Memorable Moments In Zombie Zinema Part II

So I promised you guys more Memorable Moments In Zombie Zinema and here they are! I hope you guys enjoyed both of these articles! And if you like the first and enjoy this second one, then head on over here and read Memorable Moments in Zombie Zinema Part III! There are so many memorable zombie moments, I'll probably keep writing these articles for a while. So enjoy the ones I’ve posted! They were hand picked for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Memorable Zombie Moment: SLOW MOTION OPENING SEQUENCE

Title: Zombieland (2009)

Zynopsis: Talahasee and Columbus are two strangers who meet in this post-apocalyptic wasteland America. Columbus has a survival system, a couple of rules he lives by that have allowed him to survive the ongoing zombie threat. Talahasee is a loner who cares about no one but himself, but he is a tough as nails hombre who wont think about it twice if he should ever have the need for knocking a zombies head off with a bat! On their travels they come upon a pair of girls who have a plan to lock themselves up inside of an amusement park, will their plan work?   

Comments: Zombieland was an entertaining zombie flick with some nifty ideas, but above all lots of style. The opening sequence which opens up with the zombie apocalypse in full force and in slow motion, is nothing short of amazing and a memorable zombie moment on it’s own. True-blue zombie fans were jizzing in their pants during this opening sequences, I know I did! But of course, what we all wanted to see were zombies in an amusement park, and that you get. Theres many gags and pranks that take full advantage of the “zombies in an amusement park” premise, this was a highly enjoyable sequence as well. A sequel is currently in the works supposedly for a 2013 release, I hope it eventually gets made because Zombieland was a fun ride that I wouldn’t mind getting in line to experience again.    

Quote: “You see? You just can’t trust anyone! The first girl I let into my life and she tries to eat me”

Memorable Zombie Moment: SHAUN AND CREW WALK AMONGST ZOMBIES PRETENDING TO BE ZOMBIES

Title: Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Zynopsis: Shaun works selling electrical doo-dads in some convenience store, his life is going nowhere. His roommate and best bud has his priorities straight: smoking weed and playing Playstation all day. Shaun’s life is so redundant, that he doesn’t even notice when zombies begin to take over his town! To him everyone’s a zombie! It’s during this zombie apocalypse that Shaun and Co. learn to take the reins of their life and become heroes. 

Comments: Shaun of the Dead is one of the finest zombie comedies out there, it’s funny, it’s got it’s social commentary and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost proved to be a successful comedic duo; a duo that’s gone on to make a string of successful films together. There are a lot of memorable moments on this one, like the scene where Shaun and Ed kill zombies by hurling old LP’s at them, or the scene where Shaun and Ed take pictures with a zombie, but my favorite was the one where they walk amongst zombies pretending to be zombies themselves. I found it amusing because I always though I’d do the same thing if I was ever in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. 

Quote: “Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?”

Memorable Zombie Moment: TOO MANY TO MENTION! THE WHOLE DAMN FILM IS A MEMORABLE ZOMBIE MOMENT!

Title: Dead Alive (1992)

Zynopsis: Lionel’s mother is bitten by a Samarian Rat Monkey while visiting the zoo. Problem is that the Rat Monkey’s bite turns anyone into a zombie, so, slowly but surely Lionel’s ‘mum’ begins to become one of the undead! She’s not alive…but she’s not dead either! Unfortunately for Lionel, his undead mom is the one responsible for spreading the zombie infection around, until pretty soon the whole house is filled with zombies! How will Lionel keep this situation under control?  

Comments: It’s interesting to see a directors first films, especially those that started from scratch like Peter Jackson who started his career with such low budget films as Bad Taste (1987) and Meet the Feebles (1989), Dead Alive was part of his first batch of films that had incredible amounts of originality and creativity, these early films showed promise that’s for sure! Dead Alive showed everyone how crazy and over the top Jackson could go with his imagination; this is one crazy zombie movie! It really gets totally nuts! The film is literally overloaded with memorable zombie moments! A priest that kicks ass for the lord! A zombie nun and a zombie priest procreate a zombie baby! I mean, the list goes on and on…if you haven’t experienced it yet, get ready for one of the goriest, goofiest, slimiest zombie films you’ll ever seen in your life. 

