Carnival of brains
October 18, 2006 9:30 AM   Subscribe

We've seen zombie flash mobs and zombie flash games (this awesome post deserves a resurrection - pun intended - for Halloween)... even zombie awareness products and laser controlled headless zombie flies. But do zombies really exist? This video makes a sound case.
posted by shoppingforsanity (22 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Neat. If trying a bit too hard to be 'real'. The silencers were a nice touch. Is it a part of a bigger series, a viral for something else or just a one-off thing? Also, it's pretty impressive as it's (potentially) all done in one shot.

On a similar note, I really do love my copy of Zombie Survival Guide, mainly due to its drier than dry delivery of the 'facts' pertaining to zombies.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:47 AM on October 18, 2006


Another interesting read is William Seabrook's 1929 book The Magic Island, which is an adventurer's account of life in Haiti. It introduced the word "zombie" to the English language.
posted by I Am Not a Lobster at 9:50 AM on October 18, 2006


For those of you who liked the Zombie Survival Guide, I cannot recommend World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War enough (also by Max Brooks). It's AMAZING, and is one of my favorite books of the year.
posted by mrbill at 10:04 AM on October 18, 2006


While I agree with the conventional wisdom that holds that zombies are our evolutionary superiors and that we should all succumb to them and accept our fate willingly, does anyone know who is responsible for the modern zombie mythos?

In other words, who came up with the idea of brain-eating, the notion that if they bite you, you become one. Wikipedia has a surprising amount of information on the topic, but not on this point.

Also, Shaun of the Dead is this generation's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
posted by Pastabagel at 10:06 AM on October 18, 2006


Wasn't Night of the Living Dead the first movie to include the idea that you become one if you are bitten by one?
posted by I Am Not a Lobster at 10:13 AM on October 18, 2006


Wasn't Night of the Living Dead the first movie to include the idea that you become one if you are bitten by one?

I though that in the NOTLD series, anyone who died -- for any reason -- came back to life as a zombie. ("When there is no more room in hell . . .") Zombie bites just kill you (probably from some kind of horrible bacterial infection).
posted by treepour at 10:22 AM on October 18, 2006


Wow, the video in that last link was quite good. I'm with slimepuppy in wondering, do we have any more information? Is it a viral ad (if it is, it's well done) or a little internet short?

Either way, I'm impressed.
posted by quin at 10:31 AM on October 18, 2006


If the zombie menace is for real, I think we can rely on the trusty agents of the FVZA.
posted by graymouser at 10:32 AM on October 18, 2006


Pastabagel : Also, Shaun of the Dead is this generation's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I maintain that Shaun of the Dead is probably one of the most accurate depictions of how the zombie Apocalypse would be. Which is to say, I would probably be totally oblivious through the whole start of it, then make a whole bunch of bad decisions which would end in getting myself or a bunch of my friends killed.

Simon Pegg, et al. are pure geniuses.
posted by quin at 10:37 AM on October 18, 2006


I though that in the NOTLD series, anyone who died -- for any reason -- came back to life as a zombie. ("When there is no more room in hell . . .") Zombie bites just kill you (probably from some kind of horrible bacterial infection).

Yeah, that's what I was getting at, although I phrased it poorly: starting with NOTLD, if you die, you become a zombie, and getting bitten = dying. Before that, the zombies didn't bite, and dying didn't mean becoming a zombie.
posted by I Am Not a Lobster at 10:39 AM on October 18, 2006



Return of the Living Dead.
I'm pretty sure this is the first movie with eating brains in it.
posted by andywolf at 10:46 AM on October 18, 2006


You left out zombie music.
posted by mmdei at 10:59 AM on October 18, 2006


Great post - the youtube vid was done quite well.
posted by dazed_one at 11:02 AM on October 18, 2006


Sorry to self-link, but a zombie bit my baby so, I thought I'd share.
posted by thekilgore at 12:03 PM on October 18, 2006


It's been linked before, but no zombie thread can go without woolly zombies.
posted by greycap at 12:29 PM on October 18, 2006


I just wanted to chime in my agreement with mrbill about World War Z. Great book, definitely the best I've read this year. Love the video too!
posted by gemmy at 3:47 PM on October 18, 2006


I think perhaps the zombie infection concept originated with Zombi 2 in 1979, but I could be incorrect. I've never seen that particular movie, just been searching through wikipedia for an answer.
posted by luftmensch at 3:59 PM on October 18, 2006


in the youtube video, are they putting a hood over the head of the zombie attack victim? that's a pretty good idea, one i've never seen in any zombie movie.

btw, if a zombie bites a vampire who then bites a werewolf who then bites the zombie, what the hell happens?
posted by lord_wolf at 4:13 PM on October 18, 2006


lord_wolf : btw, if a zombie bites a vampire who then bites a werewolf who then bites the zombie, what the hell happens?

An intriguing proposition. Let's think this through. Assuming we are using the common archetype of zombie, vampire, and werewolves, I think it would go something like this:

Zombie bites vampire: nothing happens, vampire is already dead and essentially immortal. Whatever virus would cause a human to turn into a zombie would be shrugged off by the vampire's immune system.

Vampire bites werewolf. This is a source of much contention. Popular movies and books suggest that a hybrid of unthinkable power would be created. In the White Wolf game, these are called Abominations. Older stories suggest that nothing would happen as they are both undead, or that the vampire wouldn't bite a werewolf, as the werewolves are supposed to be their protectors.

In any event, most of the literature and movies I've encountered lead to the same conclusion. All things being equal, a vampire wouldn't be able to bite a werewolf, because a werewolf would fuck a vampire right up in a straight fight.

Werewolf bites a zombie: the zombie is already dead and wouldn't fall prey to the lycanthropic infection. More likely than not, the werewolf would get a nice, if slightly gamey, meal out of the deal.

So there you go. Now you know I'm a big nerd. You happy?
posted by quin at 5:34 PM on October 18, 2006


Video was almost believable, but was too choreographed.

Also, am I the only one who is bored by zombies/zombie movies? There's zero sublety ("Braaaains!") and they move way to slow to be scary. Now a zombie who can walk and talk just like anyone else...

*starts writing screenplay
posted by zardoz at 6:24 PM on October 18, 2006


So there you go. Now you know I'm a big nerd. You happy?


yes. my work here is done. ;-)
posted by lord_wolf at 7:42 PM on October 18, 2006


Also, am I the only one who is bored by zombies/zombie movies? There's zero sublety ("Braaaains!") and they move way to slow to be scary. Now a zombie who can walk and talk just like anyone else...

*starts writing screenplay


A French guy already tried to make a movie like that, its called They Came Back (or Les Revenants in Le Fraunch). And it sucked! A terrible zombie movie if you could even call it that. So before you try to make this great idea for into your film, you should watch it.

:)
posted by shoppingforsanity at 11:41 PM on October 19, 2006


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