problem - it's whatever odd cloud of gas, vapors, or other chemical formulation gets dragged along in the wake of the meteor itself that causes the zombification - and then we're back to how different chemical compounds interact with the subject matter.

Of course, zombie films greatly simplify this aspect of the process - supposedly because whatever composes the zombie cocktail is strong enough that it overrides all the variables of genetics, health, and other factors that trouble manufacturers of allegedly more legitimate pharmaceutical products and preparations.

Given that, we might be back around to the fact that they're not striving to show improvement in zombification technologies, but they're catering to the shortened attention span in modern audiences, and if they don't speed it up and get to the point, their viewers will walk out to watch something more their speed, with fast action, catchphrase dialogue, and lots of special effects scenes.

[podling]

I think it's actually still a good theory, but requires a larger frame. Shooter games in general do have a lot of speed enemies. Take Doom, where the creatures weren't zombies. We've become accustomed to seeing faster moving beasties, perhaps.

[phantom_wolfboy]

Actually, some of the creatures in Doom were zombies. In fact, they were the zombies of your character's late comerades.

[podling]

Zombie dogs! They were still zombies, just non-traditional...

[chap.livejournal.com]

I told you my oppinions on it at the party, but I'll bring it up here for everyone else to see. I think the issue has multiple layers

1) People are a lot more desensitized now. 30 years ago or whatever the idea of something dead coming back to life was enough. Now they need a little bit more then that.

2) We live in the MTV Generation. Most music videos tv shows and movies keep switching camera angles every 10 seconds or less because of people's attention spans. I think its only natural that they had to speed the zombies up to.

3) Possibly science, and understanding the human body better. The people that come back to life are the recently deceased. I think the original vision of people after they die and coming back to life they would have to be slow, but if they JUST died, and were re-animated, why would they be slow?

I had a few more ideas on the subject, but can't think of any more right now.

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

Reply to 3: In Night of the Living Dead, the zombies hadn't just died--they were crawling out of the graves as I recall.

Plus, if we go back to the roots of zombies, the puffer fish toxin, and real zombies (there are people who have been given the toxin and remained in service of the person who gave it to them, they do move slowly. I would too, if I'd been poisoned, thought dead, and "brought back" to life.

[chap.livejournal.com]

In the movie though you see them crawl from there grave, they do say "recently deceased". How they define that, I don't know.

As far as the other thing you mention, I have no knowledge on.

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

Ah. It's been ages since I've seen it.

The other thing is about zombies in voodoo and how they were/are created. As near as anyone can figure out.

[podling]

I'll have you know that the dead coming back to life would freak me right the hell out. I mean, in real life, not the movies.

[chap.livejournal.com]

There was a very good french movie where this happened. I can't remember the name right now unfortunately, but the dead came back to life but they didn't attack people.

It was basically about dead people coming back to life and people trying to adjust to them being back. Was a pretty cool flick. If I remember what it was I'll let you know.

[adellyna.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I think it kind of depends on the movie. For example, in the remake of Dawn of the Dead, they were freakishly fast, Matrix zombies. However, if I'm recalling the next edition, Land of the Dead, correctly, they were still slow moving and shuffling. I think perhaps the Romero team wanted to experiment with a faster, alpha-predator zombie?

In 28 Days Later, they're not exactly zombies. They're victims of an escaped biological agent. They refer to them as "the infected", right?

As for the meteors and shit, I'm assuming you're refering to Undead, which I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO TRACK DOWN AND VIEW YET. *glares at local area movie vendors*. Did they take up jogging in that movie too?

Plus, I recently saw Route 666 (with Lou Diamond Phillips) and they were slow moving in that one too, although they were less of zombies and more of vengeful spirits.

Hey, look! I got rambly!

Heh. Someone mentioned Night of the Creeps earlier, and that made me wonder if I'm the only one associating Slither with that film?

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

Oh the ads for slither totally reminded me of Night of the Creeps. And are pretty gross, btw.

Is Undead even out on DVD yet? I tried to get people to see it with me. My friends are becoming wusses. They won't even see The Hills Have Eyes. Bitchwhores!

[adellyna.livejournal.com]

For the record, The Hills Have Eyes (In The Back Of Their Heads) is not a good movie. It's not even remotely scary. The "heroes" of the film are so bloody stupid I spent most of the time hoping they'd die for it.

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

Oh, I assumed it would completely suck. But radiation zombie cannibal things. I should make Andrea go with me.

[adellyna.livejournal.com]

You should. Reassure her it's totally not scary. Except that the first 30 minutes or so are completely disturbing.

[podling]

I remember watching Night of the Creeps on Easter with my family. That was after they made us switch off Friday the 13th. Then the adults made us turn off Night of the Creeps. But there was nothing on, so we ended up watching a show about cooking desserts. I really wanted to continue with Night of the Creeps though...

[podling]

Let me just tell you, Slither reminded me a lot of Night of the Creeps. It made it just that much better!