Zombies Part II

Part II - MORE ZOMBIES

[i.e a bunch of ramblings about zombie media I wrote April this year.]

Return of the Living Dead (1985)

I would like to mention Return of the Living Dead for a moment. Return of the Living Dead is a really solid movie although it's sort of just its own thing which uses Night of the Living Dead (1968) as a vague backdrop for it. Basically what happens is that there's a medical warehouse containing cadavers and all of these cool dead things inside of it, but also something that's shown is a military experiment where a chemical was used to resurrect the dead - explained in somewhat dubious detail that "In 1969, this all happened. Due to a mishap, they shipped those bodies here. They had to change some of the details in the movie or else the guy who made it would be in real trouble."

Anyway, so the whole movie is like somehow both extremely funny but horrifying all at once, and it just kind of works with this energy where people just have literally no idea how to handle the impending zombie outbreak and how things escalate. A lot of this movie is composed of that tension that people try to do things to in some way solve the problem, we follow-through with the logic of it all and it winds up backfiring. That, and it's also an extremely 80s movie with punks who come up at one point and intersect with these warehouse employees. The main character, Freddy, is both of these things, just working at this place because he sees dead things and it appeals to him.

But it's also just kind of a summary of like 1980s nuclear paranoia tensions and just about mistrust in people who are in charge of things, dealing with things that they just do not have a grasp of whatsoever. Also just the way zombies are depicted in this movie. Every single component of a zombie, whether dismembered or not, as animated and alive - they're also quite intelligent, very rotting and mutilated, can talk and converse (literally used to manipulate people a bunch of times in the movie) and what's more is that they also specifically only eat brains (where that concept was originated from honestly.) In one scene they literally do describe why zombies eat brains and it's revealed that it's literally just a thing they do to temporarily relieve the pain of rotting away and what not, which is like god, really gross body horror stuff. Not to mention that we also literally have two characters who, it's revealed, are actually dead and are undergoing the zombification process.

People badly screw up in this movie in very stupid ways, yet like it's all intelligently written enough that we are still sympathetic with the characters and also just how a lot of the errors made are things that would probably be reasonable given the stress of the situation and what not. It's something. Also had a bunch of semi-related sequels which I haven't seen, except from Part III which I thought was interesting. Part III is less of a horror-comedy but does have a campy vibe to it, centres around a Romeo & Juliet like love situation between a young man and his now zombified girlfriend and a father who works with zombies as a military weapon and what not. In one such scene the young man is shown his girlfriend and someone aggrandisingly refers to her as "you're looking at the future kid." or something like that. It's clunky but does kind of work for what it is. Also zombies in Part III can infect people through bites unlike the first movie, for some reason. Return's sequels honestly have that sort of feeling like they're fan-fictions of the first one, to be honest.

Zombi 2 (1979)

Also of note is Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2, which I actually think is a pretty good, very distinctive film from Dawn of the Dead. Zombi 2 of course was made as this unofficial Italian-made sequel to Dawn of the Dead, which was referred to in Italy as "Zombi" and often was just kind of seen as its own seperate entry from Dawn of the Dead. Then there were various Zombi 3s and Zombi 4s and what not. Zombi 3 tends to be the 1988 Italian horror film that Fulci did with Bruno Mattei, while Zombi 4 tends to be the 1989 film After Death, and yeah. Part of what I do really like about Zombi 2 though comes from its atmosphere and the characters, which I think really just overshadows anything that movie has in the way of dubbing, inexplicable plot developments and writing and so forth.

