Good zombie movies are still good. There's just been a lot of crap zombie movies of late.
If you want to learn why zombies are popular, go back to the source. Night Of The Living Dead preyed on our insecurity in a post-nuclear world that our lives could be irrevocably changed even in the heart of our own country by forces we don't understand. Dawn Of The Dead made a strong statement about how so many humans are basically already walking dead, zombified by commercial culture and smallmindedness. The zombies in Day Of The Dead blurred the line between zombies and humanity with "Bub", while the actual humans turned out to be trecherous scum.
Zombies are best used in situations to test the humans, to see what they do when the chips are down. They usually don't make good antagonists themselves; they're just a force of nature to play off of, the same role the iceburg played in Titanic. The chunk of ice isn't interesting in and of itself, the interesting thing is watching Leonardo Di Caprio die.
The best zombie movies understand that they should focus on what the zombie crisis does to living humans rather than try to rely on sheer horror. This is why Zombieland is effective: concentrating on the character interactions against the backdrop of Zombie Americana just works.
You might not prefer zombie movies, but they've become a legitimate genre in and of itself, seperate from horror.
"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - E. Gary Gygax
Zombies in media are at their best when they're there to make a point. I am getting a bit tired of enjoying zombie ironically though, its overdone.
Do you want to have sex? I think we should have sex. CASUAL SEX.
Well, they've become a staple background element. Like in Cemetery Man, the zombie plague is just the backdrop for comedy/romance/absurdist farce.
"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - E. Gary Gygax
Eclipse the Moon
The chunk of ice isn't interesting in and of itself, the interesting thing is watching Leonardo Di Caprio die. You have no idea how much that made me laugh.
But yeah, It's not that the genre is shitty in and of itself. It that alot of the zombie movies made recently are shitty.
I'm having to learn to pay the price
"Zombies Of Mass Destruction" was pretty good...after I realized it was a comedy. "Fido" is good too and hopefully "The Walking Dead" will be amazing.
Also known as Katz
Meh, I'm with the OP. They just don't have that much potential. If there were as many Titanic movies as there are zombie movies, icebergs would have the same problem.
Queen of Good Things, Honest
The best zombie movies understand that they should focus on what the zombie crisis does to living humans rather than try to rely on sheer horror. This is why Zombieland is effective: concentrating on the character interactions against the backdrop of Zombie Americana just works. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there are two kinds of writing attitudes. "The characters exist to service the plot," and "The plot exists to service the characters."
The examples you give are a good example of the latter - and, in my opinion, superior - style, and that's what makes them work.
edited 21st Oct '10 11:06:50 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.
Sneering Imperialist
Shaun Of The Dead is still to my mind the best zombie film.
The World War Z film - if it ever comes out - should put a fresh spin on the genre, if done correctly.
With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.
Street Writing Man
As to the over-abundance of zombie films...I'd say they're just acting like their main character.
-They mindlessly come back from the dead. How many times in cinema history has the zombie flick been declared passe forever? How many times has that been wrong?
-They attack suddenly, out of nowhere, and in hordes. There were no zombie flicks a few years ago, and then suddenly WHAMMO we're drowning in them.
If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~
On the TV front, AMC's "The Walking Dead" premiered on Sunday night. It pulled in 5.3 million people, so looks like it isn't going anywhere.
edited 3rd Nov '10 8:52:42 PM by HopelessSituationWarrior
"Weird doors open. People fall into things."
Dracula
if I may reccomend some zombie films.
White Zombie
I Walked With A Zombie
The Serpent and The Rainbow
all of these films use actual vodou zombies rathe rthen the hybrid ghoul-vampires you see today. I'd also reccomend checking out the original book for The Serpent and The Rainbow by Wade Davis, as well as WB Seabrook's The Magic Island which is THE Defining text for Zombies.
We must survive, all of us. The blood of a human for me, a cooked bird for you. Where is the difference?
I'm watching Survival of the Dead and it's shit.
I did some thinking, and quite frankly, most zombie-movies are shit. Zombies were never really scary, and to see them in a whole bunch of movies makes them even less scary. They're not used in a clever manner, they're never presented with an original spin. I'm sick and tired of zombies.
why were they ever popular in the first place?