I’m Baaaaaack! #Zombie Films!

Hey, fellow zombie fans!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on this blog. Life kind of got in the way, but things have changed, so I now have more time on my hands. I apologize for my absence, but we’ll pick up right where we left off.

To start, shall we talk about zombie films? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of them coming out lately. It appears that perhaps the craze has died down. That may very well be, it’s the cycle of monsters, but for us die hards, we’ll always find zombies to watch.

And let’s not forget that zombie TV shows seem to be going incredibly strong. The Walking Dead started their 7th season and announced that they’ll do a season 8. There’s also Fear the Walking Dead and Z Nation. We’re covered for zombies on TV.

However, don’t lose hope just yet. The British film The Girl with All the Gifts is still on the radar.

I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s definitely on my list. Has anyone else seen this film?

What are your thoughts? Do you think zombies are fading from the scene?

#AtoZ - T is for Trust No One #zombies

Welcome to the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April!  

Come back daily for more exciting posts and even some giveaways!

Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list! 

Today is the letter T for Trust No One

From Chapter 14 of my book Undead Obsessed: Finding Meaning in Zombies:

IF ZOMBIE FILMS HAVE SHOWN US ANYTHING, it’s that a zombie uprising would be swift and devastating. We would be caught unprepared, and most of us would either die or become the living dead. Civilization and life as we know it would come to a crashing halt, and those of us that are left would be standing there with our mouths open trying to figure out what happened. Survival is all that matters, and we would have to do whatever it took to make sure humans don’t become extinct.

Scientists are often to blame for the dead rising to consume the living, whether they are created by something from space or pathogens or an experimental serum. Scientists may be the cause, but they are definitely not the cure. Scientists can’t figure out how to rid the world of zombies, so they become useless. If they can’t help in the zombie apocalypse, then the next logical place to turn to is the military. After all, they are trained for situations like this—maybe not for zombies exactly, but other high-stress destructive situations—and they have weapons. But as many films show, the military is just as ineffective as science against the undead horde. They often become power hungry and corrupt. As Chapter 7 points out, the military has also had a part in the rise of zombies through the creation of biological weapons.

What zombie films do is take our trust in authority figures—science, the military, and the government—and twists it to show how degenerate these entities can be. They remind us that these factions are created and run by humans, so they are fallible and open to corruption. But the other thing zombie films point out is the determination and survivability of common folk. They show that formal training isn’t necessary when it comes to defeating the undead, but a little common sense and the ability to work with others goes a long way in ensuring the human race doesn’t go extinct.

It is abundantly clear in zombie films that the authority figures can’t be trusted. They are either the cause of or are completely ineffective at ridding the world of the undead threat. They are often power hungry and willing to do whatever it takes to be in control of everything. What this all boils down to is that humans are their own worst enemies. The system breaks down once zombies have risen. There is no more government or military, so why are we still fighting with each other like there is? Surviving should be the only thing that matters, but we can’t let go of our petty issues with other humans. We see an opening to “make things better for ourselves” and we jump to take it, not caring if we step on others in the process to achieve that goal.

This notion is apparent in every zombie film, including those where the zombies are created by magic. In White Zombie, Legendre turns his enemies into zombies so he can control them. In I Walked with a Zombie, Jessica is turned into a zombie because she was threatening to tear the family apart and needed to be controlled. In The Serpent and the Rainbow, people who oppose the leadership are turned into zombies so they can be controlled. Those with power do what is necessary to stay in control. Just because a zombie is created by other means doesn’t mean the goal of the survivors is different—they still want to be in control.

This notion becomes even more important when the world spins into chaos. Having control of your environment is important to give you a sense of purpose and meaning. If that is gone, how do you make sense of the world? How do you know where you fit in the scheme of things? The survivors in zombie films are attempting to make sense of what is happening and are trying to figure out what their role is in the new world. The problem is that they are using outdated ways of thinking. They are trying to cling to notions that existed in the world before zombies destroyed it, which could mean vying for a position they weren’t allowed to have before, and that generally involves needing to obtain power.

The Survivors Make the Dumbest Choices

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to do my Surviving Zombies workshop at MileHiCon in Denver. I have attended and presented at the con before, and it’s always so much fun.

As part of the workshop, I use examples from TV shows and movies about some of the things the survivors do to survive, and we got into a conversation about how the characters don’t always make the brightest decisions. In particular, we were talking about the morons on The Walking Dead. Many of the participants said they get so frustrated with the characters’ decisions, and I agreed.

But I think there are a couple reasons why the characters in zombie films and TV shows act the way they do. First and foremost, they are supposed to represent the common human. Does this mean that we are all idiots? Of course not, but it’s supposed to reflect how we are all flawed.