There is definitely something distinctive about Zombi 2 compared to Dawn of the Dead. The violence and gore is way grislier and it lingers on it so much more, and also it just kind of feels like something out of a nightmare. That, and I love Fabio Frizzi's soundtrack which is just so evocative and adds another creepy layer to this movie, but what's more is that I really just like how it manages to make something quite creepy and unnatural out of its desert island setting. The zombie designs in this movie are so iconic as well, that I think people who have not seen this movie would recognise them. Zombie Stephen from Dawn of the Dead and the worm-eyed zombie from Zombi 2 are basically the go-to reference points of what a good zombie looks like on film. That, and there's also just something about the zombies that, in this one, literally just do not resemble humans at all. Unlike Dawn, nothing really remains in terms of their humanity and they just feel like lifeless husks, either unnaturally dry with skin like stretched leather, or they feel just unnaturally damp, like gore and viscera would just be dripping off of their bodies.

I think that also is kind of why this movie is so memorable. It's mainly in terms of its images and how it plays with the zombie concept and so many things are pretty unforgettable about this movie. Zombi 3 is pretty stupid but it does kind of benefit from Fulci's sporadic direction which also has ridiculous plot developments, and then there's also Zombi 4 which is kind of just a showcase of what Claudio Fragasso's work (who also did Troll 2) is really all about, which is like when you do a horror movie but then everything about the way the movie develops and escalates it just totally absurd and nonsensical. I kind of have a soft-spot for Zombi 3/4 despite knowing that they're just not good movies at all. They're like dumb horror movies you stick on in front of your friends to riff at, honestly.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Have said a lot about this film but it is basically just what happens if Dawn of the Dead was set in Britain instead, and instead of American consumerism taking the backdrop, we instead have British buorgeoisie values taking hold instead, which I actually think is quite compelling. Certainly does not copy Dawn of the Dead and it takes a lot from so many other different zombie films, but I also really liked how this film has some genuinely inventive and unique filmmaking, as well as just having this perfect horror-comedy atmosphere to it. Very funny but then at the same time the horrific circumstances sneak up on you, and I guess that's what really makes this movie quite effective. Hot Fuzz (2007) is slightly better than Shaun of the Dead, in my view.

Also does kind of have the same sort of morals as Day of the Dead, where it ultimately culminates in futile circumstances but is kind of just about Shaun "trying to perservere, making a good attempt with it." and the ending to this was surprisingly resonant with me for whatever reason. Did like the satire in this as well but I think it hits way more closer to home as being very British compare to the very American Dawn of the Dead.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

I liked this film but literally it only shares a few moments and backdrop as the 1978 version, but I think it's just way more focused on being an action film rather than anything else. Zombies in this movie sprint after people and it does kind of open with this "unexplained epidemic of sick people following bites" and seems more towards Hollywood crowdpleaser sensibilities than the '78 version. Gone are a lot of the satirical elements, but it definitely does have them, just where it's a bit shallower and way less subtler than the original, like really where you just have people speculating on why the apocalypse has happened, and these self-serving explanations that fill in the inexplicable. Also what's weird is that it is treated like a "viral outbreak" but the zombies in this are very explicitly dead people.

"Death is not an energy drink." - Simon Pegg on the slow zombies in Shaun of the Dead (2004)

But yeah, I think this version is something you'd probably like if you went in with different expectations and if anything else, this movie does constantly move forward and does so at such a brisk pace. Another thing is that I think there's definitely way more tensions that result from a lack of co-operation compared to the first movie, notably with a pregnant woman who becomes infected and a subsequent Mexican stand-off, or a survivor who is discovered to have been bitten, then people start bickering about whether or not that will kill him and not. Ending to this movie with the fortified buses is quite cool though, to be honest.

Cemetery Man (1994)

Mad, mad fucking movie, but also just a perfect combination of macabre humour that just seems to bounce off of this wild existential trip where it does genuinely feel like you're going insane watching it. Guy runs a cemetery and shoots the undead when they rise, but also falls in love with this girl, and then she dies, then he falls in love with various dopplegangers afterwards. Kind of an impossible movie to put to words but it all really works with its surrealist logic - seems to dig at these deeper themes with regards to love, intimacy and devastating mirror images of that with imposition and impotency, but it's also just a cool movie where gory set pieces happen alongside surrealistic slapstick comedy gags like out of Monty Python or something. 

