The Official Zombie Handbook

wildabeast009 · Post by **wildabeast009** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:56 am

This was passed along to me by Mr. Anderson. It's a guide on how to use your zombies properly in your films. Please relpy with any suggestions and comments.

In many formats:
pdf http://www.savefile.com/files/7647366
htm http://www.savefile.com/files/8891708

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 10:14 pm

I think it is good but a little shallow. I would love to see a thesis down by you guys on the subject relating to popular zombie myth in film.

El Brenty · Post by **El Brenty** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 11:19 pm

I love anything with official in the title!

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 12:10 am

lol true - official to whom. I would like a study down outlining the attributes of various types of cinematic zombies. Frankenstein's monster may even be considered a zombie by some. I also debate that Romero made a mistake with the communicaton between zombies in Land of the Dead. This showed the evolution of the creature and their fight for survival. I thought it was clever.

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 2:09 am

its good but it could be a little bit longer<>

pdj · Post by **pdj** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:14 pm

Speaking of Land...i watched it the other day and I still don't understand why the black zombie was the 'leader' of the pack? Why did he have the 'brains' to problem solve situations?

btw- its a fantastic movie- are there any more in the series? He seemed to have left it open for another..?

Thoughts?

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:51 pm

Lands the newest, hope he lives to make another though.

ZombieKrieg2005 · Post by **ZombieKrieg2005** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 6:14 pm

He isnt sure about making another, he feels that he needs another political event. The black zombie was just the next step from bub, the zombie in day of the dead. It was how he would feel they would naturally evolve. The others saw him as a leader as he could get them successes and therefore more MEAT!

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 1:51 am

interesting though as the more intelligent zombies did not seem that hungry.

PDJ the order of films goes

1:The Night of the Living Dead (1968)
2: Dawn of the Dead (1978)
3: Day of the Dead (1985)
4: Land of the Dead (2005)
Strong black figures feature in all the films. One thing to note is though that in Night the lead male, Ben, was not intended to be a negro in the script. He got the job because he was the best at the auditions. Yet so much is read into the fact abou this colour and the social impact at the time.

ZombieKrieg2005 · Post by **ZombieKrieg2005** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:41 am

What is quite interesting I feel is that in the first three, the strong black figures are all on the 'good' side, the human side, whilst in land he is on the zombie side, but they are also the 'good' side. does anyone know when the dvd is coming out in the UK?

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 6:27 pm

who was black in day? sorry im drawing a blank here

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:09 am

the character of John (Terry Alexander).

I find it interesting to note that in all the of films the zombies are not the "bad guys" narrative wise. The greater evils are always commited by the 'normal' humans.

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 4:58 am

yeah i just remembered, he had an uzi I think well a pistol once,

i bet romero either wanted that lesson in all his movies or he needed another conflict instead of just being against the zombies

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:06 am

another interest of note it that Romero hardly ever personally refers to the zombies as zombies. The zombies act upon pure instinct, we on the other hand have choice.

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:17 am

can you explain that? In the movies they say zombies all the time

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:41 am

Romero states in his writings/interviews that he personally moves away from the term "zombie" as in often conjures up worngful view of his vision and stories

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:25 am

so basically he makes everyone equal in his movies?

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 1:34 pm

You can generalise Romero zombies too much at times. In Night the first zombie (although never refered to as) we see is very fast and intelligent (uses a rock to smash car window!). The other zombies around the house also seem intelligent to a point. They are able to use tools to attack the house, are scared of fire, show pain and at times make a lot of noise. Then when it comes to Dawn the zombies are very slow, sluggish and their intelligence levels have dropped.

pdj · Post by **pdj** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 2:58 pm

Hmm so why did he initially inject intelligence and reaction into his Day 'zombies' only to then take it away in Dawn? Personally, Dawn is my favourite because it really set the benchmark for the genre and the FX for a 70s flick was out of this world!

Back to my questionÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ why did he 'dumb down' the dead?

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 8:36 pm

I agree, PDJ.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:08 pm

I honestly do not know. Maybe upon reflection? There was a 10 year gap to think about it lol Interesting though as Dawn is set at basically the exact same time period in the overall narrative as Night is. Both at the outbreak of the problem.

pdj · Post by **pdj** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 1:02 am

Romero needs to hold a zombie convention or a DVD commentary to explain this all! Lol

DEDFX · Post by **DEDFX** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 1:14 am

Romero goes to some convention (forget at the time) sometimes, advertised in Fangoria with Bruce Campbell n stuff.

UFProductions · Post by **UFProductions** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:51 am

For one thing, Day is the sequal to Dawn (Night>>>>Dawn>>>>Day; get it?), and in Dawn we gegin to see the signs of zombie intelligence. In the TV commentator/montage we are told that the zombies maintain rudimentary intelligence, they are naturally compelled to return to places they know (the mall), and will use simple tools such as clubs. (this is previously exemplified in Night, when the first zombie breaks the window of a car with a rock.) This progressed to Bub in Day, then to the entire zombie populous (to some extent) in Land. For example, the Savini biker zombie, wields a butchers knife with awkward efficiency, similar in action to the M-16 at the very end of Dawn. Much of the confusion regarding continuity to zombie evolution stems from the fact that Night was remade in 1990, Dawn in 2005 and Day slated to be in 2008. For the record it goes:

Night of The living Dead - 1968 (Best)
Dawn of The Dead - 1978 (Second Best)
Day of The Dead - 1985 (Third Best)
Land of The Dead - 2005 (Not Bad)

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 7:32 am

Hmm i disagree about the confusion bit. I only consider the originals in this discussion. You can see in the originals very distinct zombie types. In Night they are generally fast and more intelligent than in Dawn. The zombie girl at the end even uses a garden spade to kill her mum! Some zombies even try to use clubs to break the doors down! They are all attracted to the house even though they can generally not see in and want for some reason to storm it. In Dawn they are much more sluggish and stupid. That is why the scene with the bikers makes many viewers feel for the poor zombies being treated so badly and made a mockery of. Day on the other hand shows all the outside zombies to be still slow and stupid. Only Bub the experimental one shows intelligence. This is made distinct when at the end he shoots a soldier with a gun instead of eating him. Land shows a more community orientated zombie in some ways. He feels for his friends and looks fir justice. The wheel has turned in this film and for the first real time the zombie is the hero.

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