28 days/weeks later

[Jeff]

Alright I need to start up a discussion here regarding these movies, I hate to bring a "catch-22" sort of argument into the fold here but I feel that it for a few reasons it needs to be, and regardless of the "unanswerable" nature of the question I am about to pose to you, I feel a conclusive answer needs to reached.

So are they zombies or not?

In my opinion they are not zombies, they are zombie like but do to being regular people infected with the rage virus (sort-of a hyper-rabies) they are in fact still very much alive and theoretically curable. They exhibit some zombie-like behavior however they retain fine motor functions such as the ability to run and utilize machinery and weapons such as guns. They also kill and eat raw flesh, very zombie-like, however classic zombies are driven to eat human flesh pretty much exclusively where as the rage infected are pretty much out to kill and/or maim whatever comes across their path, from people to cute fuzzy little animals. They have no specific need to dine on flesh.

I can accept that they are "zombie-like" in some aspects (pretty much appearance alone) but in my opinion the differences are too expansive to call them zombies, and therefore 28 Days/Weeks Later can -not- be classified as a zombie film.

Your thoughts?

[vrap]

No offense, but my immediate thoughts were "so what?" While I disagree with you regarding the claim that they don't seem to display classic zombie behaviour (Romero's done running zombies too), I can't see how it matters that the film be classified as a zombie film or not anyway, I really liked it just the same :) I've only seen the teaser of the second film but I'm really looking forward to it.

[Jeff]

I'm lost in how you can post on a video-game specific forum and question my need to over-classify a move down to the nitty-gritty of it's very essence.

Oh and I did say quite clearly that they display some zombie like behaviour.

[witch]

Zombie behavior yes, but it's a cultural commentary on man's rage and animal instinct (at least that's what I gathered). Big fan of zombie films and 28 days was pretty decent (especially the tunnel and opening scenes) so I'll be seeing the second.

[Raveness]

28 Days later certainly covered their tracks when describing the effects of the "rage" virus. The infected people were basically driven by killer instinct towards any movement, be it man or animal or machine. They would also starve to death after awhile and die off; they did not eat what they had killed.

However, cinematically it is the same vein as a zombie flick: A brooding atmosphere set within a desolate major city, with few survivors banding together with limited resources against hordes of singular-minded human monsters.

I enjoyed the movie immensely right up until the army got involved at the road-block. I didn't believe the juvenility and nihilistic approach of the soldiers towards any survivors, especially after their commander explained how the rage infected people will starve to death anyways.

[Adabiviak]

I think technically they fall into the zombie category but I definitely wouldn't consider them 'classic' zombies. Slow moving, still humanoid but disfigured enough to make you wince, silent or soft grunts/moans only, and eating people are characteristics that I think round out a stereotypical zombie - Doom 3, Quake IV and Half Life, for example, have what I consider classic zombies.

[LowEnergyCycle]

I kinda saw 28 Days Later as a natural evolution of Zombie Movies, which in my eyes have become a little over-done really.

Ok, so they are perhaps not quite your average Zombies, but the film still retains some key Zombie Movie hooks: The juxtaposition of the relatively normal real-world vs the horrors of the attacking mob; The shear volume of enemies being a significant part of the problem; Barricading yourself into a corner with inevitable results; The whole 'survival' ethic, having to make do with whatever you can find around you; The one-bite-and-your-one-of-them rule;...

I'm sure I could go on, but I just thought of something else: The Resident Evil games have always been naturally described as 'games with Zombies in them' - and what is the T-Virus if not just another Rage Virus?

I was reading a book not long ago that came stuck to the front cover of PC Zone (UK) - an abridged Zombie Survival Guide (I can't remember who wrote it). Inside, at the very start, it immediately segregated Zombies into different types by taking references from all the different Zombie Literature of films and games.

So you of course have your rise-from-the-dead types, and then you have your infected-by-virus types. Both are viable options for a Zombie. Mostly though, as a rule, they tend not to run really fast and jump over cars to get to you.

Wasn't there some (frightening) rumor that Resident Evil 5 would feature such Frenzied Zombies? I'm not so sure I enjoy that idea...:eek:

[v.dog]

I'm sure I could go on, but I just thought of something else: The Resident Evil games have always been naturally described as 'games with Zombies in them' - and what is the T-Virus if not just another Rage Virus?I was about to say the same thing.

if anything, the zombies in Half-Life are the ones that don't fit into the traditional classification; they are more victims of a parasite, like the 'zombie' roach (http://boingboing.net/2006/02/03/wasp_performs_roachb.html). There's a video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0M77MvpzHA) that will make you think twice about them.