Mentioning this one because it is one of my favourite zombie movies but also very unique in what it does. Rupert Everett gives one of the best performances to have ever graces the silver screen in this one. Also is extremely Italian.

Demons (1985)

Another one that's uh, sort of features zombies in them. The thing is that zombie movies do just tend to feature the idea of "survivors" and people who are "infected" or "corrupted with some influence" and this one decides to take that on with demonic possession that is transferred either by scratching someone or through expulsion of bodily fluids. Takes place in a cinema where, of course, the movie plays the exact plot of what the survivors go through, and it all weirdly works for what it is. Literally no explanation is given as to what causes the demon infestation and characters just keep banking on things that make sense to them, but also wind up proving to be just wrong or ineffective a the end of the day. Gets a whole lot of mileage just out of memorable characters and grotesque transformation and kill sequences. Sort of deserves to be watched with someone doing an elaborate William Castle-esque gimmick of implying that "the demons are now crawling in your theatre as well."

"JUST LIKE IN THE DAMN MOVIE!" - See, meta-reflexive stuff. People just operating off of things they've seen in movies and what not.

28 Days Later (2002)

THE FILM THAT REINVENTED THE ZOMBIE GENRE WITH FAST-MOVING ZOMBIES, RAGE VIRUS THAT TAKES OVER VICTIMS WITHIN A MATTER OF SECONDS!

Yeah, uh, I do like this film quite a lot though. Basically just takes the format of a road movie where these survivors go on an adventure, trying to survive a zombie outbreak. Except it's talked about in obfuscated terms like "THESE MONKEYS ARE INFECTED WITH RAGE!" and where it did kind of refer to them as "infected" rather than zombies. Zombies in this movie aren't even undead but alive humans who have been infected by a combat virus, and it's basically to make all the dealings with the zombies to be way more imperative. That, and also probably is notable for the opening scene with a desolated London where everything is empty, and it does go into this tone where, when the zombies aren't around, basically the survivors are exploring a ghost town where all the services are down. Really liked the bit part-way through the film where the survivors shop at an abandoned supermarket (explicit homage to Dawn of the Dead), and all the different components of how the survivors cope with the apocalypse, both physically and mentally.

Also notable for being shot digitally which was chosen largely to make quick set-ups to scenes and because it had a "harsh" quality to it which contrasted with the post-apocalyptic landscape. Ending scene is shot in 35mm so if you watch this movie on Blu-Ray, there is such a jarring contrast with it, but the bulk of this movie never really exceeds 576i quality - probably one of the most ideal movies to watch on an old CRT TV, to be honest, or as a (totally legally sourced) 700MB mp4 to play on your laptop. Those bits in the military compound are so creepy though and just kind of a good example of like imposing masculine structures that make way for a culture of bullying and sexual abuse whenever women get involved, and this movie can go from relatively calm and melancholic into fucking harsh and in-your-face tense in a moment's notice. Is sort of why this movie really works, in my view. I also definitely think this movie is what I'd probably describe as being "beautifully ugly" or something. Looks like shit but at the same time there's something very appealing about that when you're watching it.

Would mention that I think this is a movie that does point to a specific cause of the zombie outbreak rather than speculative ones, which isn't entirely uncommon with the genre. Romero films are like that for sure, but then movies like The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974) posit the outbreak as being caused by an experimental pesticide, I Drink Your Blood (1971) uses a rabies outbreak for its zombies and so forth, Rec (2007) has demonic possession that spreads through bites, the Resident Evil games use an experimental 'T-virus' to explain its zombies and so forth. Causes of a zombie outbreak are kind of weird, but the rage virus is mainly through fluid transmission basically. Early in the film a character suffers an open wound that is splashed with infected blood, one character is infected with a single drop of blood that hits their eye and so forth. Emphasises that it's a highly contagious virus, while the Romero Dead films had it so everyone rose back as the undead and that bites just made you terminally ill and killed you within three days.

