One other point is that, in most cases, the zombies aren’t a problem. Sure, get too close and they’ll eat you, but it seems possible to live in relatively close proximity to them, long as you have a good place to hide and don’t get too cocky. It’s always the humans getting careless or being attacked by fellow humans that *really* brings everything down.

And good point about zombies not being the big problem, yeah, you’re right

The first Romero flick is still my favorite. A brutal display of racial tensions that exist(ed) (and still exists, but more covertly) in America. The ending is truly poignant.

And yeah, the humans are the real enemies. Esp in Dawn of the Dead (or was it Day of the Dead? The one where they were in a mall), when they were perfectly happy and safe until the Biker’s came in. Which was probably one of the best scenes in Zombie films of all time. Bikers splattering zombies in the faces with pies? Brilliant.

A director shouldn’t have to shout “see, look, we’re worse than them” to get my attention, especially at the expense of realism. “Day,” for example, portrayed scientists and the military in a way only a CMU film student could, which took me right out of the film. “Land” was just silly, even aside from the zombie unionists. The first thing I’d do when the apocolypse comes is toss Dennis Hopper down a well.

Max Brooks “WWZ” nailed it for me, though. It felt more realistic and that much more horrible. I just re-read it and I still get shudders picturing a shambling corpse wearing a torn Baby Bjorn. However, you could have taken the zombies out of the book and it would still read like a plausible story of society’s response to an emerging crisis: Denial, Panic, Breakdown, Rebirth of a changed world.

I re-read that book this past week and I’ll be damned if I don’t check for Zombies when I head out to the gym in the early a.m. I hear Brad Pitt’s company bough the film rights to the book. Damn shame, actually, it would have made a great limited series on HBO or Showtime. Brooks, if you’re out there somewhere, I need some more vignettes of of the Great Panic…it sends me shivering.

Whoa, didn’t mean to go on for so long. Sorry.

I really need to read WWZ, it’s on my ‘treat myself’ list!

I have a really low creep out point and just thinking about zomies trips it. I’m never going to be able to watch enough of any of those movies to get to the social commentary. I couldn’t even watch the Time Warner Movie on Demand trailer of the recent zombie movie re-make without having nightmares. The Borg on Star Trek had the same effect on me.

I’m sure that’s some sort of horrible psychological tell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley

?

tb

About the zombies, they are just icky. All that rot and ooze, and the smell!

If the Borg were so evolved they whould know that when you are that pale a little black pleather goes a long way. Didn’t they assimilate anyone with as fashion sense?

Cool about the uncanny thing. It’s why cute robots like the Roomba are easier for us to accept, whereas humanoid robots just wig us out

Mfitz, I have the opposite reaction. I loooove the gore. I suppose it’s the titillation that Tobias mentions. I respond very strongly to the social commentary aspects of zombie movies, and I might not be able to watch them if it weren’t for that (I really don’t enjoy other types of regular gory flicks as much as zombie flicks), but the gore is like icing on the cake. A very red and meaty icing:) I like the realistic stuff, the unintentionally non-realistic and cheesy stuff, and the intentional non-realistic and cheesy stuff, for the most part.

Wow, I just realized that I haven’t watched Romero’s films in like seven or eight years. Time for a zombie weekend marathon.

[p]

Tobias, just finished Crystal Rain about two weeks ago, btw. Loved it. Thanks for a great read.

Thanks for snagging a copy. Was it a chain bookstore or indy? I’m curious who has a copy this late in the game, I’m still impressed!

The place is somewhat neglected (in Philly, we call that “charm”), but I’m frequently shocked, in a pleasant way, by their selection. I plan to read it on my flight to LA next week.