Amph The Golden Age of Zombie Entertainment May Be Over

I'm not as much a general horror fan. Zombies I like despite all the criticisms of the genre listed above being 100% on point.

 

If we are going to add movies with no zombies to the list of zombie movies, I'd like to add Jaws, City of God, and Jurassic Park.

 

Yeah, well that's just your opinion, man.

 

Well, I mean, it's colloquially considered a zombie movie. A spin on the zombie movie anyway. They're not traditional zombies, but I think even Danny Boyle said it's basically just a more science-fictiony take on the genre.

I should say that I do really like Zombi 2, aka Zombie, the one by Luigi Fulci. Saw that on the big screen at a midnight screening and it was fun. It's got two really, really money sequences. The one is where a woman is slowly, slowly, painfully dragged forward toward a broken piece of wood until she's impaled through the eye; the second is where a zombie is walking under the water and fights a shark. The Jaws mention above reminded me of that one. I mean, I'd never thought of a zombie just strolling around under water before, but it makes sense and it's such an arresting and unique image when you first see it. Great movie, really. With both the eye and the shark it hits both of the things that makes B-movies so great: a gross, cringe-inducing scene and an awesomely cheesy scene.

 

I'd say that the zombie film went out of favor post-Shaun of the Dead, when everyone jumped on the zomcom bandwagon without understanding what exactly made SOTD a success.

Do you remember when zombie movies had realistic, down to earth characters who had a tough time killing the dead to the point of their death? Every zombie film that came out after Shaun had characters who spouted awful one liners and could take down zombies with extreme ease. They weren't scary and they made zombies not scary.

That's why The Walking Dead was so celebrated. Zombies were terrifying again.

I'm not sure yet how I feel about Fear The Walking Dead, but I disagree that it's a sign of the end. There are significantly worse zombie media for a person to consume out there.

You are right that we are on another down turn. But the zombie genre will return one day again from its sleep, and it will be a triumphant return.

But while we are on the subject of zombies, does anyone remember when the dead didn't snarl like dogs and just wore the face they died in? I'm just not scared of zombies with the evil snarl. I think they are much scarier when they have more subdued, frozen facial features. Think early films in the genre like NOTLD or Zombi 2, or even Living Dead at Manchester Morgue.

 

I think it's fair to elevate Shaun of the Dead over Zombieland as the best of the ZomComs.

 

What is dead may never die

 

Language warning.

Comedy has a place. The Earth is full of wonder, and if laughter is part of enjoying it, that's deeply appropriate. Typifying this genre, Kevin Hart has a wonderful piece above that is basically just celebrating what ostriches are. More comedy of this sort is highly needed. Our society would be a much better one if we expressed more appreciation of the natural world. Laughter as a punctuation of joy or amazement is always welcome.

But I don't see anything particularly appealing about just failing to take situations seriously.

 

You're absolutely right there. I wasn't trying to put down Shaun of the Dead when I said what I said above. It was extremely respectful towards the genre. It even shed some of its silliness towards the end and went full on horror, which I appreciated.

I also like Zombieland, but I think it is a ridiculous film when taken on its own. Its saving grace was the surprising depth certain characters found at the end. Stirred my heart strings a little bit.

 

Warm Bodies was pretty decent I thought. The original Dawn of the Dead is still the best zombie film ever made. The remake doesn't even hold a candle, though I do love the ending and anything to do with Ty Burrell.

 

WWZ didn't fail. It actually exceeded expectations.

The zombie craze was at its peak in 2008-2011. Nazi Zombies in Call of Duty, The Walking Dead, Zombieland, and so on. I think The Walking Dead is still going strong but at the same time it's the only thing keeping the genre relevant

 

I'm really impressed that show is still on the air. Has anyone in here ever watched it?

 

Also, I've really enjoyed the non American zombie movies.

Spanish/Cuban 2010 Juan of the Dead
Norwegian 2009 Dead Snow.

Both definitely Golden Age.

 

These "ages" seem to be less chronological and more "random groupings that Other Jabba holds a common opinion of."

 

The most offensive thing about my timeline is not equating the Golden Age with Romero's most active period.

Though I did give it some overlap. Romero made an effort to tap into the Golden Age with his latter, mostly inferior zombie output.

 

The only times I've found Zombies to be effective were both in video games.

Firstly, Half-Life 2 has the Ravenholm section, a dark and atmospheric level, with nothing but Zombies. The sense of turning a corner to discover more zombies, as you're ammo slowly runs out was a great feeling.

The other game was the Last of Us, but that was mainly due to the body horror of infected, the sudden darkness of the opening, and the way it impacts the living characters.

Both of these games didn't just use 'standard' zombies. HL2 uses Headcrab possession, and TLOU uses a fungal burst, both far more horrifying than simple walking corpses. In films, Zombies are dull, as they have no power over you. In video games, Zombie's usually imply low supplies, dark environs, and real struggles, all difficult to convey on the screen.

 

The zombie literature doesn't match up perfectly with the Golden Age of zombie movies.

The Girl with All the Gifts - superb zombie novel - also makes use of a zombie fungus that releases infecting spores.
World War Z - so much more fun than the movie and almost completely unrecognizable as the movie's source.


speaking of Girl With All the Gifts - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547056/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

holy crap! potentially the GREATEST ZOMBIE MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!

Golden Age is already back!




(!)



(!!!)

 

!!!!!!

September release date in the UK. I'm going to London if this thing doesn't get a U.S. release.

 

Dawn is great for sure.

But I think I like my zombie films to have more of that drive element, like Night of the Living Dead. There's something absolutely captivating in watching the horror of men's minds slowly fail as they try to get along and work together to survive.

For sure, most zombie films have these elements, but they can't keep up the tense atmosphere that Night had. It was pure suspense with just enough social commentary stuff that escaped unintentionally from the story to still be culturally relevant.

It's the same reason why I love Return of the Living Dead. A bunch of people brought together under terrifying circumstances trying to survive while their situation gradually worsens.

 

Kevin Hart, Will Smith, Christmas music, the Asperger-y Spider-man - Wocky why do you only like bad things?

 

Don't forget about Idle Hands



Or My Boyfriend's Back

 

There was some other ZomRomCom recently with Aubrey Plaza as the dead girlfriend and Dane DeHaan as the live boyfriend. Didn't see it.

Warm Bodies was decent, mainly saved by the performances. Also the movie that introduced me to Analeigh Tipton, an actress who really should be getting a lot more work than she is.

Girl With All the Gifts was surprisingly good. Sometimes extremely good, but it kinda goes downhill when

Spoiler

Melanie becomes just a supporting character in the ensemble. It was super good when it was just basically her perspective. Like the first time she gets the hunger; and the bit where she saves her teacher from the scavengers at the camp by just ****** going ape**** on them. And I did not care for the ending at all. Dat baby carriage tho.