The American Nightmare

The movie The American Nightmare interviews famous writers of horror films in the 1960’s and 70’s to get an inside look of their thoughts on their own movies. George Romero, the creator of the Night of the Living Dead horror films, is one of the film makers interviewed. He arguably made the modern zombie film what is today with these works. The film focuses on his own thoughts of the movie and the figure of the zombie. George Romero says that the zombie is the blue collar kind of monster because it is essentially us. The zombie is basically us undead with no emotion or thought process. His film Night of the Living Dead brought the modern zombie into popular media. He was the first to make the zombie into what we think of it today. Romero talks about how this movie was torn to shreds by critics when it was first seen, but now it is considered a classic American film. The critics also talk about how the movie was real to people back then due to its medium of black and white. Romero talks about his idea of a new society taking over the old society in a revolution that changes everything. This thought made the zombie the perfect monster in his film. The fear of our society getting taken over is a fear many had especially during those times. His film perfectly used zombies in replacement of Vietnam or white bigots of the era.
Critics also talk about how the struggles of the time are really captured in the movie. The images of the movie showed truth of the struggles that many films were not able to do. George Romero was really ahead of his time in a creating a powerful film that made a horror genre so popular even today. The American Nightmare discusses the assassinations of the time along with all of the other hardships and relates it into the horror film. The sense of fragility of the time was shown in horror films created in the 60’s and 70’s. Also the war in Vietnam was a very big part of the makers of the film. The inhuman things that happened in the war were portrayed in the horror films. These gruesome things seen in the war were recreated in their own films. In a way these movies were made to forget or transfer these horrible images of the time into a film that could be related to. Everything that was being seen in these horror films was actually going on in the world in a sense. The inhumane acts in the war were seen in the films that came out of this period. The zombie was an important figure in films because it put the blame on a non human being. This instead of what was going on in real life with people killing other people. The American Nightmare gives a good parallel between the time period and the films that come out of it.

Shaun of the Dead

'Shaun of the Dead' is a movie that really does a good job of commenting on our society as a whole, as many zombie movies do. The main recurring point brought up is how so many of us go through life simply living a 'mere life'. From the very beginning you see what is teased to be a zombie is actually just Shaun waking up in the morning. When the zombie outbreak comes to pass, Shaun and his idiotic friend Ed don't even notice anything different at first. While the way this is done is for comedic effect, it definitely is a comment on how we all walk around like zombies.

What really makes 'Shaun' such a great movie though, is how well it balances the hilarity with the drama. Shaun is in a huge personal crisis; his girlfriend, Liz, dumped him, he doesn't have any sort of career, his best friend is a free-loading imbecile, and his other roommate is the total opposite in that he is now very successful, though a total jerk. But then the zombies come, and though they kill the majority of the group Shaun and Liz are with at the end of the movie, including Shaun's mother, it is the zombies themselves that bring so much humor to the movies. From the dark humor of running someone over and not sure if it's a zombie or not, to pretending to be zombies to get to the pub, (which is among the most idiotic plans they could have come up with, I mean seriously, how can anyone think they are safe in a pub with no exits?!) to beating up a zombie to the tune of Queen, there are so many clever little moments of comedic gold.

Which makes the final stand all the more sad, as one by one, the survivors are picked off by the zombies, beginning with the heartbreaking moment with Shaun's mother. She is bitten and knows she will eventually die, as does everyone else. Shaun obviously has difficulty coming to grips with it and eventually has to shoot his zombiefied mother in the head. Tell me with a straight face that isn't straight out of your worst nightmare.

But in the end of it all, Shaun and Liz are back together, and not a huge much has changed in their lives, with the exception of how great their relationship is. It took a zombie massacre for them to realize it, but they finally figure out what's important in life.

