I love Zombieland. I can watch that movie several times in a row without getting bored. I also love the little things about it. I love how Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) loves Twinkies. What’s not to love about a zombie slaying Twinkie lover who just as well bash the brains of the undead than have a civilized conversation? Have I overused the word love yet? That’s why for today’s Monday Mayhem series I want to write about the Zombieland rules. Do you know what they are? Have you ever heard of them? If not, you’re in luck. Have a gander below to find out what they are.
Rule #1—Cardio: Do you want to survive the zombie apocalypse? Get in shape. Zombies nowadays are speed demons. They can dash from one side of a football field to another in seconds. Best keeping one step ahead of them than finding yourself served as the main course to a zombie buffet. No one wants that.
Rule #2—Double Tap: Here’s how this works, one of the undead races towards you and you blast it in the head. Don’t be cheap. Unload another bullet in their rotting corpse for insurance. You’ll never know you killed it unless its jaws lock on your jugular. By that time, it’ll be too late. Use another bullet. You’ll be glad you did.
Rule #3—Beware of Bathrooms: One thing’s for sure, when a zombie’s after you, you don’t want to have your pants down. Avoid bathrooms. Toilets kill. Zombies can smell you a mile away. You want privacy? Get lost in the woods with a small shovel. Once you’re done, pile the dirt and disappear. You don’t want that stuff getting on your shoes to have a horde after you because of improper waste management.
Rule #4—Seatbelts: If anything’s certain during the zombie apocalypse, you’ll be running hard. The second point of certainty is you’ll be driving fast. You’ll always want to have your seatbelt firmly secured around your waist. The highways will have obstacles everywhere and if you should so hit one of these obstacles, you’ll be taking a header through the windshield on to the highway ahead. Always wear your seatbelt.
Rule #7—Travel Light: Do you think you’ll have time to pack your bags and hit the road when zombies are knocking at your door? Of course not. You won’t have enough time to think, let alone pack. Much like an expectant mother, it would be a good idea to keep a knapsack prepped either at the foot of the door or the window. You’ll want to carry guns, knives, bullets—you know—the essentials. Rope will come in handy, too. But the reality is once the zombies spot you and chase you, you’ll have little else to do than run. You can’t run fast if you’re packing heavy.
Rule #11—Check the Back Seat: Have you ever seen those Horror flicks where the girl dives into the driver’s seat of her car after having ran a mile from an unknown entity? Can you tell me what happens next? Right, someone or something hops from the back seat and makes her into a side serving for lunch. Always, always check the back seat of your car.
Rule #16—Limber Up: The worst thing that can happen to you when running as fast as you can from those maggot bags is pulling a muscle ten feet into your escape plan. How could it happen in the first place? You didn’t limber up. You see, during the apocalypse, you won’t have time to fall on your backside because you’ll be too busy running. You’ll need to keep in shape if you’re to avoid the dreaded mandibles of the undead latching on to your leg. While you’re doing other things, throw in a few jumping jacks. Better still, toss in several pushups. After all, a limber human is a saved human.
Rule #17—Don’t be a Hero: Everyone loves a hero, but how great is a hero if said hero ends up as a meal? Let’s admit it, pulling the trigger on a zombie and watching its brains splatter against the wall is fun. And if you save someone in the process, it’s a thrill. However, if it’s you against them and you have nothing to gain, better save your ammo and run. Those few seconds contemplating how glorious zombie brains would look all over the dash could have gone to better use like, hightailing it out of there while you still have your life in your hands. Always run.
Rule #32—Enjoy the Little Things: Remember your first crush? Remember how it felt learning you’d passed your worst subject in school by the skin on your nose? Remember your first Twinkie? In the hustle and bustle of a killing the undead, we’ll tend to forget the little things that make life special. Take a moment between kills to reminisce about life’s little wonders, about the beauty that was and the joy you gain when thinking of the simple things. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll also find the last Twinkie on earth and know what I mean.
What are the official Zombieland rules? Where can I find them?
Looking to God 
This movie is one of my favorites. But you already knew that. And since we’re on the topic of zombies (when are we not on the topic of zombies??) have you been keeping up on The Walking Dead? Because it’s crazy and I need someone to understand my angst over the fact that there’s only one episode left in the season and it’s nowhere near enough time to wrap up all the crazy loose ends.
Agreed! TWD has been driving me nuts. There’s no way the writers will give us all the answers. No way. Not to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it, but–ok, I’m not going to mention the one thing I’m hoping they’d wrap up. It’s just too good. You said, angst? Yes, that’s what I feel at the moment–angst. I need resolution now!
Ha! Ha! Love the movie and your tips. Your seatbelt rule should be made into a safety commercial.
Thanks, Shelley! The scene in the movie would be the best commercial extolling the benefits of seat belt wearing. Nothing quite compares to the visual depicted in the film!
I love the quest for the Twinkie. I have a feeling it a quest would be the one thing that keeps one a little bit sane while everything is gone crazy.
Loved the film and your rules.
Hi Jack
I quite like Zombieland – it’s approach to survival rules makes it different to the usual gore fest. My favourite is still ‘Land of The Dead’
David
Love that film 😀
absolute amazing movie, Bless
Well, gee, Jack. 🙂 These just sound like common survival rules. (Okay, when you’re raised by a law enforcement officer, anyway…)
Zombieland is one of my favorite zombie apocalypse movies. Irreverent, and funny with enough thought-provoking scenes to keep me entertained. Bill Murray’s character was a surprise and a character stereotype that I had never considered.
Oh, yeah, my husband and I quote the rules to each other all the time 🙂 It’s a fun movie.
The TV Series recently debuted on Amazon for Free. Here’s a link where they fill in a few more, but I don’t think all 33 Rules have been mentioned: http://www.horror-movies.ca/32-rules-zombieland/
I’ll check out the series but I heard it didn’t do too well. I know the movie mentioned the ones I’d listed, and there may be one more I hadn’t written about. And yeah, I wanted to initially use the ones in the link you provided, but then I realized the order was different from the film. I wanted to remain faithful to the film.
I heard the same thing about the series. I’m still hoping they do a sequel with the original cast.
A sequel would be good, but then the group would have a different dynamic considering it would be five years later and the youngest one would be a teen, while Emma Stone’s character, Wichita would be a woman. Not sure how that would work.
I’ll be happy as long as Tallahassee is still crazy and hunting for a Twinkie. I’m rather simple.
I haven’t seen this one Jack, but great rules! 🙂
Like music, movie and book likes and dislikes are subjective. I personally think this is one of the worst films ever made. The script is lackluster. This could be because the editing was shoddy. It was not tight enough. If you view it again, watch closely, and they could snip and cut so many seconds out of each scene — make it fast paced, etc.