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Zombieland - An appreciation of the walking dead in popular movies
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Shotguns and chainsaws - Zombieland comes out October 2nd
Since the onset of one of the first modern zombie movies in 1968, George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, zombies have appeared in many aspects of popular culture. They came to devour the living in horror films, comedies, literature, and video games. Heck, there’s even a community college course advertised on the Internet called Zombies in Popular Media. I wonder if the midterm is hard. So, with the upcoming Woody Harrelson comedy Zombieland (here’s a link to the trailer) arriving in theaters on October 2nd, I thought we would take a look at the zombie and try to figure out why they’re so much fun to watch.
Popular zombie movies include Night of the Living Dead and its sequel, Dawn of the Dead (which Zack Snyder remade in 2004), Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and its sequel 28 Weeks Later, the comedy Shaun of the Dead, and the game-to-movie Resident Evil series. That’s a lot of zombie action, and that’s not even mentioning every other low-budget B movies out there. For a full list of zombie movies, check out this Wikipedia article.
So why are they so popular? Why are they so much fun?
- Because as villains, they are—with the possible exception of Nazis—the easiest to destroy in onscreen carnage.
- Zombies provide interesting moral dilemmas in narratives. “Oh no, my best friend has been bitten by a zombie. Do I risk my own life and let him live or do I smash his head with a baseball bat right now before he turns?” I don’t know about you, but I call that great drama.
- Zombies are dumb. Though deadly, zombies are slow moving and dimwitted, which only makes their disposal that much easier. EXCEPTION: The zombies in 28 Days Later have superhuman speed and seem to actually have the capacity for minimal thought. Those are freaky.
- Zombies seem to inspire creativity. Though not a movie, the video game Half-Life 2 features a variety of traps and tools to slice, burn, and smash zombies. One trap utilizes rotary saw blades. Another features falling cars. In the film 28 Weeks Later, a helicopter pilot uses the rotor blades to wipe out a swarm of zombies in a field.
Those are just a few reasons. Sound off in the comments section below, and tell us why you think zombies are so much fun. While you’re thinking of that, check out the trailer above for Zombieland, starring Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, Jessie Eisenberg, and Emma Stone, arriving in theaters on October 2nd.
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