Quote: “Your mother ate my dog!”

Memorable Zombie Moment: FIRST ZOMBIES ON FILM 

Title: White Zombie (1932)

Zynopsis: Monsieur Beaumont is a rich land owner, he has a plantation in the island of Haiti. When Beaumont meets Madeline and Neil -a couple of young kids soon to be married- he invites them over to the plantation, offering it as an ideal place for their wedding. Truth is Monsieur Beaumont has fallen rampantly in love with Madelline, and he wants her for himself! His plan? To ask Mr. Legendre (a local voodoo specialist) to perform a ritual that will allow Beaumont to control Madelines every move. Essentially, he turns her into a zombie! Will Neil ever get to rescue his fiancé from the clutches of death?

Comments: Is there a zombie film made before White Zombie? That’s the big question. I have done my research, and many agree that this in fact is the first zombie flick ever made. Some say the first zombie was ‘the somnambulist’ seen in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), but I don’t think that character was a zombie in the true sense of the word. It is never said that Caligari’s somnambulist was dead or undead for that matter. So to me, White Zombie was the first zombie film and it’s a really good one. Some films from the past tend to come off as goofy or funny when compared to today’s horror films (Universal’s Dracula for example) but White Zombie remains extremely watchable after all these years. It’s still an effectively spooky, eerie and atmospheric film. The kind of zombies we see on White Zombie are the kind that were enslaved and used to work the sugar mills. Before Romero’s Night of the Living Dead came along, zombies didn’t eat flesh! There was a time when zombies were only depicted as slave workers being controlled by voodoo, an allegory for the mindless working class. The same kind of zombies can be found in films like I Walked With A Zombie (1943) and Plague of the Zombies (1966). 

Quote: “They are not men Madame! They are dead bodies!”

Memorable Zombie Moment: BLIND ZOMBIES FIND A VICTIM BY LISTENING TO THE BEATS OF HER HEART

Title: Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972)

Zynopsis: A group of friends have to go to an old abandoned monastery to rescue their friend, who has gone missing. Problem is the monastery is inhabited by a group of evil knights who worshipped the devil and drank the blood of innocents so they could live forever! Will the group manage to rescue their friend and escape the clutches of the blind dead?

Comments: So first off, the idea that these are BLIND zombies is what really makes this one original. You see, these knights where so evil that when they were discovered sacrificing people and drinking their blood they were crucified and left out for the crows to eat their eyes out! They still live forever as zombies, but they are also blind! Interesting thing is that even though they are blind, they are still pretty dangerous! The most memorable sequence in the film for me is the one where the zombies find their next victim by listening to the frenetic panicked beats of her heart! 

Memorable Zombie Moment: ZOMBIE TRIES TO BREAK THE WINDOW OF A CAR WITH A ROCK / FIRST FLESH EATING ZOMBIES

Title: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Zynopsis: Suddenly and without any apparent explanation, the dead are coming out of their graves and attacking the living, eating their flesh. A group of people lock themselves up in a farmhouse, but after doing so don’t know what else to do. Should they lock themselves up in the basement? Should they board the house and hold the fort? Should they make a run for it somewhere?

Comments: Initially, Romero had envisioned the film to be about aliens, which is why there’s talks about a satellite returning from Venus, but as time went by the project morphed into what it is today, the first film about zombie fleash eaters. One of the many working titles was ‘Night of the Flesh Eaters’, you see, when the time came to conceptualize this film, the filmmakers tried to think of the worst thing that the zombies could do, and low and behold, flesh eating popped into their heads. And ever since Night of the Living Dead, zombies are all about eating flesh, which is why this film is so influential. That classic scene where we see zombies walking about in the darkness eating arms and legs is extremely effective! The opening scenes in that eerie cemetery, with the zombie trying to break Barbara’s car window as she tries to turn it on, exhilarating. The scene with the little girl zombie, wow, still a shocker! This is without a doubt one of the most important zombie films ever made, even after all these years, the film retains that chill, that horror, yes my friends, Night of the Living Dead is a film that has aged extremely well, its horror is timeless.  