(I hated 28 Weeks Later, lol. Sorry. Opening sequence of that movie and Robert Carlyle's performance in that is quite good though, but I just didn't vibe with it, to be honest.)

Zombie Video Games

I've outright stated that Dawn of the Dead (1978) really does feel like the basis of a video game adaptation. Of course there was the 1986 game Zombi as well as the Dead Rising series, both of which centred around the zombie apocalypse happening around an abandoned shopping mall. The Resident Evil series was very much inspired by Romero films, up to and including prospects of George Romero himself directing Resident Evil films before being replaced by Paul W.S. Anderson. Romero himself did direct a Japanese ad for Resident Evil 2 starring Adrienne Frantz and Brad Renfro as Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy respectively which I thought was interesting. Zombie games in general really do seem quite varied in terms of what they do. For instance, Resident Evil took place in a mansion, Resident Evil 2 took place in a police station, Resident Evil 3 took place on the streets of Racoon City and so forth, and I do think the Resident Evil series was what largely kicked off the resurgence of zombie media all over again. Heck, Resident Evil and the Romero Dead films were what largely inspired Alex Garland to write 28 Days Later, and also uh, the episode of Spaced titled 'Art' where Simon Pegg's character plays so much Resident Evil in a drug-infused state that he winds up hallucinating a zombie apocalypse that plays out in his mind. That episode also inspired Shaun of the Dead, which features him just barely cognisant of the zombie apocalypse up until it actually becomes an unmistakable problem. Kind of interesting, to be honest.

Lots of games do technically feature zombies in them but I gather people wouldn't say that stuff like, uh, Thief: The Dark Project, Planescape: Torment, Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls games etc. aren't what you think of when you think "zombie" games despite zombies being featured in them. Heck, uh System Shock 2 technically features zombies in the form of "hybrids" and I think the whole thing with "zombies" is that they are just kind of an ideal video game enemy. Only except I think they do kind of have to nerf the whole, uh, one bite/scratch from a zombie means certain doom, evident in stuff like Resident Evil or Dead Rising. Of course, in cutscenes that's totally different because that's when that rule really does seem to apply, but your character being bitten in gameplay tends to just take down your health a bit rather than condemning your character to certain doom. The Resident Evil movies do the exact opposite of that and god. Some games do have an infection mechanic running with them, notably Resident Evil: Outbreak, No More Room in Hell and Project Zomboid where infection will inevitably kill your character and basically just cuts away at the time you can complete a level (or in Project Zomboid's case where, since it's a sandbox, your character will inevitably die and return.) The Last of Us just has it so that if your character is bitten by the mushroom zombies then it's an instant game-over.

But yeah, it's kind of interesting because most games really do seem to have it that your character is somehow just averse to the rules that typically govern zombies, like the Left 4 Dead games seem to have it so that your characters are either immune to the virus or that they're "carriers" who "inexplicably wind up infecting the helicopter pilot who rescues them" and so forth. Call of Duty: World at War was so fascinating because it had this secret level you unlocked where you completed the game called "Nacht der Untoten" and (if you don't understand German) you read it and you're like "Wait, what could this level be?" and then it's like "Nazi Zombies" and it turns into basically this defence game where you fight off against literally endless hordes of the undead. You will die but also you will put up a fight before that, is basically just the motto of that mode. Red Dead Redemption had the "Undead Nightmare" add-on that takes place during the middle of the game and also plays with events in a way that's totally not canon to the base game's story, and very speculative but it also kind of ruled. And yeah, there was a time during the late 2000s/early 2010s where zombie games were pretty much everywhere. It, dare I say, really infected the video game market. There's definitely a type of person who knows zombies way more from video games than they do movies for sure.

But yeah, literally all of this started with George A. Romero's films and it just seemed to have taken on such a life of its own after that.