![]() ![]() ![]() If werewolf stories justify the divide between civilized and savage, because if one of the lower class bites you you’ll turn into them and (spoiler) have to be killed. If Dracula justifies Victorian xenophobia, remember (spoiler) they do kill him at the end. ![]() There is so much variation on the theme, because the world changes and our collective fears change with them. Compare the ageing Count to any other vampire. Vampires had been a staple of folklore for hundreds of years before Stoker wrote Dracula. Old legends remade for each new generation. But zombies just keep being zombies.Ĭonsider how vampires and werewolves fade in and out of popularity. Then the “Hostels” and “The Devil’s Rejects” quit selling, PG-13 remakes of Asian horror movies flooded the market until those too subsided. “Saw” and “Cabin Fever” broke the mold after the self-aware Scream rip-offs died out and brought us into the future of torture porn and the revamped B-movie that had all but disappeared since the early 80’s. But this is not a bad thing it should mean a shift is coming, it should mean new things. It was impossible to take them seriously anymore. Remember “Scream?” Scream did what eight sequels couldn’t. If zombies hope to keep up, they’ll have to change. Werewolf stories warn that under the composed veneer of the civilized man is a savage. Dracula was written to show like-minded Victorian Englishmen swarthy invaders were coming for their women, it also says sometimes an English woman is capable of helping. ![]() Rampant consumerism makes you a zombie, yes the cycle of violence will never end, yes and my favorite, people are worse than the dead. Sure, with the subtlety of an anti-drug PSA from the 90’s. Why do we keep returning this well? My friends cited the social issues inherent to the genre, “consumerism and you know…” In other words they attempted to make you laugh at the things we’ve seen overdone time and again. The first to arrive was the modern classic “Shaun of the Dead” followed by its American cousin “Zombieland.” Both serve to prop up this fascination the media devouring culture has with the walking dead, while completely deconstructing and then rebuilding the familiar tropes inherent in the genre. At the bookstore, at the movies, there was a storm of zombies and finally came the parodies. I enjoyed “28 Days Later” and the first 60 issues of “The Walking Dead,” then the world became all Zombies all the time. I grew up on the Living Dead trilogy where, like George Lucas, only the first three count. Fans began calling them zombies, Romero liked it and the rest is history. The modern zombie, or “Romero Zombie,” with its shambling gait and hunger for flesh first appeared in George Romero’s 1968 film, “Night of the Living Dead.” The first Living Dead film never gives a name to its creeping terror. So, in the spirit of the holiday I thought I might return to this thought. More complaints than the time I said I would not be voting in this upcoming election. I received a number of complaints from friends. Last week I made passing reference to my disinterest in the ongoing zombie craze. ![]()
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