What makes a good zombie movie?

[nobody]

There are a lot of comments on this messageboard concerning zombie movies.

"The following zombie movies are great..."

"The following zombie movies are terrible..."

etc.

I'm wondering what you all think makes a good zombie movie. Do you simply care about gore, or does the storyline heavily influence your decision? What exactly is it that you find entertaining about your favorite zombie movies?

[maria paula]

personally, i dont really care too much about the gore, the story line its what it really interest me, like whats going on, why is everything happeneing, is it a virus?? is it a voodoo thing?? some Environmental problem?? the characters too,  how would  do react in front of a limit situation,   and the resolution of the film. but as i dont take too much seriously this kind of movies, i just want a zombie movie  to entertain me, to make me spend a  good time, a bit. horrid ones "zombie lake" and "the oasis of the zombies" a waste of money and a waste of time.



Post Edited (05-06-04 16:44)

[raj]

Same thing that makes any other movie good.  Decent story, decent acting (the don't have to be great, just not wooden), decent lighting (I hate it when I can't see what's going on).  The plot needs to move faster than the zombies.

Maria's got it right:  entertaining

[The Ghoul]

Not The Alien Dead. Ever. Return of the Living Dead is great, the original Dawn of the Dead is a classic, Night of the Living Dead is the Citizen Kane of zombie horror. Look out for the U.K. Shaun of the Dead next year. Looks like a good story with some decent goofy horror. Not my favorite kind of horror but I ain't that picky. Avoid The Alien Dead.

[nobody]

Where were you just five days ago, Ghoul? I bought a copy of "Alien Dead" off ebay and it should be arriving at my house any day now... possibly today! You could've saved me $5. :)
Now I'm wondering if I should even watch it.

[maria paula]

avoid to watch that garbage.

[jga]

Zombie films for me have to have a full invasion of zombies. I've seen a couple bad zombie movies with only one or two zombies, It doesn't create the atmosphere.

Gore, it's a plus but not necessary. If a zombie movie has a stupid story and bad acting, I'm expecting more in the gore department to redeem itself. Otherwise it would just be plain useless like this one movie I watched, "The Dead Don't Die".

Also there should be an enlightening story. That applies to every other movie genre though. I'm always looking for a philosophy I could take from a film. 28 Days Later and Romero's zombie films have that quality.

Dead Alive is the best example. Teaches you about moving on in life  with the relationship between the guy and his mother and it delivers the greatest gore scenes ever.

[StatCat]

Gore

Good Makeup

Lots of Zombies

Acting

Atmosphere

Storyline



Post Edited (05-08-04 00:21)

[Max Gardner]

1) Lots of zombies.  It's just not scary unless it's an all-out invasion.

2) Zombies that act like proper zombies.  I'm tired of these marathon runners that have become the norm since 28 Days Later, which is still the only movie that pulled off fast zombies well.

3) Some degree of social commentary.  Zombies are too weighted an antagonist (if we're looking at the zombie mob as a single antagonist) to have them mean absolutely nothing, as in the "Dawn of the Dead" remake or Lucio Fulci's zombie films, although Fulci's zombies make up for their lack of meaning in other ways.

4) A familiar setting.  A shopping mall, a hospital - places we're likely to recognize, but in which we're not entirely comfortable.

[The Ghoul]

Sorry, my bad on the timing. Alien Dead, I feel your pain! You could do the unthinkable and sell your wretched movie BACK on eBay but that would make you worse than Fred for making Alien Dead and selling it off as some great cult film. Listen to Fred's commentary as that's the only MINOR joy to be had. There's only ONE boob shot and the make up on the zombies is kitchen sink 1952 B-movie quality. I wonder if Fred's other opus Scalps is better? Better than blinding left hook to the skull that is. Anyone seen Scalps?

[JohnL]

>Anyone seen Scalps?

A LONG time ago. Don't really remember much past it having something to do with people excavating some site in the desert and getting killed.

[BreadZombie<-It eats breads!!]

I saw Hell of the Living Dead. That is the kind of bad movie that entertains you just because its awfulness. How can that kind of movie gets past scripting stage?? This was a complete, shameless other-iconic-zombie-movies rip-off, not to mention a complete loss of time, money, and bandwidth (yes babies, eMule rules!). My girlfriend said "hey, wasn't that music taken from 70's dawn of the dead? Is the same music when zombies get inside the mall, isn't it?" YES IT IS!! RIP-OFF!!! RIP-OFF, I TELLS YA!!!

I really like this lightning moving zombies factor. Is not your cheesy "breaking the monster rule" like vampires on sunlight, or werewolves shifting on will, if you get my drift. Fast moving zombies is the only way you could possibly get a quick crowd of undead.  How can you possibly get bitten (therefore turned) from a thing you can escape WALKING AWAY?? I see these possible answers:

1. You stand there, catatonically waiting for the zombie to get you. Yawn.
2. You go inside a place full of zombies, even though everybody else try to discourage you. Going walking backwards into the the place doubles the stupidity points. Triple if it's pitch dark.
3. The zombie was a loved one back whe he/she was alive.
4. You waste your time (and bullets) and probably your life shooting aimlessly to the body even though the fact to hit the head (or the genitalia, who knows for sure?) has already been stablished.
5. You get all cocky and stuff, then you taunt them. Then, get bitten.

"Remember: a bite is a death sentence".

The gore. How you get bloody guts all over the place. People walking with their insides out. Limbs ripped off spraying blood everywhere. A grotesque face with stains of you-don't-wanna-know all around its mouth (or what's left of it). No, most zombie movies don't have this kind of gore. They only show you their best on a goofy representation of a clown with make up, babbling something like "... brains".

The zombies themselves. Have you ever seen a roadkill? How is it black, purplish? Covered of dirt? Have you seen one with its guts crushed out? How they look after a day or two under the sunlight? Does any zombie actually look like that? No. They are usually green. Sometimes blue. Bad, BAD make up. Most of them are only people with their skin covered of mud. How lame. Their blood is as red and as fresh as any living being has it. Not to mention that usually blood on screen looks as unreal as a 3 bucks coin. Looks more like BBQ sauce, with spice and stuff.

The plot. Most of them make look chick movies as master pieces. Trapped group of strangers to each other trying to make it to the next day: so-so. Unaware rednecks town away from civilization dealing with the problem: exploited so many times is not fun anymore. Tomb raiders releasing an ancient curse: yawn. Unethical power-hungry corporation/government/militia testing their ultimate bio-weapon: lacks something else, not to mention that we see that every day on real life. Very few portrait the human natural reaction to a problem of that scale. But then again, when you're out to see a zombie movie, you know what your expectations can be.

Music. Goblin sucks. 'nuff said.

Overall, a good movie is a good movie, wether it has zombies or not.

[maria paula]

anyway, i dont think  that zombie movies are made to be good, they are just made to entertain and thats all, i never tell to my self after watching a zombie movie " god this is a great movie"  no still i havent seen "the kane cityzen" of the zombie movies , i just think, "i had fun " dawn of the dead  or " what a waste of time" oasis of the zombie and  lots more ,i agree, goblin music sucks,

[JohnL]

>They are usually green. Sometimes blue. Bad,

Actually, human corpses DO turn somewhat green after a few days, with some purple bruise-like marks.

[BreadZombie:GRAAIIINNSS!!!!]

Yes, you said it yourself, *somewhat* green, not godzilla-skin green.