Ever watch movies like Night of the Living Dead and chastise the zombies for their lack of enthusiasm? Discover redemption in flicks like 28 Days Later – where the zombies have verve, pep, and really want those brains? Now you can run away from those brain-hungry bastards in the Zombie 5 K Marathon !
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A clear sign that the geeks have inherited the Earth, and that mainstream culture is embracing genres like horror, sci-fi, and fantasy is the prevelance of zombies in pop culture. From The Walking Dead to 28 Days Later (I’ll let you all debate whether you think the things in that movie actually qualify as zombies), from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to World War Z, zombies are everywhere, and it isn’t only geeks who are signing up to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. As Adam Miller of Terminal Press points out, “Well, the thing about it is that I don’t think it’s so much a fad anymore. I think it’s really become its own genre. It think it’s like The Western. I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”
Adam Miller and Rich Woodall honor the zombie genre through an anthology series they edit for Terminal Press called ZombieBomb! Currently on its third issue, ZombieBomb! assembles a broad range of talented artists and writers to create new zombie stories for each issue. What makes this zombie anthology special is the diversity of the storytelling brought to the zombie-loving public by artists with diverse backrounds – it boasts comics professionals, children’s book illustrators, photographers, and even a heavy metal musician! – which allows the books to offer stories in a range of styles from different points of view.
Comic Con 2010 is over and I have cast my vote for the fictitious “Bad Ass Mamma-Jamma Booth of the Year” award. Since I am the only voter in said academy, the winner is booth #2010! AMC television’s The Walking Dead set (a six-episode series based on the comic book written by Robert Kirkman). It’s not every day you can take the kids out for a stroll and pop in somewhere to have a lovely photo taken with your choice of:
Zombies may have existed in film before George Romero’s horror milestone from 1968, Night of the Living Dead. But the affable Pittsburgh filmmaker must be credited with creating the undead rules we all know so well.
These three rules are consistent both in and outside the Romero-verse of zombie movies where the undead walk the earth. Sure, other filmmakers have taken license with the rules such as 28 Days Later which introduced us to the infected that run really fast. Some may have seen recently deceased that could compete in the 50 yard dash as sacrilege, but it served to only advance both the genre and our love of those stupid flesh-eating corpses. No matter how many new rules have been added to zombie lore via films, books, graphic novels like the amazing Walking Dead or videogames like Left 4 Dead, those three rules have always remained the same.
There seems to be no shortage of love for these poor undead creatures. So to expand your horizons, here are some lesser-known zombie movies each worth boarding up the windows and locking yourself indoors to watch.
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1. Dead Set
This zombie outbreak takes place in the U.K. on the set of the popular reality show Big Brother. The undead can be seen on the rise during disturbing news reports about “unrest and riots” spreading across the country. After the production crew is nearly wiped out, all that remains are the ignorant and drama prone contestants from the Big Brother show. This five-episode mini-series from the BBC has yet to make it to the U.S., but it is perhaps the best use of a zombie apocalypse to make social commentary in decades. So, if there were an Oscar for the Best use of zombie apocalypse to make social commentary, then Dead Set would be the clear winner.
Austin, Texas student Emily Hagins is just your normal 12 year-old girl, unless you consider her obsession with blood, zombies and all-things horror-related to be out of the ordinary. There is one thing that sets Emily dramatically apart as a pre-teen – she’s making her first feature film. Like most filmmakers who passionately pursue the craft, Emily has no other choice than to write a script and get behind the camera. But still, she’s only 12 and when it comes to things like scheduling actors or considering school-nights and bedtimes, she lacks the management skills. But she’s only 12! That’s where Emily’s supportive, yet often frustrated mother comes in to see her daughter’s dream of making a zombie movie titled Pathogen come to life.
A team of three directors (Justin Johnson, Aaron Marshall and Erik Mauck) spent two years following Emily’s journey to complete her first feature-length movie and made a movie of their own called Zombie Girl. We observe her throughout the process as she writes, casts, shoots, rewrites, edits and then finally debuts the film to a packed audience of cast and crew at the famous Alamo Drafthouse Theater in Austin. The resulting movie may not be the greatest film in the world, but it’s better than anything Uwe Boll has ever made.
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Emily Hagins found a minute to sit down with ChinaShop’s own Chris Gore. She is the subject of a documentary called Zombie Girl, which is essentially about her making a feature horror film at the age of twelve.
Photos by Zoetica Ebb