Land of the Dead

After watching Land of the Dead I had mixed feelings. I thought there were some interesting aspects to the movie, but the zombie figure portrayed in this movie really bothered me. I thought portraying the zombie as a learning species was extremely interesting, and had a lot of potential, but it got ruined for me with the head zombie (the mechanic). He just sort of became knowledgeable for no reason and all the others just sort of mindlessly followed. The scene where they realize they can walk under water was really well done. What was more interesting, to me, was the civilization that was formed. There were a lot more survivors than the average zombie flicks lead the viewer to believe, and the class systems seemed to still be a major focus in the movie.

The zombie figure aside I thought the way Romero set up the movie was well done. By using radio broadcasts to explain what was going on is what I always prefer over a newscast over the television or word of mouth in passing somewhere in the movie. Stating that all the zombies are attacking major areas the audience then knows that the uninfected are aware of the fact that the infected are starting to learn makes you question if it is still moral to simply exterminate the infected. The antagonists in this film seem to change from the zombies in the beginning to the big wigs as the film progresses. The viewer is almost cheering for the zombies at the end of the film. Overall, I enjoyed the flick I just didn’t much like how there was a zombie leader.

Last Night On Earth

This past week in class, we have been discussing the zombie figure in media we don’t normally talk about. Basically any zombie that isn’t a book or a movie. Recently I discovered a role playing board game called Last Night On Earth. It’s a board game all about a small town being taken over by zombies. You can play with 2-6 people, and you can either take the role of survivors, the heroes trying to make it through the night, or you can assume the role of the zombies, with basically only one goal in mind: destroying the survivors. I tried the game out and it was a lot of fun. From my point of view it was simultaneously recreating a zombie movie while making fun of it. It obviously puts a lot of effort into making sure it’s like a movie. The characters, for example, are all recreations of the cliché characters that appear in not just zombie movies but all horror films. There’s the high school jock, the drifter who’s always in the wrong place at the wrong time, a sheriff who is haunted by his past, and many others. It even comes with a soundtrack to put on while you play the game, which sounded kind of ridiculous to me, so I didn't bother putting it on. I enjoyed the aspect of the game embracing the campy B movie feel a lot, but what I really enjoyed was actually playing the game. You can choose between several different scenarios that give the heroes different objectives for winning the game. For instance, one scenario makes you kill 20 zombies before the game ends. Another makes you get keys and gas to a truck so you can leave town. On a little side note, all games are over after "the sun rises" or in other words after a certain amount of turns pass. I also did a little research online and found people that made their own scenarios and characters, which makes the possibilities for this game nearly limitless. When you are the heroes, there is a great deal of tension being built as you try to gather resources (such as a crowbar or a chainsaw) for your goal while the zombie army slowly builds and creeps up on you. This one of the reasons this game works so well. Another one that goes along with that is that both sides are fun to play. While you are a human, you can live out your fantasy of trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, which means (at least for me) getting to take out as many zombies as you want. Zombies are just as fun if not more because you get to control a small army that slowly kills the enemy. There are even special circumstances for killing a hero and turning them into part of your zombie army. I also liked the aspect of not having an objective besides screwing the other player up. Strategy fans should also enjoy this game because all of your moves are based on what the other player will do, especially if you are the zombie player. There are also a good variety of different weapons, items, and events that make the combat fun and interesting on the second, third, or even tenth run through. If a role playing board sounds like a good time, then I would definitely recommend picking this one up.

Popular Zombies

Zombies unlike many other monsters have become increasingly popular throughout the years. From zombie pub crawls, books, movies, and video games zombies can be found in almost everyone’s day-to-day lives. So the question is why? I believe there isn’t one set answer but a multiplicity of reasons why they are so admired.

For some they are an escape from reality and a fulfillment of our greatest inner desires. Some desires include the idea of a post apocalyptic society in which there is little to no consequence and everything can be attained with little effort. Everyone at some point in their lives has had the fantasy of a disaster and splurging by stealing everything they’ve ever wanted. To fulfill these fantasies we watch movies, read books and play games and imagine we are in that situation.

