Muse – Zombie Flicks

I just finished watching the unrated version of Dawn of the Dead. An intense movie, added to my list of wonderful zombie tidbits. The did good work with this DVD. Not only do you get the movie and a nice commentary track, you also get good extras on the effect and two spoofed video clips. One that is made by Andy(if you watched this movie, you should know who Andy is) that fleshes out his character a good deal. There’s also a 20 minute spoof news report that adds to the flavor.

A lovely movie and one that gets me thinking again about my personal fascination with the zombie movie genre. I’ve always loved it. I have all three parts of Romero’s Dead trilogy and I live in waiting for him to make it a quartet. I also now have this one and Evil Dead 1 and 2 along with Army of Darkness. Though Romero’s work remains the forefront of my focus.

I’m not sure just why the modern zombie apocalypse draws my attention, It might be the engrossing possibility, perhaps the most plausible end of the world scenario of most fanciful movies. Dramas such as virus and nuke related things are obviously more reality based, but in the fanciful realm, I see the zombie plague as the most plausible, with a myriad of possibilities for how such a thing could come about.

The most common theme in these movies, besides scary zombies and loads of gunplay, is a group of cooped up survivors, which brings in the inevitable character clashes. Watching the movie, with the cool steel of logic, watching the inevitable clash of personalities and squabbling reveals much about the human condition. Some are typical, others have twists of characters ‘switching sides’ to move from antagonist to protagonist and vice versa.

The only problem is that each movie and story only encompasses a portion of the sort of epic I have always envisioned. I’ve always wanted to sit and watch a good six to eight hour miniseries(ala The Stand) where we start with one character and follow them through all of the scenarios that have been shown in the movies. From local survivors to a last ditch government effort to find a fix for the situation.

I’ve considered writing something like that.. making up a composite set of zombie ‘rules’ that dictate the limits of the condition. I’d stick with the necessity to shot them in the head, the communicability by contact with bodily fluids and other such minutia. I think the Dawn of the Dead remake had a good idea in having a medical character. I might focus my own story on a doctor, perhaps the best point of view through which to reveal deeper secrets about the origins of the zombie condition.

As well, there’s never been a story where the zombies have been defeated. I think, after so very long, I might have to have an epic where humanity overcomes.. what’s left of it. It would be curious to see one such victory ending considering the lack of them in the genre. I suppose one of the themes of the movie is the utter helplessness, sort of like the appeal of the Cathullu mythos. The inevitability of defeat, the disappearance of normalcy, irrevocably crushed below the reanimated tide.

What satisfying end could their be that is not an overall defeat, but a victory for humanity? I suppose that might be the holy grail of this genre.. a satisfying victory that doesn’t seem hokey.