Quote: “They’re coming to get you Barbara! ”

      

Memorable Zombie Moment: NAZI ZOMBIES EMERGE FROM THE SEA

Title: Shock Waves (1977)

Zynopsis: A group of vacationers find themselves stranded in an island when they crash upon a boat that passes them by. The island is apparently empty and deserted…or is it? It isn’t long before an army of undead Nazi zombies starts emerging from the ocean! Will the group of vacationers survive?

Comments: So basically, even though this movie is extremely slow at times I find myself enjoying it immensely, why you may ask?? Well, I love the images, the Nazi zombies emerging from the ocean look awesome. The nazi zombies themselves? Simple, yet effective! This film owes a lot to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead since it is basically about a group of people who debate between locking themselves up in a room or making a run for it in the zombie infested island. What makes the film different is the island setting and the Nazi zombie element which is always a nifty idea, I mean; it’s my opinion that Nazi zombies have not been exploited in a good way in Hollywood yet. I’m still waiting for a filmmaker to make the best Nazi Zombie movie ever? Shockwaves is the best so far, Dead Snow the other heavy contender, but a truly great Hollywood Nazi Zombie Film hasn’t been made yet. 

Memorable Zombie Moment: ZOMBIES GET SMARTER AND REVOLT

Title: Land of the Dead (2005)

Zynopsis: Zombies have completely taken over the world and only a couple of human colonies exist. A group of humans attempts to make it to Canada, where supposedly a human colony exist, and the zombie threat is minimal. Their plan is to steal a war tank called ‘Dead Reckoning’ (the films original title by the way) for their journey. Is this paradise real? Will the group of humans make it past the hoards of zombies?

Comments: Romero has always been the trend setter when it comes to zombie films. He made zombies flesh eaters; he made the first “smart” zombie. With Day of the Dead (1985) Romero introduced us to ‘Bub the Zombie’ the first zombie to listen to a walkman, enjoy classical music, clean his teeth with a toothbrush and hold a gun up to his oppressors! With Land of the Dead (2005) what Romero did was he made the zombies the good guys. The villains of the piece are again, same as most of Romero’s zombie films, the greedy, selfish humans who just cant seem to get along. What is new about Land of the Dead is that Romero introduced us to the zombie known as “Big Daddy” a revolutionary leader. That’s right Big Daddy is leading the zombie revolution! He teaches other zombies to pick up weapons and go up against the greedy humans! 

Quote: “Zombies…they freak me out man!”

Memorable Zombie Moment: GNAGI FALLS IN LOVE WITH A ZOMBIE HEAD

Title: Cemetary Man (1994)

Zynopsis: Francesco Dellamorte is a caretaker at the local cemetery, he buries the dead and kills the undead! To Francesco, killing zombies is as natural as breathing. But he wants out, he is tired of the same o same o life he’s been living, he wants to see the world, to fall in love, to live his life. Will Gnagi and Francesco ever find a better world? 

Comments: What I enjoy most about this movie is that it’s a little bit artsier than your regular zombie film. It is deeper, more poetic, which is of course something really strange in a zombie film; most of them only concern themselves with action and gore. Cemetery Man even has some romance in it! This film is not meant to be taken literally, it’s has many symbolisms and allegories, and it plays with a lot of themes, again something you wouldn’t expect from a zombie film. But don’t worry, what this film does well is that it never forgets that it’s a zombie film! One of the main characters falls in love with a dead girls zombie head! This film comes to us from Italian Horror directi Michele Soavi, the director responsible for Stage Fright (1987) and The Church (1989) two Italian Horror films I enjoy very much, but Cemetery Man is his masterpiece as far as I’m concerned. 