If you’ve watched zombie movies and TV shows, you know that science and the military can do nothing to save us when the dead arise. They are worthless and most of the time not even present. The people who rise to the occasion and stand against the undead are normal, everyday people. Sure, a few of them might have some special skills (Rick was a police officer), but for the most part, they are our neighbors down the street.

And this is something that’s done intentionally. It’s to show that the authority figures of society (science, the military, the government) are powerless while the masses aren’t. If science or the military is present in the film, they are often power hungry and corrupt (the Governor in The Walking Dead, Captain Rhodes in Day of the Dead, and pretty much every scientist in any zombie movie).

Sure, the survivors make some questionable decisions and we probably yell at the TV asking them what the hell they are doing, but most of them still survive. And this brings me to the other reason they act like this: watching the characters on the screen act the way they do makes us think about how we would react in the same situation.

How many times have you been watching a zombie movie—or horror movie in general—and roll your eyes at the characters on the screen? How many times have you told them not to go into the basement or venture out into the city alone? How many times have you thought: I would have done that sooooo differently?

And that’s the point. It makes you think. It forces you to put yourself in the characters shoes and figure out how you would handle the situation. You think about it long afterwards, maybe even talk about it with your friends, and talk about how you are so much smarter than those idiots. You could survive any of those scenarios no problem!

Zombie films are actually really clever in how they handle this type of scenario. One of the guest authors I had in the workshop on Saturday commented about how she didn’t really know what to expect from the workshop, but thought it was a lot of fun, and she was amazed at how many people had thought about what they would do to survive zombies.

Personally, I wasn’t surprised at all. As a horror and zombie fan, I’m well aware of how the audience reacts to the films and TV shows—because that’s how we’re supposed to react. Sure, they’re great for a scare, but they’re also fantastic for teaching life lessons.

The best thing about zombie films is that all of the survival plans we come up with can also translate into other natural disasters, from earthquakes to floods to wars. That’s why the CDC used zombies at one point on their blog to talk about disaster preparedness. That’s why I do this workshop. It makes thinking about survival fun because it’s done in a nonthreatening, theoretical fashion, and I tell the audience that what we talk about can be applied to multiple survival situations.

The only difference is that in most cases we won’t have to defend ourselves against the undead. However, should the need arise, my hope is that my workshop will help people prepare.

Horror Outside of Zombies

Zombies are the best. There’s no denying that, and they are my go-to monster when I need a horror fix. But zombies aren’t the only horror monsters I enjoy. I’m also a huge fan of slasher films and creature features.

When I was younger, my dad always let us watch Monster Vision with him, so my love of horror grew from there. I remember seeing old Godzilla movies and terrible, terrible shows that I can’t remember the name of.

It wasn’t until I was older that I got into slasher films. I had seen a few A Nightmare on Elm Streets when I was in grade school, along with some Child’s Plays, but I wouldn’t have called myself a fan. That didn’t happen until I was in college.

I wrote my thesis on slasher films. My committee chair suggested it. I originally wanted to write about demons, but this topic was more focused. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too sure about it at first. I didn’t think I would have a lot to say.

The focus of my thesis was the Friday the 13th films. My husband is a huge fan because he was born on the 13th. We had a blast watching them together. And I learned so much looking at them critically. To this day, I’m still hooked on slasher films. And yes, Jason is one of my all-time favorite killers. But I also really like Freddy. There’s something to be said about his sense of humor.

And I still really like creature features. Aliens or animals that have been mutated by nuclear whatever are my favorite. Like zombie films, I’ll watch anything in these genres, and rarely will I turn them off.

Do you have a favorite horror genre outside of zombies?

A Review of #Zombie Movie Maggie

A couple weekends ago, I had the opportunity to watch Maggie. I’ve been wanting to see this movie since I first saw the trailer.



I knew it wasn’t going to be your typical zombie flick. I figured there probably wasn’t going to be a lot of gory action, and there wasn’t. But it was a great film nonetheless.

One of the things zombie films do is highlight is the difference between us and them—or zombies and humans. There’s a thin line between what makes us human and what makes us a monster. In most zombie films, the focus is on how we act just as monstrous as the zombies. That wasn’t the case in Maggie.

I don’t want to delve too deeply in the plot for fear of giving the movie away. If you haven’t seen it and plan to, I don’t want to ruin it for you.

I highly recommend this movie. Again, there isn’t a lot of gory action, and the story actually moves pretty slowly—and not in the shambling zombie way. I would watch this movie again, and I may to critique it.

Has anyone else seen this? What did they think?

Exit Humanity (2011)

Last weekend, my husband and I watched Exit Humanity. Here’s the description:

In the aftermath of the Civil War an unexplained outbreak of the walking dead claims the life of Edward Young’s wife while his son disappears. This sets him off on a harrowing journey into the plagued countryside facing off challenges not just from the ferocious undead but also from the living.

