Romero insists that “zombies can’t run”
George A. Romero, the cinematic legend and creator of the popular zombie genre insists that despite what you may have seen in the 28 Days/Weeks Later films, the remake of his own Dawn of the Dead and last year’s blockbuster I Am Legend that actually“zombie’s can’t run”.
His reasoning; “Their ankles would break”. Well after all, he did tell us that when there is no more room in hell, the dead will WALK the Earth.
The comments come after Romero’s latest two pictures Land of the Dead and Diary of the Dead which feature his typically methodical paced walking dead have clearly not captured the imaginations of the horror geeks and critics quite like the new breed of films from other film-makers. Audiences don’t have the patience these days to be dictated to with zombie films and it’s partly down to Romero’s own fault as he has clearly ran out of new themes to explore in his series and is happy churning out the same old, same old.
Romero’s “dead” flicks are always more concerned with social and political undercurrents than they ever were about jolting and shocking audiences like today’s bunch (although sometimes, especially in his first movie - they sure did, to me at least). Racism, consumerism, media frenzies, fascism and dictatorship make up just a few of the themes that are disguised in his horror movies over the decades but the recent movies in the genre that he hasn’t directed are all about shock and the disaster of the situation and concept itself, which is more akin to today’s audience.
They are no holds barred movies with little time for anything else but characters trying to survive in a messed up situation. It’s this kind of fast paced adrenalin that fans would much rather cue up to see a 28 Months Later than a Diary of the Dead 2.
Only in parody, would modern day movie-goers be happy to see a walking zombie as in the brilliant Shaun of the Dead…
In a great interview you can read HERE - Romero claims that Matheson’s I Am Legend has still not be done properly on film, the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake was the “biggest sin” to the genre because of it’s depiction of running zombies and how he giggles with his good friend Stephen King when they see squeamish audiences watching a horror flick at the theatre.
source -/film
Categories: George-A.-Romero
6 Comments »
Leave a comment
-
No January re-release for THE DARK KNIGHT
December 2nd, 2008
-
Downey Jr. knocked unconscious during SHERLOCK HOLMES shoot
December 2nd, 2008
-
SPEED 3 might happen but NOT as a remake?
December 2nd, 2008
-
A preview of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s metaphysical spaghetti western gangster film!
December 2nd, 2008
-
TWILIGHT ZONE movie gets a writer?
December 2nd, 2008
-
Shia LaBeouf in John Grisham thriller THE ASSOCIATES
December 2nd, 2008
-
Rob Zombie close to HALLOWEEN return
December 2nd, 2008
-
New WOLVERINE pics
December 2nd, 2008
-
TV Plug: CINEPOLITICS on Sky Channel 515
December 2nd, 2008
-
George Miller officially off JUSTICE LEAGUE
December 1st, 2008
-
Adapt Me No. #1 - THE DICE MAN by Luke Rhinehart
November 26th, 2008
-
Editorial: VALKYRIE shows Cruise needs Apatow
November 20th, 2008
-
James Bond movies and the shaky-cam action aesthetic - is this progress?
November 19th, 2008
-
Editorial: Why STAR TREK Fails
November 18th, 2008
-
Friday editorial: Lack of BOND gives me SOLACE!
November 14th, 2008
Zombies can’t run. Amen.
Ever since seeing the original Dawn of the Dead, I have had zombie nightmares. A constant, slow-moving, unending tide of the dead shambling towards me was always recurring. They symbolized an unstoppable force that would eventually catch up with you. If you slept. If you were hurt. If you were trapped.
The anticipation of what to come was what was terrifying. You KNEW they would eventually get to you no matter what. But you would try to get away and survive for just a little longer.
But ever since the remake…my nightmares have ended. The anticipatory fear…gone.
A zombie sees you…they all get you.
That’s fine. The end will be swift. And I’ll wake from my nightmare. And the movie will end.
Nuff said.
Comment by Eric Huber | June 9, 2008
I’m with the righteous Romero. Zombies don’t run, and his Dead trilogy movies, if you want to label them as such (I’ve not seen his recent efforts unfortunately), are more powerful and imaginative than modern, uptempo additions to the zombie genre.
Romero’s zombies are a threat because they are slow; it’s creeping death. The films are comments on the festering forces of consumerism, racism, militarism and other forms of bigoted behaviour. It’s that slow-paced death, like poison, that is truly scary; more so than being swiftly snuffed out speedily. The zombies mirror our unblinking, apathetic society - that’s not achieved if youve got the undead acting as if you’ve injected ‘em with adrenalin.
Comment by James Clayton | June 9, 2008
No offense guys, but I wish people would stop correlating the wrong aspects of movies’ success or otherwise:
“fans would much rather cue up to see a 28 Months Later than a Diary of the Dead 2″
Not really. Diary of The Dead was given VERY limited release - 48 theatres according to boxofficemojo.com, while 28 Weeks Later was released on 2,305. Add to that the fact that 28 Weeks Later was a better film and there’s your answer - it’s got bugger all to do with whether the zombies run or not. Same with Land Of The Dead - it was rushed in and out of cinemas on an August release (summer release for a zombie movie?) to make way for an October DVD release. It was apparently very successful on DVD, just not given a hope at theatres.
You tend to do a decent job of criticising Hollywood when it’s wrong, stop falling into their idiotic thought patterns. This is the kind of dumb thinking that stopped Romero’s Resident Evil from getting greenlit because the studio execs “didn’t want to make a zombie film”.
Personally, I’m with Romero on this one. When fast zombies are done well (DotD remake or 28 weeks/days), they can be effective but nothing quite beats a slow-moving horde. Remember the other thing about Romero’s zombie movies - the characters were more dangerous than the zombies. It was man’s inability to overcome its hubris and petty issues in the face of terrible adversity that undid them. The fact that the apocalypse was brought by a swarm of flesh-eating ghouls was less important.
Comment by aphexbr | June 10, 2008
What does it say about modern audiences when they just want something filled with action and little susbtance?
The masses are stupid.
Comment by CJ | June 10, 2008
It depends on the “zombie.” Virulent strains produce a *living* human who’s gone mad. They indeed could run fast.
Shuffling corpses? Sure, they’re going to be slow. And we should all hope when Z-Day comes this is what we have to deal with. But realistically, the “zombie” hordes aren’t going to be magically-animated dead- they’ll be alive- either by chemical or viral means- and they’ll be capable of moving much like a human.
Comment by Gendo Ikari | August 3, 2008
I completely agree zombies don’t run!
@ Gendo Ikari
“It depends on the ‘Zombie.’ Virulent strains produce a *living* human who’s gone mad.”
Thats just stupid. Notice, you said “living” if their alive they were not zombies in the first place my friend. What you seem to be talking about is something like a dog and rabies. If we are going to talk about zombies they are going to be dead, not alive. So if they day does come, people die, come back, and start eating brains. They’ll be slow, stupid, and they certainly can’t run.
Comment by sudoCROM | December 1, 2008