[nmrahde]

I always saw them as more of a re-hash of the guys in "The Omega Man", only more animalistic. Although in both these films and popluar zombie lore (The Zombie Survival Guide and the original Night of the Living Dead) everything starts from a virus. The only real difference is in what will drop them, hitting vitals or just destroying the brain.

The first half of the movie I always thought had a sort of "creeping doom" aspect to it much like the original Night, The Omega Man, and the original Assault on Precinct 13. The goal was to do much of anything but survive. (I see Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" as a good example of this feeling too although theres only one "zombie" in it)

The second part (with the soldiers) reminds of of Day of the Dead in which, yes there are zombies, but they're part of the setting and not part of the plot. It ends up being more of a commentary on how society falls apart at that point.

[Killzig]

I liked that 28 Days Later evolved the zombies a bit from the big shambling horde (not that I dislike the shambling horde, that has it's place. It's fun, creepy and still has a place in the horror genre). As far as getting technical on what's a zombie and what isn't. Doesn't the RAGE virus kill the person infected and then the body is reanimated? So technically, they can't really be "cured."

Definitely looking forward to 28 Weeks Later and Danny Boyle sounds like he wants to direct 28 Months Later himself.

[nmrahde]

Nope it didn't kill them. 'Member when the girls father got the drop of infected blood in his eye? Started goin' crazy on the spot.

[Killzig]

Nope it didn't kill them. 'Member when the girls father got the drop of infected blood in his eye? Started goin' crazy on the spot.

now that you mention it I do remember that. I'm going to have to pop that DVD in tonight, it's been too long since I've watched it.

[SPDeath]

The zombies in 28 days later are scarier, becasue to be honest most snails can move faster than regular zombies. If i saw a 28 days later zombie run towards me I would probably void my bowels or run, yeah running sounds better.

PS. is it just me or has 28 weeks later been americanised " we lost control, blow up everything" sought of thing. Still bonus points for muse in trailer :) .

[nmrahde]

Gotta go with the slow moving zombies being scarier actually.

If they can run then there's not much point in them being zombies, they could just as easily be people (the original Escape from Precinct 13 for instance)

Slow moving zombies are creepy because there's a sort of slow inevitableness to everything. They will get you eventually, and the waiting just makes it worse

"They're coming for you Barbara."

'least that's my opinion.

Good non-movie Zombie stuff:
The Walking Dead (http://www.imagecomics.com/onlinecomics.php) - Ongoing comic from image. You can read issue #1 at their website (the link). It's about the interactions of people during/after a large scale zombie outbreak (think 28 Days or Day of the Dead)

"The Zombie Survival Guide" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_Survival_Guide) and "World War Z" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Z) by Max Brooks. both books are written in a completely serious vein. the first is written just as a normal survival guide detailing what tools, what tactics, etc. to use in case of a zombie outbreak. the second is oral accounts of what happened during "the zombie war."

[SPDeath]

Hmmm i guess you have a good point about the innevibility of the slow moving wave of death. However the 'fast zombies' seem more realsitic, with that crazed hunger for flesh. Then again how can something that is technically dead be fast enough to do the london marathon.

[Jeff]

Except that the """""zombies""""" in 28 days/weeks later are not dead, even technically, and they're not running after you with a hunger for flesh. They're just people with a form of super-rabies who like to **** **** up (apologies for the language) they don't care if it's you or whatever else happens to be near them.

[SPDeath]

Ahhh that would explain it, i havent A) seen the film in ages and B) The first half of the film. I really should remedy that soon.

[JoJonathan]

actually it was explained that they sorta are,

the virus (in the comic coming out you can check this info at fox atomic or somthing) decays 3 parts of the brain these parts help have a counscious,know what to eat and not going into cannibalism (there immune system causes them to barf as you see), and to control the rage is loss,

This is what makes the infected, and I recommend going to the site since they have parts from the film already, such as a soldier with a napalm tank being tackled off a skyscraper and when hitting surface explodes shooting into the air xDDD!!

[SPDeath]

I recommend going to the site since they have parts from the film already, such as a soldier with a napalm tank being tackled off a skyscraper and when hitting surface explodes shooting into the air xDDD!!

Now THAT i've gotta see :D