I'm overanalyzing a zombie movie

[agidol]

I watched the latest zombie movie called the Land of the dead. well, zombie movie is a zombie movie and i wasn't expecting any Academy caliber acting but I just had two questions.. with one being a question toward all zombie movies.

1. In this movie, folks fight over (or try to kill over) money (actual dollar bill). Huh???? what is money worth in this world. I can understand food, fuel, or ammunition but money??? In a small fortified city of thousand (maybe?), is cash really honored??? Like if Greenspan zombie will bite you if you choose to barter instead of using currency...

2. More silly question toward zombie movies in general. If zombies eat humans for food -- who gets to be zombie and who gets to be food? I mean if you eat them up completely..then there are no new zombies right? Yet, I see zombies with they body almost fully intact in most cases (well they must have been attacked to be eaten when they turned into zombie so....I guess zombies left these guys alone after just one bite???)

I know these are silly questions but I was kind of curious as to how other people think about this -- especially question #2. I know...I have too much time in my hand.

[L.J.]

I watched the latest zombie movie called the Land of the dead. well, zombie movie is a zombie movie and i wasn't expecting any Academy caliber acting but I just had two questions.. with one being a question toward all zombie movies.

1. In this movie, folks fight over (or try to kill over) money (actual dollar bill). Huh???? what is money worth in this world. I can understand food, fuel, or ammunition but money??? In a small fortified city of thousand (maybe?), is cash really honored??? Like if Greenspan zombie will bite you if you choose to barter instead of using currency...

2. More silly question toward zombie movies in general. If zombies eat humans for food -- who gets to be zombie and who gets to be food? I mean if you eat them up completely..then there are no new zombies right? Yet, I see zombies with they body almost fully intact in most cases (well they must have been attacked to be eaten when they turned into zombie so....I guess zombies left these guys alone after just one bite???)

I know these are silly questions but I was kind of curious as to how other people think about this -- especially question #2. I know...I have too much time in my hand.


HUH! :confused:

[Smokey]

2. More silly question toward zombie movies in general. If zombies eat humans for food -- who gets to be zombie and who gets to be food? I mean if you eat them up completely..then there are no new zombies right? Yet, I see zombies with they body almost fully intact in most cases (well they must have been attacked to be eaten when they turned into zombie so....I guess zombies left these guys alone after just one bite???)

In most Zombie movies, the initial zombies coming out ogf grave were created by some type of chemical spill. So most of them have their parts intact. But you are right that if more dead come out of graves than available live human being, then we will definitely have a problem :D

[GMichael]

Why is it that physically normal people can not out-run and get away from slow moving zombies to begin with?

[L.J.]

Why is it that physically normal people can not out-run and get away from slow moving zombies to begin with?

Well then we wouldn't have much of a movie. I was watching some cheese flick last night, and the zombies are walking(with a bad limp I might add) toward this dude and he's just standing there screaming. You will have a hard time running though, if they're everywhere. Seems like all a person needs to do is climb on a roof or in a high tree. But then again, if people don't get there brains sucked out, no sense in watching, right?

[Smokey]

Seems like all a person needs to do is climb on a roof or in a high tree. But then again, if people don't get there brains sucked out, no sense in watching, right?

It is just like in most horror movies, a lonely girl in her night gown hear a noise in the dark, and she have to investigate it knowing full well she was warned earlier that a killer might be on the loose :)

[L.J.]

It is just like in most horror movies, a lonely girl in her night gown hear a noise in the dark, and she have to investigate it knowing full well she was warned earlier that a killer might be on the loose :)

Let's not forget about that car stalling out on ya. Darn, I knew I shoulda got a that tune up!

[Defshep]

I loved 28 Days Later, the remake of Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil, even Shaun of the Dead, but I just couldn't get into this one. Fell asleep.

[RGA]

This may help http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19790504/REVIEWS/905040301/1023

As for money - This is the fourth Romero Zombie film and all four are linked somewhat together. Society is rebuilding in Land of the Dead and they have created a a multi-class city (like it is in the United States today) and thus money is the seperator.

