Zombie Horror

Waterborne: In this short film, the zombies are animals who drank from a contaminated lake, who began to attack a park ranger. Key conventions found in this is a contrast between slow and fast paced editing, introducing main characters, cliff hanger, main people dying, conflict between two characters.

Alice Jacobs is dead: In this film, it is post-apocalyptic. One man is hiding his wife who will eventually become a zombie. Key conceptions used in this are, apocalyptic world, betrayer, emotionally attached to a zombie, zombies re-populate the earth.

History:

Films featuring zombies have been a part of cinema since the 1930s, with White Zombie (1932) being one of the earliest examples. With George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), the zombie trope began to be increasingly linked to consumerism. Today, zombie films are release with such regularity (at least 55 titles were released in 2014) that they can be viewed as a separate sub-genre of Horror films.

Codes and conventions of zombie films:

• a tight community of protagonists
• isolation
• apocalyptic world
• chase scenes
• abandoned locations
• want to survive
• shot in the head kill

Typical characters:

• leader
• children
• betrayer
• human sacrifice
• eye candy
• nerd
• annoying "moronic" character that messes everything up
• person who is emotionally attached to zombie - does not want to kill them, and thus wants to keep them safe
• person who loves killing zombies (eventually, their confidence will get them killed)
• the person that freaks out
• the peacemaker who tries to keep people together
• the love interest to inspire hope

Beginnings and endings:

• cliff hangers
• everyone dies
• zombies killed/cured
• show previous world
• find out about what happened to cause "zombie world"
• introduce main characters, of whom are survivors of the "zombie virus"

Story elements:

The first time someone will see a zombie is dangerous and traumatic, and will often cause disbelief or panic. Authorities usually don't react until it is too late. Society will collapse and zombies will take over, with small groups of the living fighting for survival - often fighting with other groups of humans for supplies, food etc.

Most stories usually focus on one single group of survivors who come together - as safety comes in numbers, so not all members of the group will necessarily know each other. The narrative generally processes from the beginning of the zombie epidemic, then initial attempts to seek the aid of authorities, then failure, meaning they have to try surviving on their own. They usually focus on the way characters react to such an extreme catastrophe, and how their personalities are changed by the stress, often acting on more primal motivations than they would display in normal life e.g. being more violent because of their fear.

Why do people like zombie movies?

TV shows like The Walking Dead and movies like Shaun of the Dead are fan favourites. But the question is; why are people (including myself) so obsessed?

It could be because we are concerned about the end of the world. We ask ourselves 'Will it happen?'  We have an innate fear that something bad will happen to our world that will cause a zombie apocalypse, like the fall of our social infrastructures or an outbreak of a deadly virus. And, I guess we watch these films and TV shows to ready ourselves for that.

However, some people may only watch zombie movies to gain survival skills. Learning how to build a shelter, scout for food or create weapons out of any available object are all examples of skills a person can easily learn by watching such movies.

Maybe we watch zombie movies to feel good about ourselves. I know when I finish an episode of The Walking Dead I start to appreciate the things in life much more and to not take them for granted. I am certainly glad that I am not presented with all of the problems that the characters are.

Of course, there is the thrill. Zombie movies can be very thrilling, especially when heroes barricade houses, hide inside them and watch the savage world through a broken window. The setup of zombie movies, when done right, can be very thrilling to most people.