Tangent
Obviously, I think AMC's The Walking Dead is brilliant so if you have not had the opportunity to watch it yet, PLEASE WATCH IT! It's one of those shows that just keeps getting better. I'm so impressed with it not just because of the zombie genre but because the writing is so incredibly well done!
Recommended Zombie Flicks
- Night Of The Living Dead: Okay so there are two versions of this movie, one is the (1968) version directed by George A. Romero (literally responsible for the Dead Series), and the other is the (1990) version directed by Tom Savini (arguably the godfather of SFX). While the Romero version is pretty amazing (in the pioneer-of-the-zombie-movies-genre kind of way!), I personally prefer Savini's movie. There is only one reason why I have this preference and it due to the depiction of women in the latter's movie. In Romero's version, Barbara played by Judith O'Dea, is so docile (the movie tries to express how this zombie apocalypse can shock someone to the point of immobility) it gets really trying. By contrast in Savini's version, the role of Barbara played by Patricia Tallman, is someone you can root for. She characterizes pure survival instinct. She also says one of the funniest lines in the movie, "they (referring to the zombies) are SO SLOW we could walk right past them!". Anyway, watch both if you can, if you only have time to watch one, I would suggest Savini's.
- Dawn Of The Dead: Like above, there are also two versions of this movie, there is a (1978) version and a (2004) version. I recommend both because they are totally different movies. Unlike Night Of The Living Dead where the storyline and characters are basically the same (save for Barbara), the Dawn Of The Dead storylines are completely different from eachother. Personally, I prefer the 1978 version because it just feels more authentic. The newer version feels like a movie packaged to entertain you; it is action packed, the zombies RUN, it is sexier for the lack of a better word--I mean, you see a pregnant zombie give birth for chrissakes! The older version is different; it takes its time with character development, the zombies are slow as heck, you even see some stereotypical hillbilly rednecks have a great time shooting at zombies on a field like it is a firing range and having a laugh at it. Definitely watch both but if you had to pick, the older version is what I consider to be one of the greatest zombie movies ever made.
- The Dead (2010): I do not know why but I really like this movie. It is set in Africa and follows the lives of two people, an American Air Force Engineer and an African Army Sargeant, who work together towards their respective goals. The American wants to find a jet to fix so he can fly back home to his family. The African wants to be reunited with his last surviving family member, his son. It is pretty slow paced and the gore is fantastic. Pure character development. It was a joy to watch the two leads. You might not like this movie. It is like green tea, a bit of an acquired taste. Warning: It is VERY slow paced!
- Shaun Of The Dead (2004): The reason this movie is great is because it is very accessible, characters are likeable, the jokes are super funny, and finally, there are zombies! Yay! Anyone can watch this comedy and like it, it is very entertaining.
- Dead Snow (2009): Like Shaun, this movie seems like one of those movies it is difficult to dislike. It is a German movie about Nazi zombies that will come after you if you have Nazi gold.. or something great like that. The zombies are VERY quick and there is a tonne of tasty tasty gore! There is even a self-amputation in this one! It is fast-paced, lots of thrills and chills, peppered with the right amount of humour! Very entertaining.
- Fido (2007): This is the girlie zombie movie of the bunch. The movie features some big-name movie stars such as; Billy Connolly, Carrie-Anne Moss and Dylan Baker. It is an offbeat movie about scientists discovering how to socialize zombies so instead of running from them, we can place collars on them so they can be our slaves. Yay! It is a cutesy feel-good movie. If you are looking for gore, there is none here. Just a different take on the genre.
- Dead Girl (2008): This is a weird movie. It is not that great but it is kind of unique so I am recommending it. It is a disturbing movie about two teenagers who find a girl in an abandoned insane asylum. The girl is non-verbal and is tied up to a bed. They eventually discover that she cannot be killed so they do terrible things to her. It is one of those weird, uncomfortable flicks.
- Quarantine (2008): I enjoyed this movie a great deal but I may be alone in this. I can see why many people did not like it (namely because of the the "found footage" filming-style like Cloverfield). Also, this movie DOES start out slow so it is a bit frustrating, I mean we do not see a "zombie" until 1/3 of the movie in. Also, zombie is in quotation marks because I think they explained the infection as some advanced form of rabies so the infected are not necessarily dead. I could be wrong, my memory of this movie is not crystal clear. Anyway, good movie to watch if you are looking for a few good jolts!
- 28 Days Later (2002): This movie provides a lot of information about the zombie infection and transmission which not a lot of other movies do because they like to play up the 'real-timeliness' of the situation (i.e. the zombie apocalypse spun out of control and happened so fast, the average person could not possibly know how it all went down). Zombies in this one run pretty fast too. This movie is not as good as the first three listed above but it is not bad either!
- Day Of The Dead (1985): This movie was not terrible. It is part of George A. Romero's Dead Series. In fact, Romero plays around with the idea of zombie sentience in this movie. There is a mad scientist who works closely with a zombie named Bub trying to trigger Bub's memory. Over time, Bub stops trying to attack the mad scientist and becomes his friend almost. Anyway, anyway, it is an okay movie. It is not a bad movie to watch if you are looking to veg out.
- Land Of The Dead (2005): Again, this movie is not terrible either, its downfall is that it is just "too Hollywood". Part of the Dead Series, it covers the zombie movies formula, same deal; zombie apocalypse, people try to maintain security in a fenced off area but zombie troubles ensue. The best part of this movie is the scene where you see the zombies walk under water to get to the island where the humans are. This movie also plays with the idea of zombie sentience. Again, not a horrible waste of time but definitely not a classic either.
- Survival Of The Dead (2004): So this movie just sucks. I think it is supposed to be a quirky movie but it felt really poorly executed. This is a definitely-don't-bother. Basically, there is an island with zombies but the human inhabitants do not want to kill the zombies because some of the humans believe that the zombies can be trained to eat animals and stop eating humans. Ugh I really did not like this movie. The acting sucks, the dialogue sucks, the story sucks, everything sucks about this movie except for the SFX. It is part of Romero's Dead Series sadly.
- 28 Weeks Later (2007): This movie is not bad at all, it is kind of like 28 Days Later but of the two, I would recommend the 28 Days. The gore is great and there is lots of good action but feels like it is missing something quality-wise. Like Land Of The Dead, it is too formulaic but the formula it uses has running zombies and more zombie-chase action unlike most of Romero's zombies that cannot run. Not half bad but not quality.
- Resident Evil: I have seen Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3 but it is kind of a whole different breed on its own because it deals a lot with infection and mutation. It is not a zombie flick in the purest sense, rather it is more video-gamey than anything. I enjoyed watching them but I am not sure I would recommend them to a person looking for good pure zombie movies. Wow that sounds stupid. Anyway, you know what I mean, right?
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