For some the zombie however is used as a Political tool. Underlying political or social implications can be found in many of the zombie narratives that are specific to the time period in which the narrative was created. Issues such as immigration, capitalism, infection, and religion can be found in many zombie books and movies. Zombies are used as a blank slate to explain or satirize certain hot button issues.

Zombies increased popularity can’t be explained by one explanation alone. However there are many in which explain this phenomenon. The zombie is used as an ambiguous figure, or blank slate to explain or describe many different topics, subjects, or issues.

Shaun of the Dead

Oh Shaun.

Shaun of the Dead is a parody and satire of all previous zombie films, particularly the Dead series by George A. Romero. Rather than commenting on society and the government, Shaun's main conern is everyday life and the monotony of going to work, coming home, going to the bar and repeating the same story the next day. The opening scene in which the credits are shown is the most evident of this. The people are walking through the streets as zombies. The same goes for the scene in which Shaun walks to work for the first time. The scene that mirrors this exact shot is after the zombie breakout and Shaun walks to the corner store to get a soda. He takes the same route and doesn't react to anything, same as before. This films comment on society and the zombie genre are very similar. It suggests the lack of originality in our Western culture. Although this comment has been made by every person who despises the postmodern ideas surrounding us and being visualized on screens of films and television.

However, Shaun of the Dead solidifies patriarchal norms at the end of the film. The obstacles against Liz and Shaun are eliminated. Ed is a zombie, Shaun's mother dies and allows Shaun to be in a normal, heterosexual relationship with another woman, and his stepfather and romantic enemy are eliminated and allow for both people to unite with out any deviance and interference from society.

World War Z Max Brooks 105-187

The book World War Z by Max Brooks gives the scenario of a viral zombie apocalypse that takes over the entire world. The book gives an oral narration of the war against the undead and interviews survivors of the ordeal. I really enjoyed the way Max Brooks told the story through people’s personal recollections of the war. This gives the reader a great insight to what it would be like to be in this nightmarish situation. The government’s decision to bomb bridges with civilians on them to stop the zombie movement shows the fight between morals and survival. This fight between what is right and wrong is thrown out the window under the circumstances of a zombie apocalypse. Your main strategy is to do what you have to survive and keep the infected zombies from reaching here the masses of uninfected are. This raises the question of how far does the government go to save its civilians? Do they try to save everyone or just a portion? In the book it gives the example of Paul Redeker’s idea of using civilians as bait for the government and military to retreat to a safe zone to save their selves. Once in this safe zone a small portion of civilians with “desirable qualities” would be ushered in to help with labor. This idea is very scary seeing how in times of chaos ones government can turn on their own people. But in this situation it seems logical to save your highest officials and military. Without these people your whole country is even more in shambles. Saving the people with the best qualities gives hope of trying to rebuild your country once the war is over. These moral decisions are tough to make in times like that. Would these actions be justified in a zombie take over? I think saving as many people you can without giving up all of your own resources would be best. The book makes you wonder what kind of decisions you would have to make if put into this situation. You question if your morals would be diminished to enhance your own chances of survival.

