This is a very fair question, and one that arose, while scanning a comment from a reader (Ypperst, under “Top 5 Zomcoms”). This reader was a fan of “Severance”, and was not sure whether or not it technically qualified as a Zombie movie.

So there it is, the crux of the issue. What exactly constitutes a Zombie flick?

Once again, this may seem like a pretty simple question, and I think Zombie purists would have a very clear and well defined answer.

Traditionally, movie zombies are:

#1) Human corpses (that is– and this is important– people who have died) that have:
#2) become re-animated in some way.
#3) The standard Zombie characteristic action that follows, after this re-animation, is the “seeking and munching of living human flesh.”

The actual history surrounding zombies, of course, harkens back to Caribbean mythology, and the practice of Voodoo. The story goes, that someone (oh, let’s say a local villager), who’s obviously really ticked off some local witch doctor, is given a potion that renders the individual with no detectable vital signs. With the level of medicine that was present in the villages at the time, I think this is entirely plausible. We can check off (#1) above– the individuals would very much resemble a corpse, and would then be buried.

When the buried individual revives (re-animates)– and manages not to succumb to terror and suffocation– he would likely claw his way out of the grave — (#2) above – check!

And, well, I’m sure all the flesh-eating (#3) above, is all about being really pissed off from being drugged and buried alive.

That, of course, is the “scientific” explanation for the stories. Add a dash of witchcraft and a pinch of the supernatural, and you’ve got the silverscreen’s rendition.

And while there are a number of zombie movies that follow Voodoo storylines(“The Serpent and the Rainbow“,”Zombi 2″, reviewed in this Blog, are two examples), most Zombie flicks as we know and love today, make no reference to Voodoo or witchcraft.

In fact, so many of the recent zombie movies of the past few decades have not really had any supernatural basis to them whatsoever.

And I think this is what really helps define a zombie movie. Zombie culture (and the movies they spawn) are about the unknown, and the loss of control (and the fear of the loss of control). People have feared the supernatural, and so the creeping terror that stalked them was supernatural. It’s interesting that the present day zombie flicks depict zombies brought to life by environmental, viral and chemical means. It’s what is in the news and scaring the bejesus out of us these days. It might also explain why we have a new breed of zombies (the fast-paced zoom-bies). There’s a real sense of urgency and impending doom to our fear. Ah, the zombie movie as social commentary– that’s fodder for another discussion.

That being said– zombie flicks have gotta have flesh eating (brains, intestines, limbs– it doesn’t matter) and plenty of it. I’d prefer the walking dead to have been dead before they started walking– but I will settle for zombies that were alive when they became flesh-eaters (as in 28 Days/Weeks Later). We aren’t talking about cannibals– cannibals are really just carnivores that happen to eat their own species– and it’s entirely natural (at least to them). The zombie-munching in the movies has an air of un-naturalness to it (but not necessarily supernatural). It’s the loss of control by these undead, perhaps illustrated by their stinted gate (as if they’re trying vainly to stop themselves, but just … can’t … quite … stop … biting…) Even if somewhere deep down inside, they wanted to stop, they couldn’t.

And when you’re bitten, and infected, that will be you– trapped inside your undead, hungry body.

Of course, the stinted gate might just be because they’re all a little stiff from lying in the ground for a couple decades.

Blog of the Living Dead can now also be found at:

zombie-night.blogspot.com

Same great taste– and a helluva alot more calories!

It is with a very heavy heart that I heard about the demise of the true and only Suspect Video, here in Toronto. Yesterday, a blaze ripped through downtown Toronto, eating up a half a block of old buildings and businesses, and swallowing up Suspect Video in its wake.

Read the Full article.

What inspired me to watch (and review) “Zombie aka – Zombi 2 – aka Zombie Flesh Eaters” (1979) this afternoon, was a Top 20 Zombie Movie List by About.com Horror columnist, Mark H. Harris. Check out his superb top 20 list at: http://horror.about.com/od/horrortoppicklists/tp/20zombiemovies.htm

What follows is a chew by chew assessment (with a fairly unpopular view of this flick):

Read the Full “Zombi 2″ Review!

