Root cause of the zombie outbreak...
Page Street Studios — Mon, 04/14/2008 - 06:13
Do people prefer films that give an explanation, or is it better when the crisis just happens? The Venus Probe excuse in the original Night of the Living Dead is strange, and both Romero and Russo admit they just threw it in in case people needed a reason. By Dawn Romero seemed confident enough to just proceed without an explanation, and I was very happy that the Dawn remake went the same route.
On the other hand we have Return of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, etc. all giving reasons for the outbreaks. What do you think, waste of screen time or interesting detail?
Cobra CPR and Zombie causes
Bigmac64 — Mon, 05/19/2008 - 16:58Somehow, I think you'll be getting a lip full of venom after trying cobra CPR. Kids, don't try this at home.:-)
I do get the point you were making, though. Just my visualization of that act was really funny.
As for a cause for a zombie invasion, I don't think you really need one. As they suggested in the original Day of the Dead, does it really matter? If a zombie is trying to make a snack out of your face, all academic arguments over the cause are out the window. It just doesn't matter at the moment.
So, unless it's important to the story or adds something to the film, I'm all for letting an explanation slide.
"So, unless it's important to
Edward Martin III — Wed, 05/28/2008 - 09:17"So, unless it's important to the story or adds something to the film, I'm all for letting an explanation slide."
Yep, kinda what I meant when I wrote "I think adding a 'reason' is best done if it's funny or really, really interesting."
Of course, one ought to be careful not to retread the exact same ground anyway. That is, if there's no compelling reason why THIS zombie invasion is any different from any other zombie invasion we've seen before, then, ah, why bother telling the story? ;)
A new one...
Edward Martin III — Thu, 05/01/2008 - 13:35Here's one no one's tried before.
Remember how Mom told you to stop picking your scab or it'll just get bigger?
Zombies are kids who didn't listen.
I think adding a "reason" is
Edward Martin III — Thu, 04/17/2008 - 21:30I think adding a "reason" is best done if it's funny or really, really interesting.
A disease is not interesting. A disease that comes from a badly made batch of hillbilly BBQ sauce is interesting. 8)
Rational vs. Supernatural
Festival Director — Mon, 04/14/2008 - 16:11It all depends if you crave a rational or supernatural explanation.
The Dead films have a supernatural root to the spread of Zombies. You can get exposed to air borne, or fluid and not change... but it is a bite no matter how small that seals the deal.
Is a viral cause any better not really. I am much more interested in seeing a society in tatters and the human interaction and the reacting to the end of the human race.
My thinking is if society is breaking down you might never now the exact cause or possible cure (if there is one) because there would not be enough infrastructure to communicate such information. So at that point it might as well be supernatural as we are all plunged into another dark age.
actually...
Edward Martin III — Mon, 05/12/2008 - 09:13"The Dead films have a supernatural root to the spread of Zombies. You can get exposed to air borne, or fluid and not change... but it is a bite no matter how small that seals the deal. "
Actually, that's not particularly supernatural. Cobras are kind of the same way -- you can take a bath in cobra venom, or perform mouth-to-mouth on a cobra, and everything's cool, but get some of that juice in your bloodstream or your eyes and you're hosed. And it's MORE virulent than a zombie bite.
But the Case 0 could be practically anything. it certainly could be a virus or a toxin, and the spread and virulent nature wouldn't contradict known science.
The supernatural part is where dead people move in ways that can't be attributed to random electrical shit in their bodies. Kinda like "Maximum Overdrive" or "Virus" but with flesh.
In this respect, "The Stand"
Edward Martin III — Thu, 04/17/2008 - 21:18In this respect, "The Stand" would be, basically, a zombie movie without zombies.
Unless you count most of the actors.