Zombie Moment

Who said it? “The only person who could ever miss with this gun would be the sucker with the bread to buy it.” – Peter in Dawn of the Dead (1978).

Ghost Brigade – This 1993 movie features Confederate and Union soldiers that band together to combat a zombie outbreak among their dead comrades. The film was originally titled Grey Knight, but after it was screened for several audiences, producer Brad Krevoy decided it was “too artsy” and ordered it re-cut. The producer’s cut was released as Ghost Brigade in the United States and the Killing Box in Europe.

The word “zombie” is never used in George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968). Instead the walking dead are referred to as “ghouls”.

Who said it? “If we hole up I want to be somewhere familiar, I want to know where the exits are and I want to be allowed to smoke.” – Ed in Shaun of the Dead (2004).

Dawn of the Dead (the original) – In typical Romero style, this 1978 zombie masterpiece satirizes American consumerism, self absorption and social decadence, as four survivors barricade themselves in a suburban shopping mall to escape swarms of flesh-eating zombies and end up indulging in shameless materialism as they loot the stores of clothing, jewelry and food. But their shopping spree comes to an end when a gang of bikers-accompanied by a horde of hungry undead-invade their sanctuary.

In 1982’s Creepshow, the marble ashtray that plays an important role in the first story, “Father’s Day,” is featured in all five of the film’s stories. Watch closely and you’ll see it.

Who said it? “Oh, for God’s sake! He’s got an arm off!” – Shaun in Shaun of the Dead (2004).

In Wes Craven’s 1988 film The Serpent and the Rainbow, Bill Pullman acted alongside a viper, a jaguar and a tarantula during filming. All the animals were raised in captivity and were relatively tame.

Who said it? “Wait, wait, wait, I’m sorry…why does he stay here while I go on the suicide mission to rescue Terry’s already-dead girlfriend?” – Steve in Dawn of the Dead remake (2004).

Friday * Zombie moment

So it looks like there will be a couple of Friday * Zombie Moments missed for a couple of weeks because of my vacation to Mexico next week. Sorry about that.

Dead Snow: This 2009 Norwegian horror movie follows a group of medical students whose ski vacation turns deadly when they find themselves surrounded by zombies that occupied the area as Nazi officers during World War II. The students end up trapped in a cabin, attempting to fend off Nazi zombies.

An expert at treating fiction as fact, Max Brooks has written the definitive guide for those who can’t wait for the zombie Armageddon to begin. His life-saving book, The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), “offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead.” He is also the author of World War Z: An Oral  History of the Zombie War (2006) and the Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks (2009). Brooks says, “I don’t know what’s scarier, the fact that zombies could rise or the fact there are actually people out there that can’t wait for it to happen.

To what part of the world can the origin of zombies be traced? West Africa. The exact origins of Voodoo are unknown, but most experts generally agree that it started in West Africa, probably in the nation of Benin (formerly called “Dahomey”). Believed to have derived from early practices of polytheism and ancestor worship, Voodoo practices spread from Africa to the Caribbean Islands and North America on slave ships. Forced into labour and expected to convert to Christianity, many enslaved Africans clung to the familiar spirits of their ancestors but disguised them as Catholic saints because their new “masters” wouldn’t let them practice Voodoo.

In 1985’s Re-Animator, the first man who is re-animated at the morgue (who later kills the Dean) was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s body double.

Friday * zombie moment

So this is the first zombie post and it won’t be the last. Friday is now dedicated to one of my loves, zombies. I received a zombie day calendar for Christmas and I thought I should share the fun tidbits from the calendar with my fans. So here we go.

pen & ink illustration

What famous horror film director is known as “the Grandfather of the Zombie”? George A. Romero. There’s a good reason that Romero is called “the Grandfather of the Zombie”. In 1968 Romero transformed the horror film genre with Night of the Living Dead by reinventing the zombie as a reanimated, slow-moving, dim-witted cannibal and-for the first time ever-realistically portraying it eating the flesh of human beings. In a review of the groundbreaking film at the time, Roger Ebert wrote, “The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through and had become unexpectedly terrifying… This was ghouls eating people up-and you could actually see what they were eating.”

In the 2008 remake of Day of the Dead, the radio station is located on Elm Street, a reference to 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Who said it? “Look, I don’t care what the telly says, all right? We have to get out of here. If we don’t they’ll tear us to pieces, and that is really going to exacerbate things for all of us.” -Shaun, Shaun of the Dead (2004)

So those are the fun tidbits for the week. Until next Friday, have a wonderful zombie filled week.