Quote: “Hell, at a certain point in life, you realize you know more dead people than living”

Memorable Zombie Moment: FIRST ZOMBIE TELEPORTATION

Title: City of the Living Dead (a.k.a. The Gates of Hell) (1980)

Zynopsis: A priest commits suicide and this somehow triggers one of the seven gates of hell to blast open! Now the dead are coming out of their graves and attacking the living and if a reporter and a psychic don’t slam the doors of hell shut again, the dead will rise all over the world and take over the planet! Will they make it in time to shut the gates of hell and save the world?

Comments: So yeah, this is a zombie movie Fulci style which of course means at times you’ll be completely lost and confused as to what exactly is going on in the screen. But that’s how the Fulci school of filmmakin g goes: shoot the film, forget explanations, let the audience sort it out in their own way. For example, it is never really explained why zombies in this film seem to teleport from place to place. One moment the zombie is steps away from you,  then suddenly ZAP! It disappears! And seconds later ZAP! It re-appears! Closer to you this time! Are these zombie ghosts? Why do they teleport? Who knows! It’s Fulci, get on for the ride and enjoy! This movie is crazy gory! Fulci really went crazy with the gore on this one. Just ask yourself one question before seeing this one: are you ready to see a girl puke out her innards for minutes on end? If your answer is yes, then by all means indulge in this great zombie film. One of  Fulci’s best, right behind The Beyond which is my personal favorite Fulci flick.  

Quote: “The night of the dead begins. If the portholes of hell aren’t shut before, no dead body will ever rest in peace. The dead will rise up all over the world and take over the earth! You must get to Dunwich! You must close the gates!”

Memorable Zombie Moment: ZOMBIE EXPLAINS WHY THEY EAT BRAINS

Title: Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Zynopsis: The military misplaces a group of canisters filled with experimental toxic gas that can bring the dead back to life. When the dead start to rise, a group of people got no better place to hide than the local mortuary. Will they make it through the night? Things go from bad to worse when all the dead people buried in the cemetery next door to them begin to come out of their graves! Meanwhile, the military begins to evacuate the town and place it under quarantine; will the military come rescue these poor souls? Or will they be considered expendable? 

Comments: Return of the Living Dead is one of the seminal zombie movies, it’s a ‘gotta watch’ if you are a lover of zombie films. Was this the first film to introduce fast moving zombies? On this one zombies don’t walk slowly towards you, nope, on this one zombies are rabid and fast! They’ll chomp on your neck in the blink of an eye, so you better watch it! This film is extremely fast paced and entertaining. It also has a very punk rock attitude about it, which I loved. There are many memorable zombie moments on this one including zombies picking up a walkie-talkie and telling the people at the hospital to “send more paramedics”. Also, it gives us one of the most memorable moments on any zombie movie ever! I’m speaking of the moment in which the good guys capture a zombie and ask it why it has to feed on human brains. The zombies answer? “It takes away the pain of being dead!”

Quote: “Listen, there’s a bunch of people from the cemetery who are stark raving mad and they’ll kill you and eat you if they catch you. It’s like a disease, like rabies, only faster, a lot faster! That’s why you’ve got to come and get us out of here now…right now!”

Memorable Zombie Moment: CHOPPED OFF ZOMBIE HEAD TALKS!

Title: Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)

Zynopsis: In Return of the Living Dead Part II, the government misplaces yet another canister of their deadly toxic gas, unfortunately, this time the toxic canister falls in the towns’ water supply! Soon, the town is crawling with zombies left and right. A group of neighbors must work together to stay alive. It is their hope that the army will come in and save them from the brain hungry zombies. 