Romero films are allegories of the current times and Romero has crafted a film where the zombies (=third world country citizenry) are kept out of the RICH Fiddler's Green (US upper class). The fodder (the military) is sent out into zombie land to do all of the work to keep the fat cats sipping their wine and living well.

Only Land of the Dead is a bit of a warning that the zombies are getting smarter and learn to attack better and not become so mesmerized by the glitz and glamour of the American Dream (the third world citizenry and possibly terrorists) and if you keep acting like overstuffed pigs only caring about money over building a true community then the Zombies (terrorists et al are gonna hunt you down).

Zombies attack in sheer numbers and you can't run from sheer numbers. Their side gets bigger and bigger as people die and the living sooner or later will succumb. Gee another allegory of the rich and poor divide in society.

Land of the Dead has the idea but not uite the follow through of Dawn of the Dead which was an allegory on Consumerism devouring our souls...Dawn of the Dead (1979) not the solid but thin action remake, is the most intelligent horror film I've ever seen and one of the smartest regardless of genre.

[agtpunx40]

In most movies, it seems that people become zombies if they are bitten but then get away or survive somehow long enough to become zombies themselves. As RGA said, Romero movies are pretty different than most other zombie movies. While I like a good mindless zombie movie, Romero movies really are at least as much commentary as zombie. These movies are meant to be examined. As I posted in a previous thread, I think that as zombie movies change through the years, it's interesting to see what people see as scary. The most obvious example is the move from slow moving hordes of zombies during the middle and end of the cold war (fear of soviet hordes) to the popularity of fast crazy zombies who do an incredible amount of damage on their own to the group (suicide bombers anyone). Of course, as RGA once again pointed out, there are often other meanings behind the zombie hordes, ie consumerism, rising masses, etc, but I think this basic shift in the method of expressing that fear is interesting.

[Kam]

interesting points. not sure if its the case, but have grindhouse horror movies made a resurgance? or are they more prolific now then before? not sure how many movies of this genre have been around in the past with Last House on the Left being the main notable one i know of (historically). not a huge fan of this sub-genre anyway, and while i love horror movies, these types i actually cant stand. but personally love the supernatural horror movies (the omen, halloween, 6th sense, shining, exorcist).

this would be an interesting commentary on what is found to be scary. if people are no longer scared by the supernatural type of movies, but are only scared of these 'real life' scenarios of horror: the human on human horror vs. monster/spirits on human horror. with movies like chaos, wolf creek, hostel, etc. in the past year showing more and more violent and graphic depictions of violence when its just the "simple" story of kids caught in the wrong place/time and by the wrong family/group. the horror in the disgusting acts committed by "people" on their fellow humans and just how far and graphic and disgusting they can get. is this the new state of horror?

although maybe not, i guess the ring has been the biggest boxoffice success in the horror genre in recent history, (and they're remaking all the classics all the way back to the cabinet of dr. caligari) so maybe the supernatural is still what scares the general public more than anything else? that's the wishy-washiest back and forth post i've ever done i think.

[noddin0ff]

yummmmmy, brains.

[GMichael]

yummmmmy, brains.

It makes the pain go away.
Pain? What pain?
The pain of being dead.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

yummmmmy, brains.

They're great with Cheerios and toast!!

[GMichael]

They're great with Cheerios and toast!!

Do you chop them up and throw them in the Cheerios or spread them on the toast?

[agtpunx40]

Interesting points Kam, I wasn't talking about the natural scary v supernatural, but that is another aspect that changes over time. It sort of goes in and out. It seems like someone comes out with a really good scary movie from one genre or the other that gets popular (or a really bad one that gets popular) and you end up with some copycats and remakes. It would definatly be interesting to really go into these shifts in the popularity of scary movies. If I were still in college and majored in film studies, I would write a thesis on that.

PS
Brains for dinner
brains for lunch
brains for breakfast
brains for lunch
brains at every single meal
why can't we get some guts?

