My Fears for the Undead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cIjPOJdFM



The threat of a bad zombie causes me more stress than the thought of a real zombie onslaught. I can't help but feel a slight amount of rage at the idea that a genre of movies as kick-ass as the zombie variety is becoming a fad. The idea that someone is creating zombie movies capable of causing Duane Jones to roll over in his grave (if it hasn't yet been abandoned by his undead corpse) makes me uneasy. Or maybe I'm just being a paranoid movie snob.

There is something about a film which portrays the downfall of the (living) human race in such a violent fashion, with constant metaphors of refusing to live a life of the nine to five grind, which makes the two hours devoted to sitting in front of a television, or movie screen, more worthwhile. Not only can a zombie movie scare the shit out of you, see 28 Days Later, or make you laugh, Shaun of the Dead, they can even tackle social issues like the casting of the first African-American lead in the great Night of the Living Dead. All of these issues might help illustrate my fear of having such a great genre of film raped by Hollywood.

This unnecessary sense of paranoia has recently been spawned by the latest zombie film starring everyone's favorite New England bar tender, Woody Harrelson. While the premise of the movie is quite cookie-cutter zombie film, with America being ravaged by a "zombie plague" and a select few survivors being left to their own devices, there are a few things I have seen in the previews that raise an eye-brow or two. My one greatest concern is what appears to be a scene which takes place in ... an amusement park? The thought of Woody Harrelson shooting up an amusement park in an attempt to become "zombie killer of the week" is a little disconcerting.

Despite these concerns, I am trying my best to keep an open mind, for there are some positives. First off, a movie that has the ability to feature flesh hungry zombies while keeping the crowd laughing is an amazing combination. Another, rather important positive, is the casting of one of the few positives of the ever popular Superbad, Emma Stone. Not saying that an attractive female role adds repute to a zombie film, but it definitely doesn't do it any harm.

To cut to the chase, I am looking forward to seeing any new zombie movie, or old for that matter. I only hope that it as good as I hope and that I will end up eating my words about good ol' Woody.

Declan