Comments: So this movie I love because it has a lot of zombies in it, and I mean a lot! The make up effects work is excellent, top notch stuff. My only real gripe with it is the soundtrack they chose to put on the dvd release of this film. You see, originally, this film had a real rock and roll soundtrack. Lot’s of heavy metal in there by bands such as Anthrax and Leatherwolf, unfortunately the rights to a lot of these songs where never squared out, so they were taken out of the film. To make matters worse, the soundtrack they replaced these songs with on the dvd sounds like some mentally impaired kid is playing with a synthesizer. So, so, bad! But the film itself is still fun times, I always get a kick out of James Karen and Thom Mathew’s grave robbers, their exchanges are always a howl. The film was directed by Ken Wiederhorn, the guy responsible for Shock Waves (1977), supposedly he had no real passion for making this film, but in my opinion you wouldn’t even know it because the film is fast paced, has some great make up effects, and is a respectable sequel to the original. If only they could get that original soundtrack back!  There are many memorable moments on this one, like the talking zombie head, or the zombie hand that gives everyone a hard time when it slips inside of a car!

Quote: “Get that damned screwdriver out of my head!”

Memorable Zombie Moment: ZOMBIE GETS THE TOP OF HIS NOGGIN’ CHOPPED OFF BY THE BLADES OF A HELICOPTER

Title: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Zynopsis: In Dawn of the Dead the zombie apocalypse has just reached a fever pitch! The world is going insane because the dead are coming out of their graves, suddenly nobody gives a crap about anything or anybody, it’s every man for himself as they say. But a group of strangers decides to steal a police helicopter and make a run for it to a nearby island, which they hope will be zombie free. But for the time being, they make a pit stop in a local mall and lock themselves up good inside of it. They begin to get comfortable, they figure they have everything they need to survive inside of it, so why leave? 

Comments: Without a doubt, Dawn of the Dead is one of the most important zombie movies ever made. Along with the Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Day of the Dead (1985), Romero has constructed a trio of films that every one will look up to when they try and make a zombie film. Like most of Romero’s zombie flicks, Romero talks about human behaviour, how we are a consumerist culture, buying things out of habit, or like we are programmed to. We walk to the mall to buy, buy, buy! Ever been to a mall jam packed with people and felt they were all zombies?  Also it comments on how easy humanity can fall apart and become chaotic and ravenous. One moment everyone is playing by the rules, the other, its total pandemonium! The first few moments of this film are extremely chaotic, a dreadful vibe is absorbed, you’ll feel like there’s no tomorrow. The re-make of this film Dawn of the Dead (2004) was a good one. Highly recommend it as well. Kudos to Romero for making such an important film on only 650,000.00!  

Quote: “I have given them the last rites. Now, you do what you will. You are stronger than us, but soon, I think they be stronger than you”

Memorable Zombie Moment: FIRST AND ONLY HAMMER ZOMBIE FILM

Title: Plague of the Zombies (1966)

Zynopsis: On Plague of the Zombies the story revolves around a plague that’s causing people to die, and then coming back as zombies. A doctor investigates the mysterious events only to come to the conclusion that there’s voodoo magic at work here! Who’s at the root of all evil? Who is the zombie master?  

Comments: So yeah, Hammer films made about 10 Dracula movies, about 10 Frankenstein films, but only one zombie film, and that was Plague of the Zombies. This one has many similarities with White Zombie (1931), Bela Lugosi’s zombie masterpiece. The similarities begin with the witchcraft/voodoo angle, and with the idea of using zombies as slaves to run a sugar mill. Also, I’ve always said that this film inspired Sam Raimi a bit for the Evil Dead. It’s no secret that Raimi loves updating ideas from older horror classics, he did it with Drag Me To Hell which was a re-working of some ideas presented in Jack Tourneur’s Night of the Demon (1957). The scene that got me to think Raimi had seen this film is the dream sequence in which a girl comes out of her grave, and her boyfriend has to chop of her head, then her body falls on him just like in Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn (1987). The zombie on this film doesn’t really appear all that much, but when he does appear it’s quite the visual.

Quote: “Someone in this village is practicing witchcraft. That corpse wondering on the moors is an undead, a zombie.”

Memorable Zombie Moment: ZOMBIES WITH RED EYES IN THE DARK!