Brains is all we ever get in this rotten _________ place
brains is all we ever get why can't we have a change of pace

[Kam]

Interesting points Kam, I wasn't talking about the natural scary v supernatural, but that is another aspect that changes over time. It sort of goes in and out. It seems like someone comes out with a really good scary movie from one genre or the other that gets popular (or a really bad one that gets popular) and you end up with some copycats and remakes. It would definatly be interesting to really go into these shifts in the popularity of scary movies. If I were still in college and majored in film studies, I would write a thesis on that.

PS
Brains for dinner
brains for lunch
brains for breakfast
brains for lunch
brains at every single meal
why can't we get some guts?

Brains is all we ever get in this rotten _________ place
brains is all we ever get why can't we have a change of pace

i've done a few different analysis of the industry in broad strokes (i work in the biz) and one of the most interesting things about the horror genre, is the genre is the "star." It doesn't need any big name actors or even named actors to succeed as other movies do. nearly every other genre almost HAS to have a 'named' star attached to the project for it to succeed. and that's generally then how actors get pidgeon-holed into certain genre movies. you have 'action' stars, 'romantic comedy' stars, 'comedy' stars, 'drama' stars, and then the generic 'movie' star. rarely, but you do find those cross-genre stars and the few who can reinvent themselves. but look over the top horror/thriller movies and you'll find that there aren't many with big-named stars in them (at the time they were made).

Psycho - anthony perkins was still fairly new.
Alien - made sigourney weaver a star.
The Shining - arguably jack was already fairly huge at the time of this movie. (it was after both chinatown and cuckoo's and five oscar nominations and the win for cuckoo's and then 7 more nominations and 2 more wins after shining.)
The Exorcist - got ellen burstyn, a nice classically trained broadway actress who really got thrust into the mainstream with this one.
Halloween - made jamie lee curtis a star.
Donnie Darko - made jake gyllenhal a star

and look at the recent crop of horror movies, 6th sense helped reinvent bruce willis, and all the crappy (imo) horror remakes now are filled with tv-actors. did anyone go see The Amityville Horror because of who was in it? or The Fog remake because it had the guy from smallville in it? people, from what i gather, dont go to see a horror movie for who's in it (jessica biel not-withstanding), they go because its a horror movie regardless of who's in it. but it doesn't seem to work with any other genre. will you go see a jean-claude van-damme action movie just because it's an action movie? (other than worf:) ) no, i go (or stay away) from an action movie because of who's in it. i'lll see pretty much anything with jackie chan in it, because i am a fan of his. and for some people, they'll go see pretty much anything with "horror" starring in the movie.

it's also what makes it an incredibly popular indie/guerilla genre, because, just as much, if not more so, than any other genre, the story is all you need. blair witch is the quintessential example here. 3 no-named actors who no-one even would recognize, very little production value beyond the costumes and the equipment they gave them, and you have an incredibly creative story.
budget - btwn $35-60K.
worldwide gross of $250mill.
idea - priceless. (or i guess, in this case, $250mill).

:)
just some more ramblings.

[L.J.]

I watched the remake of Dawn of the Dead lat night. I didn't know zombies could move that fast. I was just wondering, what was up with that girl trying to save the stupid dog? Did that scene even need to be in the movie. I didn't care for it too much. It did give my wife a nice scare though.

[RGA]

The Dawn of the Dead remake is not really a remake but more of a let's rip off the name and have part of the movie take place in a mall. Other than they really have zip in common.

I enjoyed the remake as an action horror zombie movie with good pacing and a terrific opening (say first 10-15 minutes).

The guy across the street worked but the dog and the girl was a lame duck plot device to get the survivors "in trouble." It would have been nice to have Romero head the effects for some more gross-out sequences. Having a zombie reach into a guy's mouth and pull out his stomach like in Land of the Dead -- going too far is kinda of the point and the remake was a bit of let down in the gore department.

[L.J.]

I enjoyed the remake as an action horror zombie movie with good pacing and a terrific opening (say first 10-15 minutes)

Yes the first 10 min. were good. This is what got me to watch this in the first place. That, and I knew it was giving my wife a scare.