Pontypool

Pontypool is a Canadian horror film directed by Bruce McDonald, adapted from a screenplay written by Tony Burgess, who also wrote Pontypool Changes Everything, the book this movie is based off of. This zombie movie takes place in a radio station in a small town in Ontario, Pontypool, where shock-jock talk radio host Grant Mazzy (played by Stephen McHattie) is shunned to because no one else will hire him anymore. Mazzy is accompanied throughout the film by his morning radio team that consists of Sydney Brair, the producer and Laurel-Ann Drummond, the technician who recently returned from Afghanistan. Sometime during the morning show, during the normal boring announcements like school cancellations, they start to get strange reports of people committing acts of the extreme violence like cannibalism and rioting around a doctor’s office. While when the radio crew first gets this news the don’t know whether to believe it and speculate that it’s an elaborate prank. The threat becomes all to real when the church that the radio station is in gets attacked by the zombies and one of the crew, Laural-Ann even gets infected. Mazzy and Sydney eventually discover that the infection is being spread through language, English in particular. From this point on the characters had to choose whether they should talk to use the radio to try and warn people or even whether they should talk to each other because of the risk of infection. They run into an infected and even stumble upon a cure. After they discover the cure (which I’m still not exactly sure what it is) the Canadian military comes and broadcasts a countdown and the films ends with Sydney kissing Mazzy at 1. This film surprised me in a couple of ways. First of all, I liked how the majority of the story takes place in the radio station. I think director McDonald does a great job of using the confined space with the talk radio atmosphere to keep the story fast paced and suspenseful. It almost seemed like a stage play to me in this way because of the small set. It also forces the audience to come up with the terrifying imagery on their own. An idea that I would have never have thought of from this movie that I think is really interesting is the idea of an infection spreading through language. It can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. For instance, I’ve read that some people think it is commenting on the English-French divide in Canada. In a broader sense I think it’s a commentary on language in general, but especially how it‘s used in Western culture. I think it’s saying language can infect our daily lives and screw things up and lead us away from our true lives, or that words have no real meaning. With an excellent lead character, a good plot, and some interesting ideas, Pontypool is a fun watch with a lot to talk about well after the credits stop rolling.

Sorry for the late post.

May is Zombie Awareness Month

http://www.zombieresearch.org/home.html

Be Aware of the Upcoming Threat

I Am Legend

Omega man and I Am Legend share common similarities that are faithful to Richard Matheson’s original novel I Am Legend. However they have distinct undertones and messages, which make them uniquely distinctive. Some of these differences include the portrayal of Robert Neville, the portrayal of the adversary Matthias, and the symbols presented.

The portray of Robert Neville in the Matheson’s version was of a man that was lonely, had psychological issues with the loss of his family, and was sexually frustrated being the last human on earth. Neville in the Novel version had psychological distresses because of the loss of his family. He had flashbacks, and suppressed memories of events that led up to the Vampire apocalypse. He wanted to dig up her grave and burry her properly, however the convention methods of burial were permitted. In the movie version featuring Will Smith it was more similar than Omega Man featuring Charlton Hesston. The Will Smith version also referenced back to the time prior to the vampire apocalypse. Unlike the novel version it seemed as though Will Smith character had more hope because it leaves the possibility that his family was still alive unlike the novel where they are dead. Furthermore in Omega man they rarely if at al reference his family previously to the incident. Additionally another similarity between the novel version and the Will Smith version was they were the last people on earth and hadn’t a partner whereas in Omega Man Neville had a partner.

The portrayal of Matthias was also distinct every version. In the Novel he provoked the Neville to come out which was somewhat similar to the Omega Man Version. However in the Omega man version there was a hierarchal society of intelligent vampires with Mathias as the leader whereas the novel had a lot of drone Vampires and Matthias as the leader. In the Will Smith version there was a leader Vampire however they had no society, or language skills. A similarity between all of the versions however is that all of the vampires had a common interest in Neville and he was seen as the “Monster” thus the title I Am Legend.

Symbols were another shared theme, which can be examined in all of the versions. Religious themes are prevalent in both the novel, and Omega Man. In the novel Religious undertones can be found in the treatment of the dead in burial rituals and in the Omega Man Hesston’s portray of Christ. In the end of the Omega Man film Hesston is sacrificed to save the population and is strung out on a statue similar to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In the movie with Will Smith it shows a similar symbol to the Omega Man when Neville sacrifices himself and blows himself up with a grenade. Furthermore in the ending credits they play the song redemption song.

The comparison between all of these versions helps illustrate the greater meaning of the story. With a blend of all of these versions we get a better understanding of Neville, and the situation in which he was placed. It also illustrates three different ways in which a person can survive mentally and physically in the event of disaster. While doing the comparisons I could pull out a commonality that pull the stories together. Neville in I Am Legend, and Omega Man shows the feet’s a person will go through to survive and further the survival of mankind.