Title: Horror Express (1972)

Zynopsis: A train travels across the snowy mountains of Siberia, in it, the body of a monster that was found in the mountains of Manchuria. The scientists who found it believe it to be missing link between man and prehistoric man. The creature is sealed inside of a cargo box, but curious minds want to know what is inside! What they soon discover is a creature that hypnotizes it's victims, sucks the knowledge from their brains and turns them into zombies!

Comments: Horror Express is a nifty little movie that could almost be mistaken for being a Hammer film, hell; it even stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee! But this isn’t a Hammer flick at all. Still, it’s an excellent and often times underrated horror film, more horror fans should give this one a try. Interesting thing about this movie is the atmosphere it has. 95% of the film takes place on the claustrophobic confines of a train, and there’s a snow storm raging on outside! It’s a very spooky setting! Then we have a mad monk on board that could rival Rasputin! He’s spreading rumors around that Satan is with them on the train! The real horror comes when people start believing that the monster in the train could be the devil, or the antichrist! In some ways it was similar to The Mist (2007) because of this. The debate; is it Satan? Is it a monster? Is it big foot? What is it? But, the film this one is really emulating is The Thing From Another World (1951). So many similarities between this film and that one. Still, some elements make this one unique, like the red eyed zombies that bleed out of their eyes!  A very effective horror film that shouldn’t be ignored.

Quote: “You think evil can be killed with a bullet? Satan lives. The Unholy One is amongst us!”

Memorable Zombie Moment: ZOMBIE HEAD GIVES HEAD!

Title: Re-Animator (1985)

Zynopsis: Dr. Herbert West is conducting experiments dealing with the re-animation of dead tissue. Can a person be successfully brought back from the dead? Dr. Herbert West intends to find out! His invented a serum that revives the body, but does it also revive a persons soul? The real problem is that West’s test subjects keep piling up! Soon, they are too many to control and as a result, things spiral into chaos. The ending is a full blast zombie Armageddon. Can anybody stop this mad scientist? Will his experiments ever get anywhere?

Comments: So this is one of Stuart Gordon’s finest horror films. He has an interesting bunch of films under his belt, many of which are memorable horror films, but this is the one that started it all for him. Herbert West is played by the always interesting Jeffrey Combs, who went on to become a horror icon himself. The formula for this movie was obviously to go as over the top and crazy as possible. As a result we have the infamous zombie head giving head scene. It is said that David Gale lost his then girlfriend after she saw this scene. But the zaniness doesn’t stop there, this movie is gory as hell and totally, totally nuts in a way that only horror movies from the 80’s could. Barbara Crampton, Jeffrey Combs and director Stuart Gordon would reunite once again for more films like Gordon’s From Beyond (1986) (my own personal favorite Stuart Gordon film), Fortress (1992) and Castle Freak (1995). 

Quote: “Who’s going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow!”

Memorable Zombie Moment: PETER CUSHING ZOMBIE

Title: Tales from the Crypt (1972)

Zynopsis: On this anthology film, Peter Cushing participates in the third segment entitled “Poetic Justice” in which he played an old man who loves making toys for little kids. Unfortunately, his neighbors think he is creepy and they want him out of the neighborhood so they decide to play a nasty prank on him.   

Comments: So yeah, Tales from the Crypt is more than the HBO series or the two movies it spawned. The very first Tales from the Crypt film ever made was made by the guys at Amicus Productions and it just so happens to be a good one. On this film we get various horror stories woven into one film, so it’s an anthology film which was Amicus Productions modus operandi. They would always make anthology films, it was their speciality. Amicus making a film based on the old Tales from the Crypt was a perfect because each issue of the Tales from the Crypt comics was always composed of many short stories in one issue. But Peter Cushing participates in one of the best stories in the whole thing. Highly recommend this movie, every story is actually pretty decent, and it was a film directed by the great Freddie Francis who was one of Hammer Studios finest directors.

Well, that’s it boys and girls, hope you enjoyed the article. If you want to see the first part of this article check it out over here: Memorable Moments In Zombie Zinema Part I  and if you wan't even more memorable zombie moments go to PART III of this artcile entitled Memorable Moments in Zombie Zinema Part III!