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I stumbled across this article in which Simon Pegg complained about the "faster" model of zombie. Is the old fashioned, slow moving corpse more effective than the "post 28 days later" runners? I want feedback.

Check out Pegg's argument:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/04/television-simon-pegg-dead-set

If the zombie-geddon ever gets here, I'd much rather the slow-goers myself. Though I can see the appeal to the shamblers as far as suspense goes, especially when they gather in a massive wave of bodies that slowly closes in on you and your tasty brain, I think the running dead are much creepier in the sense of "Holy sh!t! How can you escape something like that!?" I still think that the original Return of the Living Dead is definitely one of the freakiest living dead flicks for that reason. At a time when horror movie fans were getting comfortable with the idea of knowing what they would do in the case of a zombie movie attack, here comes an army of unstoppable corpses, running screaming through the streets like rabid dogs, motivated entirely by searing pain that can only be cured with cracking open your head and eating your brains. Yikes. :buggedout:

To me, the 28 Days Later archetype weren't really zombies, but virus infected people.
They weren't the living dead, they had heartbeats and didn't rot.

I think Pegg nailed it.  Zombies are corpses, the ultimate symbol of death.  You're stronger than them, faster than them, smarter then them, but the second you catch a glimpse of a horde of them shuffling towards you, you know it's all over.  It's only a question of how long you can hold out before they bury you under their massive weight and make you one of them.  If your monster is fast, make him some sort of predator instead of a zombie.

Slow zombies, always slow zombies.  It's not only better in a movie but more realistic, as far as realism can go in a zombie movie.

i honestly don't care, and it sort of bothers me when people act like this is a big deal. it only matters if they're going to use fast zombies and still try to create a "dreadful atmospheric"-type zombie movie. 28 days later was a good example of where fast zombies (yes, i'm calling those zombies. sue me.) worked just fine, because the film didn't try to work contrary to their being more active.

Just watched Dawn of the Dead Original and Remake, and I gotta say, both are freaky in their own way.  My emotional preferance is for slow zombies [that way my Zombie Survival Guide is not made redundant] and a massive horde of slow moving zombies that endlessly pursue you across miles and miles is quite a statement.

But let's face it: if zombies are fast then we're all completely buggeredo!  Slow we can face, fast, well, that will make the infection spread like wildfire!

So which do I prefer?  Slow zombies I like, but which scares me more?  Fast baby!

I concur with the previous posters. Running zombies might have a place (Like daywalker vampires), but the movies are best when the corpses main threat comes from their numbers.

I think the votes speak for themselves.  :smile:

Everyone has been used to slow zombies, that image of the undead. It's ingrained in our minds that, that's the way they are supposed to be. Death has set in, rigur mortis and decay, limbs would not function with such ease. You only have to look at films like the original "Of The Dead" trilogy, to see that it works best with them slow. It creates more suspense as characters are scared and have to plan their movements carefully and any over confidence or lack of concentration can ultimately lead to their grisly demise.  :teddyr:

I agree with Dean, if the zombies are fast, you've basically got no hope.  The whole idea of zombies is that they're the living dead, not very physically fit after spending all that time in the grave.  There's lots of them, and they're coming after you.  It's a claustrophobic thing.  With running zombies you've pretty much got a horde of murderers after you.  Unless you've got a bunker and thousands of rounds of ammo, it's not very realistic to think that anyone could survive for long at all.

You can't use logic with the living dead though guys, fast or slow. If their blood has turned to sludge and no longer pumps through their system, how would they be able to move at all? And even if the circulatory systems did function, they why wouldn't they die after the heart was destroyed? Why would the only way to stop them be through brain damage? How can the nervous system function without blood or oxygen? Whoa, better be careful or I'm gonna start sounding like Wyre...  :bluesad:

Slow.

Fast zombies are missing the point of what makes zombies so great to begin with.

I prefer slooooooow. I mean they are the "standard". If they are fast, you really have no chance, but when they're slow, their threat comes from their numbers, as Mr. Briggs Inc. said. So please support the slow zombies.
(http://www.grindhousedatabase.com/images/thumb/Zombie1.jpg/300px-Zombie1.jpg)
Look at him.
How could you say "no" to those eyes?

