Horror movie question....................................?

Question

Why have there been so many zombie movies lately? Zombies are about as scary as watching paint dry. They are slow, stupid, and already dead, so WTF? Vampires and werewolves are scarier. Can anyone prove that zombies are scary?

Answer 1

Why did you open this can of worms?

Its true that there have been a crapton of zombie movies lately, and not all of them paint zombies in a scary light. But zombies are scary. I'll explain why they are, and I'll explain the reasons they haven't been that scary lately.

First, why haven't zombie movies been able to scare us lately? Two reasons. One, because there have been so many of them. Resident Evil, Dawn (and Land) of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead. And that's just to name a few. When you see something over and over and over again, it ceases to be as scary or shocking as it once was.
Two, because so many movies don't even try to be scary. Movies like Resident Evil give us zombies as an action device. It kinda downgrades the effect of seeing zombies.


But zombies are a scary breed. Just as scary, if not more so, than werewolves and vampires. The main fright with zombies is their sheer numbers. If you go by popular culture's definition of zombies, one infected person can spread the zombie disease so quickly, that it becomes nearly impossible to contain it. Which means the few people who don't get infected are most likely facing thousands, if not millions, of zombies. And with just a few dozen zombies banging on your door, you probably won't last long.
In addition to zombies' superior numbers, they also have a superhuman resistance to physical damage, as well as increased strength. So, while it may take quite a few angry humans to get into your fortified safehouse, a minimal number of zombies could do it.
And yes, like you said, zombies are already dead. Yet, they are coming after you 300 strong. That sounds scary to me. Trying to kill 300 already dead beings. It probably isn't easy.

Answer 2

The ideal of a mindless cannibal that looks exactly like a friend or mother not only that they are practically invincible. Granted vampires and werewolves look scarier and are much more stealthy the origination of zombies is still a creepier thought. I mean what about when "hell become full the dead will walk the earth". That is a pretty good way to start a scary character. Maybe I just really like George Romero and the older zombie flicks either way it was good in its day.

Answer 3

I think the abundance of zombie movies can be viewed as a social commentary thing...

there were a lot of vampire movies in the 1980s, when society was dealing with the AIDS epidemic(vampires 'turn' through the exchange of blood), Reagan's war on drugs (vampires don't drink blood, they die) and gang problems were beginning to be seen as an issue that wasn't just for the city (vampires, in the country, in the suburbs, in the city, running around in packs--Lost Boys, Near Dark, The Addiction, etc etc)...

Now, we've got a lot of zombie movies...socially, we've got a lot of technology, a lot of staring off at monitors and televisions and cell phones and ipods.. in the movies, zombies are usually traced back to some kind of government consipacy or screw up or chemical mishap...(remember anthrax and sarin a few years ago, the government telling us to buy some duct tape so we can tape the seams of our windows closed in case of a chemical attack? All those news stories about, uhoh, what if the terrorists poison our water and food or anything else in the supermarket)

You're right, vampires are scarier. But, from a social commentary standpoint, zombies are pretty creepy, too.

Answer 4

i am a huge zombie movie fan. you're right, though, there are too many zombie movies, and i say this because most of them miss the point. Romero (Night, Dawn, Day and Land of the Dead) focused his films on the way humans fall apart in extreme situations. the zombies were a backdrop. Any good movie explores human weakness, not how gory a reanimated corpse can be.
zombies ARE scary, because of the eventual fate for us all that they represent, because they are mindless and relentless. if you watch 28 days later (and yes, i know, they aren't technically zombies), you hardly ever see the zombies clearly. the movie isn't about gore, it's about humans pushed to the limits of their ability and their compassion (or greed), with a definite taste of alfred hitchcock's technique of creating suspense by hardly ever showing the monster(s) clearly.
i have a feeling you've been watching a lot of really bad zombie movies (i know i have), but if you stick to a few that are old classics (romero, fulci) and new innovations (boyle), you might see what the genre's about. also, see shaun of the dead, tons of inside jokes for zombie movie fanatics, and a relief from badly made zombie flicks.

Answer 5

Very often movie trends follow what was popular 2 or 3 years ago--it just takes (at least) that long to talk up and get a movie produced.

Some of the zombie genre popularity has to do with Max Brook's "The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead". There's plans to make this into a movie.

Answer 6

I think that most of the horror genre has been overplayed as of late. We need something new, different, and inventive.

Zombies are slow and hungry - throw them a brain and they're happy.

Vampires are very sexual and alluring - not scary at all.

Werewolves are hairy, howling creatures - ladies, doesn't this sound like most men? SORRY GUYS - JUST HAD TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF FUN AT YOUR EXPENSE.

We really haven't had too many Alien movies lately, have we? Hmmmm - Aliens (ooops illegal aliens?). Now that's REALLY SCARY. We're being invaded and we don't even do anything about it. LOL !!

Have a lovely rest of the day. I hope that I haven't offended anyone. I'm just trying to send a little bit of humor out to everyone and I hope that everyone has at the very least, smiled and/or chuckled.

Answer 7

Horror, like comedy, depends on the individual. So, it is probably unprovable. ; )

None of your examples are "real", but for some reason each one appeals to a basic, probably private, fear.

I suspect that the reason zombies are scary has more to do with the fact that nobody wants to be one. They aren't cool. They look like dug up corpses.
In "Shaun of the Dead", Shaun's mom becomes one. Which probably hits on the real horror of the situation. One is almost powerless against becoming one. And once you become one what are you? A mindless drone who wants to teach the world to be a zombie...
My youngest brother, in his early 40s, was terrified of "Night of the Living Dead", he must have been 10 when my parents let him watch it. His reaction terrified ME! LOL

Vampires are suave, cool, driven. Werewolves are fascinatingly tragic victims. (Okay, I have a soft spot for canine creatures.) Both are larger than life. One is almost seduced into the situation. But they are not mindless followers of nothing.

What do you think?

Answer 8

I don't think any of them are scary, but Sean of the Dead was hillarious!

I liked the first Underworld movie alot, second one was ok.

Unfortunately vampires ad werewolves are more of a been there dont that genre. Zombies too now that I think about it.

Need something new.

How about vampire zombies from outerspace that look like werewolves. That would scare the crap outta me..... That or clowns....clowns freak me out.

Answer 9

Buy an Original copy of A Romero's Night of the Living Dead.
Then buy the Remake.
There R slow Zombies or quick Zombies.

& the reason Zombies scare me so much, is they're people.
People R the most scary of Monsters on this Planet, R they Not?

Answer 10

No...more of a gore feature. But I would also say that Werewolves and Vampires are scary...more so then zombies yes, but my favorite horror films are those that can actually happen.