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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  A Zombie Question « previous next »
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Author Topic: A Zombie Question  (Read 2478 times)
Mofo Rising
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« on: July 10, 2005, 05:29:56 PM »

How come in zombie movies nobody ever comments on the zombie's smell?  Since they are essentially rotting corpses walking around, it would seem that their smell would be one of their predominant characteristics.

Perhaps an entire movie of people making that "Who farted?" face would make the whole zombie idea seem kind of silly.

Also it would ruin the whole "Surprise!  There's a zombie behind you!" scare the movies use so often.  It's really hard to sneak up on someone when you have a miasma of stench emanating from you.  (Don't ask me how I know that.)

I was thinking maybe they just got used to the smell of zombies, but that would assume that the air is uniformly saturated with zombie smell.  I ruled that out because it's generally not a good idea to keep zombies in your immediate area.

Some day I will make a movie that addresses this issue.  I can see the reviews now: "This movie stinks!"
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nobody
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« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2005, 06:16:33 PM »

I think the main reason why no one comments on the smell is because they have more pressing issues to worry about- like surviving. And most people who get close enough to a zombie to get a whiff of the decaying flesh are usually in the process of being killed/eaten.
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peter johnson
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« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2005, 09:44:40 PM »

This is an excellent question --
 I would say that the reason zombies don't stink in movies is the same reason that most dirty bad guys in most Westerns have strong, white, perfect teeth, without a hint of decay or discoloration.  Being a filthy cowboy, villain in the Old West, with no apparent sense of personal hygeine, must've been very very good for one's dental health . . .
Really, I think zombie pictures SHOULD add in the stench factor -- it could raise the grossness quotent to a whole new level --
peter johnson/denny crane

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Susan
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« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2005, 09:55:53 PM »

if anything you could smell them coming. Plus if most zombies want brains does that mean that all of civilization will be wiped out....except for blondes?

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Menard
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« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2005, 10:10:03 PM »

Susan wrote:

> does that mean that all of civilization will be wiped out....except for blondes?


Oh yea! Sign me up for that civilization. (:

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Texdar
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« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2005, 09:13:41 AM »

I'd pay to see "Night of the Pungent Dead".

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Master Blaster
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« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2005, 05:41:57 PM »

Zombie films are low on realism. They never show bloated zombies either. Corpses bloat up like friggin baloons after they've been laying there a few days. Or at least so I've read.
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Flangepart
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« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2005, 05:46:05 PM »

The Michilen man is a bloated zombie.....But he sells great tires!
Night of the Pungent dead"...makes me glad they don't still have "Smell-o-vision."

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AndyC
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« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2005, 06:25:18 PM »

Yeah, when the air is full of smell, your olfactory apparatus gets saturated and you eventually stop noticing. Think of when you go into another person's house. It smells different at first, but you forget about it in a minute or two. Same with a barn or a garage. Can't see why a zombie-infested city would work any differently.

Still, with the current crop of vapid young actors, it would seem so realistic if they stood around b***hing about the smell until a couple of brains got eaten.

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Menard
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« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2005, 06:47:10 PM »

Good Point.

I had once hired some temporary workers for delivering fridges, and two of them had been talking about working at a mortuary; relocating gravesites and other duties. They had said that the stench was horrible on the first day, but they eventually got use to it; although they could still smell it, they were not as bothered by it.

Since a good number of zombie movies, though, begin with an outbreak, it would seem as though there should be a noticeable stench when the characters first encounter zombies. Although, a case for ignoring the stench due to survival instinct and adrenaline kicking in could be made.

In the case of a movie like DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978), where they have been dealing with the situation for a while, not making a big deal about the stench would seem more appropriate.

Of course, with a film like Lucio Fulci's ZOMBIE (1979), an atmosphere of decay just oozed off the screen, and you could smell the stench whether anybody mentioned it or not (although in the opening scene in New York Harbor, the cop who checks out the cabin of the boat is quite aware of a stench).

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Jim H
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« Reply #10 on: July 12, 2005, 03:23:09 AM »

In Land of the Dead, they call zombies stenches.
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Dr. Whom
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« Reply #11 on: July 13, 2005, 07:40:46 AM »

Master Blaster wrote:

> Zombie films are low on realism.

Gee, I never thought of that!
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« Reply #12 on: July 14, 2005, 03:43:01 PM »

>>How come in zombie movies nobody ever comments on the zombie's smell?

I just watched "Hide and Creep", a low budget zombie movie coming out next Tuesday.  Made in Thorsby, Alabama - it's basically a redneck zombie movie. Reminded me of a Troma film. They definatley mention the stink factor several times.

Best lines: "Daddy, I was killing zombies!" "You were!? They're stinky, huh?" "Yup!"

"Zombies, very dangerous. Government knows all about it. Now, put the damn game back on!"

Worth a watch, IMO.

~Lady E
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