There seems to be a lot of "dead are supposed to be slow" talk in the air, but there is also quite a lot of "faster are freakier" talk floating in the vicinity, so how about a compromise that will get the best of both worlds?
I've always thought that the longer a zombie has been dead the slower it should be, so how would you react to a zombie flick in which the recently dead are fast, nimble and deadly and the more rotten ones are slow and rely on the strength of numbers to catch their helpless (and soon rather brainless, I'm afraid  :teddyr:) victim?
That would be, in my opinion at least, a perfectly balanced and very scary zombie movie.  :cheers:

Very good point, that makes perfect sense. Re-animator is a perfect example, the fresher the corpse, the quicker the transition back to life and full movement.

But then all zombies would have an after-life span. Once the dead is too old is gets slower and has a harder time preying on the living; eventually the slow ones would die out.

except that the vote is imperfect, in that it only allows for people who have a preference to be counted. i, myself, have stated that i have no preference either way, and have not voted because there isn't an option that represents me.

IMO, 28 Days Later is a zombie movie, but those aren't zombies, just like a movie set in space can be called a western, but that dosen't make the moonmen cowboys.

I'm kind of partial to the motley assortment of zombies myself. Some fresh ones who could pass for the living, some desicated like ancient mummies, some that can be taken out with a headshot, and others that are headless to begin with. I like to think that they're animated by some eldritch force or intelligence beyond human comprehension that plays by it's own, not necessarily consistent, set of rules.

Ut oh, this thread opened a can of worms on the definition of "Zombie"!
Maybe the modern fast, infected person can be a zombie, because the living corpse brought back to life through radiation broke with the tradition of the voo-doo zombie.
Not all living corpses ate flesh or brains, some drank blood and could be considered a cousin of the Vampire.

So maybe as time progresses the definition changes.

All I know is I found the new "Dawn of the Dead" and "Return of the Living Dead" much freakier than the original "Dawn of the Dead"...

I think it's (at least partially) a generational thing. I think slow moving zombies today are going to have a harder time keeping kids interested in what's going on on-screen (unless they're really really gross looking, I suppose), so directors have resorted to using fast zombies to keep things intense all the time.

see, that's what i'm saying. fast zombies are good for terrifying action, and slow zombies are good for existential dread.

The kids today need to have patience with their dead... :teddyr:

I agree about 28 Days Later being a zombie movie. While I'm not a fan of "fast zombies" I did think 28 Days Later was a great movie (even if the sequel was total rubbish), and I disagree with the people who get really into splitting hairs and proclaim that 28 Days Later isn't "technically" a zombie movie. Seems to me it's just a little twist on the zombie genre. Like Tombs Of The Blind Dead.



Does that mean zombies would suffer a mid-death crisis?



How young are we talkin' here? I'm pretty young and I'm still a slow zombie-phile.



I just don't find fast zombies scary. And I don't really get the point of bothering to use zombies if you're gonna have 'em be fast anyway. I think the zombies' slowness is sort of what makes them special. Take that away and, really, what does it matter just what kind of monster is sprinting at you with a mind to tear your flesh to pieces. Might as well be a werewolf, or a particularly savage vampire, or an alien monster, or whatever. At least, that's my opinion... and I mean no disrespect for yours, ToyMan.




Since we're on the subject of zombies, by the way, I was wondering... has anyone here read the book Zombie C.S.U. by Jonathan Maberry?

I'm talking about teenagers and young people our age, the mainstream, who still watch MTV, have no arse and all drink vegan coffee at Starbucks whilst listening to My Chemical HoobaBlink 41. You know, this generation of media sheep and airheads, who have no time for "concepts" and do not understand the word "slow"  :smile:

I know what ya meant. I was just kidding. But, yeah, we're in agreement.

By the way "My Chemical HoobaBlink 41" ...is hilarious.

Good point.

I'll hedge my bet.  Shouldn't be able to run, but could at least powerwalk. 

I like slow zombies, but I have to say those fast, climbing zombies in the Ravenholm section of the game Half-Life 2 scared the crap out of me.



Zombies on a Segway maybe? I think we're onto something.. ..

Love that game! Yeah Ravenholm was the only part that I got freaked out about a little.




...featuring Samuel L. Jackson when he finally turns 90 and is in a wheelchair.

"We have muthafukkin' zombies on [hack, cough] muthafukkin' Segways! Git offa mah lawn, muthafukkas!"

Someone's way ahead of ya Ghouck...

(http://s3.amazonaws.com/wootsaleimages/UpgraDeadr3gDetail.png)