When putting together a Top 5 or Top 10 Movie List (and in this case the sub-sub-horror genre Zomcom, or Zombie Comedy– dare I say, “Zomedy”), one must consider many factors.

Read the Top 5 Zomcom List!

(No spoilers)

OK– this review is being written about one hour after watching George A. Romero’s “Diary of the Dead” — so it’s still fresh in my brain.

Read the Full “Diary of the Dead” Review!

I think it is pertinent that this blog gets birthed on the eve of the newest George A. Romero zombie extravaganza, “Diary of the Dead.” The initial reports seem promising. We will be back with a report after tonight’s viewing. Stay tuned.

About 20 years ago, a good friend of mine and I started a tradition which has followed me from my home province of New Brunswick, to my current province of residence, Ontario– and in particular, to the great city of Toronto.

It was originally called “Zombie Day”, and it basically worked like this:

To escape the awful confines of his stifling marriage (if even for an afternoon), we would head down to the local video store (yup, this is pre-DVD days), and rent an armful of the worst/best/most intense/graphic/poorly photographed/awfully written and most endearing horror movies we could find, and take them back to his apartment, along with several bags of McD’s and couple of six packs. The only stipulation was that the horror flicks had to be about the living dead, and they preferably had to be REALLLLY bad!

We would barricade ourselves from the outside (and our wives), draw the shades, crack open the beers and Big Macs, and watch 5 or 6 zombie movies, back to back. Oh, I still get all warm and fuzzy inside when I think about it. Could there be anything better, I ask you?

It’s funny– in thinking back, I believe our activity really was a metaphor for what was going on in our lives– and the typical zombie genre– that of making a last stand behind some flimsy doors, held shut by flimsy planks of wood — was really about us on those afternoons. Our lives were shit, and so were the movies! But we LOVED them, and if we could just keep the baddies from getting in, it would really be alright. I think that that mentality, in retrospect, is even more valid in today’s freaky world climate of baddies– out there.

But enough philosophizing. That was New Brunswick, circa 1990’s. Flash ahead 20 years, and I find myself thousands of miles away, and one wife lighter. But my love of zombie movies, and basically all things undead, hasn’t wavered or dissipated. And one day, I found, that I was among other zombie movie lovers– coincidentally, my co-workers and best friends! How great is that?

And thusly, “Zombie Night” was born, and it basically worked like this:

To escape the awful confines of our stifling jobs (if even for an night), we would head down to the local video store (yup, Suspect Video, Queen Street– if you haven’t been there, then why are you sitting here reading this???), and rent an armful of the worst/best/most intense/graphic/poorly photographed/awfully written and most endearing horror movies we could find, and take them back to the office boardroom, crank up the video projector, along with several boxes of pizza and several cases of brewskies. The only stipulation was that the horror flicks had to be about the living dead, and they had to be REALLLLY bad!

Yes, I had evolved. It really was important at that time, that they had to be bad, and they had to have copious amounts of blood. The more decapitations, dismemberments, head splattering, bad acting and dialogue, the better. And lordy lordy– there sure are alot to choose from! I think we only scratched the surface of the bad zombie flicks at Suspect Video, and if you know Suspect Video, you’d understand.

That, my brain-lovin’ friends, is what this blog is about.

My zombie comrades (zomrades) have been thrown to all corners of the city (we all no longer work together)– but we still get together to chew the fat (so to speak), drawn by a common desire to see flesh eating at it’s worst (and therefore, at it’s gut-wrenching best).

We’ve put in a lot of hours soaking up the bad blood so you don’t have to. We will be your guide to the worst/best/most intense/graphic/poorly photographed/awfully written and most endearing zombie flicks of all time. As zombie movies become more mainstream, we will not ignore these as well. Some of the more current flicks will become or are on their way to becoming, legendary.

This bodes well for the future of this most particular of horror movie genres.

Bon appetite!