Welcome back to Monday Mayhem. If you haven’t read my intro to the series, you can search for it on my site with the keywords Monday Mayhem or you can click on the Monday Mayhem link at the top of this post. Simple, huh?
Now that the Mayan silliness—ahem—apocalypse is out of the way, let’s talk about something worth talking about: Zooooooombies. Yep, those green critters everyone loves to run away from whenever a biological disaster hits. Zombies. Specifically, let’s talk about what they look like, ‘cause a number of films have interpreted their own versions of the grotesque creatures.
Since I wrote about I Am Legend last week, I thought I’d start with them. According to tradition, zombies are the walking dead. Some call them the undead. They walk back and forth on the earth seeking of whom they may devour. They have a “drag” to their pace. Like this: Step-drag, step-drag-drag, step-drag. Okay, I made that up. Yes, they walk slow. In the movie I Am Legend however, they are speed freaks. They run fast, hit hard and eat with intensity. Some have said they really aren’t zombies at all but vampires, due to their sensitivity to light and their penchant for going for the jugular.
My thoughts? Vampires turn into vampires when bitten by other vampires. The creatures in this movie become zombies after a medical procedure goes awry (the typical method of zombie propagation).
How about the creatures in other movies? How about the beasts in 28 Days Later, Resident Evil and Dawn of the Dead? Oh, and the TV show The Walking Dead? Well, those are your standard, cookie-cutter zombies. Their flesh hangs off their bones, eyes white, and they possess the trademark drag. Those creatures also maintain their pleasant countenance by walking around with torn, often shredded clothes. Of course, let’s not forget the scabs. They sport various scabs throughout their bodies as a testament to their zombiehood.
You really don’t want me to describe scabs in detail, do you?
Then you have your funny zombies. The zombies you find in Shaun of the Dead for instance. These monsters border on stupidity. Most of the time, they stand around while their food—human—disappears. In one scene, Shaun acts as a tour guide/director giving the hoard directions to follow him, since he is good to eat, all the while helping his friends escape.
And how can we forget Zombieland? Bill Murray plays one of the undead. I’m not getting into the specifics with this movie. It is one of my favorite and it would be a shame if I spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it. Suffice it to say: Watch it.
The last movie I’d like to mention, which may seem odd to describe as a zombie movie, is The Crazies. The beings in this film harbor a mysterious element to their personalities that propels them to behave irrationally. Some critics may not consider them typical zombies in the strictest sense, given they don’t eat flesh, talk, and are not dead. But when faced with one of these blank staring individuals, I assure you, they function as true blood zombies. These are the most interesting of the species. No one knows who they are and the survivors travel with suspicion.
There you have it, a description of the most popular zombies to walk the planet in search of human delicacies.
Did I forget any of them? Have you seen any movie I missed describing the type of zombie? If you have, go ahead and comment. I’m interested in what you have to say.
Looking to God 
Zombies dude… woah!
I love zombies AND vampires. I love True Blood but this last season was sooo weird. What are some good zombie books?
Have you read World War Z by Max Brooks? It’s on my to-read shelf. It’s tagged as an oral history of the zombie war. Here’s the book description: The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet.
I can’t wait to dive in myself!
I have not heard of that one, but I just added it to my Goodreads Want To Read list. I’m pretty sure I just saw a movie trailer on TV for this with Brad Pitt. I found myself glued to the TV while watching it. I’m going to try and read the book first since the books are usually better than the movie. Thank you for the tip!
when the 2012 scare was filling up the media with so many scenarios about how we were going to get smoked in the giant cosmic huka; ZOMBIES were the most ridiculous of all the speculations out there…at least until i tuned into Discovery Channels “Zombie Apocalypse” and they spoke of the real danger of a “zombie-like” pandemic. There are animal testing facilities across the U.S., the biggest one being in the center of the U.S. (Manhattan, KS). if there was a scenario like in “28 Days” at that facility, and a mutant strain of “mad cow” got out into the populace…we’re toast. as if i weren’t paranoid enough. haa!
but no worries…i have my sling shot and several rounds of marbles to protect myself with.
You’re absolutely right. So much goes on we don’t know about. The 28 Days Later scenario is the scariest. I’m wondering what would happen if it does happen. Take a look at the SARS epidemic; no one was ready for that. Hospitals were at capacity and law enforcement had to be called in for aid. In Asia, the population wore masks to prevent the spread. Could I imagine if such a thing became reality with a more brutal form of contagion? Chills run up and down my spine thinking about it.
that “mutant strain” of mad cow they said they have at that facility will turn the front part of a human brain to mush so we would just run on instinct.
there were birds eating insects off the animals that were housed outside, and they were picking things out of the animals feces. i’m thinking…hmmm, my cat just dragged a bird to the doorstep…
The frontal lobe turning into mush? Okay, now I think I need a vacation in the middle of the ocean somewhere. Where did Tom Hanks end up shipwrecked in Castaway? Those marbles you’re sporting around will come in handy!
i would have blown off the report had it not been from Harvard Scientists who are studying pandemics. otherwise the other nutjobs on there were kinda “hooey”.
i have plenty of friends who love guns…i’m heading there as soon as it hits the fan…