And here’s the trailer:



I found out about this film from a blog post that listed zombie flicks you probably haven’t seen but should. I can’t find the link, but there are several posts out there and several more zombie flicks I need to see. However, at the time, this one looked intriguing, so I checked it out.

At first, I was a bit worried about the almost 2-hour running time. I have a bit of a short attention span, and there’s only so many things you can do in a zombie flick, but I was ready to give it a try.

It dragged a bit. It was definitely almost too long, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was fairly typical and predictable, but what zombie film isn’t? Again, there’s only so many things you can do with the undead.

As with most zombie films, the main point is not about the living dead, but about the living and what needs to be done to survive. It’s about how society falls apart and what some misguided souls will do to put it back together. It was about one man’s mission to regain his humanity after losing his family.

I would recommend this film. Like I said, it was a little long, but it had some cool features. The cuts to animation were intriguing, and (as it should) it re-ignites faith in humanity during the bleakest of times.

Has anyone else watched this movie? What did you think?

A to Z Blog Challenge - C is for Corpse

**  Today is Day  3 - Letter C - of the 2015  A to Z  Blogging Challenge  **

Because without a walking corpse, you can't have a zombie.  Here's an excerpt from my book, Undead Obsessed, on the subject.

From Chapter 2:

WHAT IS A ZOMBIE? The simplest answer to that question is that a zombie is a corpse that has been reanimated. It isn’t completely alive, and yet it’s not dead. It is categorized as undead. For zombie purists, a zombie has to be slow-moving and incapable of thought. It moves and hunts, but it has no purpose, no cognition. It eats human flesh, but for unknown reasons. After all, a zombie’s digestive system no longer functions, so it doesn’t need the meat for fuel or survival. The zombies created by George Romero in the film Night of the Living Dead are, for those zombie purists, the epitome of what a zombie should be. But if you look at the simple definition—a corpse that has been reanimated—zombies can encompass more than the iconic figures from Romero’s films.

Zombies have existed in society for a long time. Throughout history and within different cultures, zombies have taken various forms, all with one thing in common: they are the living dead. Europe had the revenant, nachzehrer, and the draugr. Asia had the vetala, jiangshi, gashadokuro, and ro-langs. Each of these versions of zombies struck fear into society. But they aren’t necessarily recognizable as the zombies we know today.

As modern zombies have lost their ability to reason and recall memories, a stereotype exists that they don’t recognize what is going on in the world around them—that they mindlessly wander around moaning “Braaaaaaaains”—but it may not exactly be true. They recognize enough to know when prey is near and that they need to hunt. They are also aware enough of their surroundings to navigate barriers—breaking through windows or climbing stairs—to get to their victims. Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead (1978) created the stereotype that zombies are mindless corpses driven by the hunger for flesh. In Night of the Living Dead, a young girl attacks and consumes her parents because she has no recognition of who they are. A brother goes after his sister since he has no memory of her. In Dawn of the Dead, the zombies mill around absently until prey is near, then they attack in droves. That notion has stuck in audiences’ minds as the typical and expected way for the undead to act. However, even Romero’s zombies eventually break out of the stereotype and evolve from simple creatures into beings with memories and thoughts.

Zombies are not simple creatures. For rotting corpses, there are many layers that define them. These layers contribute to the theme throughout history and from different cultures that zombies serve as a metaphor for the fears we as humans have. One of the most obvious of those fears is the fear of death. Every human knows that they will eventually die; it’s a part of life. What we don’t know is what happens after we die. Is there a heaven? Are we reincarnated into another living creature? Do we just cease to exist? These can be frightening things to think about. Most of us want to believe that there is something after death, something wonderful and awe inspiring. We don’t want to think that we turn into nothingness or horrific creatures.

Arnie + Zombies = Heaven

The other day, it came to my attention that there is a new zombie movie coming out—and it has Arnold Schwarzenegger in it. It’s called Maggie, and you can find information here.

Here’s the trailer:



Most of you probably don’t know this, but I’m obsessed with Arnie. I LOVE him. I used to own all of his good movies on VHS. (I don’t consider Twins or Junior to be good). I’m converting them over to DVD and Bluray, but it’s been a process.

Anyway, when this came across my Facebook feed, I was more than thrilled. It includes two of my obsessions. From the trailer, it looks like an amazing film—serious and heartbreaking, yet full of undead fun. I can’t wait to see it, and I hope it lives up to my expectations.

What am I saying? It has Arnie AND zombies. It’ll live up to my expectations. I’m excited!

What about you? What are your initial feelings about this film?

Cargo: A Zombie Short Film

This is an awesome film on YouTube, a great take on zombies and survival.  I love the father's foresight!