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Every time a zombie thread pops up i say the exact same things. And I don't care, because I love the zombies. My brain goes straight out the window for zombie movies, and right into the hands of undead standing below.
Cemetary Man and Brain Dead are pretty low on the Zombie totem pole for me. Both are fine films, but I'm less of an art house zombie fan. The Romero trilogy kicks ass, which should go without saying. Fulci's films are almost an unofficial sequel to Romero's first (I think his first film was called Zombi 2) and includes a zombie vs. shark scene, as well as a classic injury-to-the-eye moment. A good example of fast zombies is in Garden of the Dead, in which they not only run and talk but also attack people with pickaxes. I loved the Return series, and it was probably what got me into zombie flicks in the first place, but the third installment was probably the only Zombie film I disliked. What a disappointment, especially after the promise of the cover. Not-quite-zombie faves include Night of the Creeps and Night of the Comet. Somehow I've seen both of these 80s classics at least 10 times. I need to see more of the Blind Dead series. Blind Templar zombies running around Spain gobbling people up. They can hear your heart beating!!! The Japanese are pulling out some killer zombie flicks, with Versus and Wild Zero. And then there's always the Underwater Nazi Zombie subgenre. I just need one more film to complete my collection.
There've been plenty of zombie comics (Zombie World, NOTLD, the zombie aquarium two parter in Hitman) but very few good zombie books. Kegboy mentioned the best of the bunch with Book of the Dead. All the stories are supposed to be based on Romero's trilogy (he wrote a great intro for the book), but some are closer than others. I've heard there's a sequel, but I've never seen it. The Book of the Dead itself i often find in used bookstores. If you want one and can't find a copy, Solitaire, let me know. Another one that just came out is the Book of All Flesh by the makers of the role-playing game All Flesh Must Be Eaten. I can't vouch for it's quality since I'm broke, but there appears to be a sequel in the works. Unfortunately, they were only accepting submissions into August. I've read two Resident Evil books (the ones that take place between the games, not the novelization of the games themselves, thereby avoiding an even deeper circle of Hell). Not good. You can tell the author is bored with zombies.
All Flesh, the game, is great fun for running with friends who think they have The Scenerio down pat (The Scenerio being every gorehounds imaginary survival procedure when the dead rise again). I ran a small game with some friends set in the town of Evans City, PA (where the graveyard scene from NOTLD was shot). Scared the shit out of them. They liked it so much we took a road trip out to Evans City later that year. The book has almost a dozen different zombie scenerios, each with zombies that have different speeds, strengths, weaknesses, methods of disposal, tool use, intelligence, etc. There's even a scenerio to play as a zombie.
Speaking of which, my video game obsessed brother tells me there is a new online Resident Evil game on the horizon. He just recently found out that you may be able to play as a zombie.
OK, I was going to talk about the appeal of zombies, but I've already written a novel. I just noticed that when I talk about zombies I sound like I'm back on the mean streets of the Rose City. Killer! |
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