Every movie zombie fan is probably very familiar with the works of George A. Romero. His fascination for zombies became the starting point of the zombie culture, leading to the creation of zombie-inspired films and TV shows, videogames, comic books and graphic novels, and music. Basically, anything zombie-related is now deeply embedded in people’s cultures, even though most only think of zombies as terrifying creatures.
The nature of zombies has already been interpreted in various manners, as seen in Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead. Zombie movies either focused on the creatures as having some kind of life or, in other cases, metaphorically compared them with the kind of life that people are living every day. No matter what the reason is, zombie culture is a very popular source of entertainment (and horror) for most people, and many may be wondering why movies featuring the living dead tend to become popular and gain a cult following. Possibly, the success of zombie movies is related to the following factors:
1. CLAUSTROPHOBIC LOCATIONS
A lot of people would agree that most zombie movies include almost enclosed spaces. In fact, it is a common scenario in zombie movies to see people trapped in spaces that are about to be invaded by the living dead. The Night of the Living Dead might have been the first zombie movie to interpret zombies as creatures roaming around spaces while making inaudible sounds as they try to prey on live humans.
Meanwhile, for some, the Living Dead franchise is one of the greatest zombie films of all time, and that is because the film maximised the use of the element of claustrophobia. Just to recap, “The Living Dead” focuses on a group of strangers who become entrapped in a small abandoned farmhouse. It is not long before the group realises that the living dead are closing in on them. Shot in black and white, the tension in the movie is slowly built before the zombies create chaos, thanks to the bad decisions and misfortunes of the lead character. In addition, the film is notable for including undead children. For most parts, the scenes featured are inside the farmhouse, shown in grainy black and white, and remarkably, they emanate a claustrophobic vibe as the film progresses. Moreover, the basement of the farmhouse serves as a fortress for the zombie child in the movie. As a whole, the movie is great thanks to a number of factors. However, its capability to use a very small space to accommodate a number of people is what really makes it great.
Along with The Living Dead, other movies that wisely utilised the element of claustrophobia include the Dead franchise, in which Day of the Dead, even with its flaws, bears great horror because of the manner in which it relays the story set in a very confined environment. In the movie, the characters can be found in an underground bunker most of the time, and even the sunlight fails to provide some hope. The characters have to rely only on the halogen bulbs to see each other.
Rec is another zombie movie that should be applauded for using a claustrophobic location. The movie is set in an apartment building that is eventually raided by infected people. In short, the setting is an important factor that adds to the credibility of a zombie movie.
However, there are cases when some zombie movies fail to account for this point. For instance, one of the Dead franchise movies, The Diary of the Dead, was very awful for some because most of the scenes are shot in open areas of a bus. Moreover, with such a setting, the movie utterly fails to give the viewers a sense of danger. The Land of the Dead is a fairly good movie that only flops in some points, especially in the scenarios that take place in small spaces, such as an abandoned shop. And the same goes for when the scenes are shot outside of building structures.
The World War Z is also quite good, as it provides some heightened excitement, but again, the use of location is not maximized. To further clarify this aspect, viewers should review the scenes, including those of the zombie onslaught in Jerusalem and at the medical facility. The sense of danger is kind of missed since it is already implied that Brad Pitt has a high chance of escaping via a plane.
In TV shows, the issues can also be encountered, but to a lesser degree. The use of confined spaces is also effective, but it can only be used for shorter periods. In the mini-series Dead Set, the scenes are most effective when they are shot in the Big Brother set, whereas the tension subsides when the scenes include those shot outside the TV station.
When it comes to zombies, almost everyone mentions The Walking Dead at least once.However, when considering the use of a claustrophobic location, the TV show can’t be categorised as a failure as it is focused more on telling the story of the living characters than that of the living dead. In fact, the zombies in the drama can be considered as supporting characters lingering in the background instead of being active factors. Thus, the major characters of the show do not necessarily need to be trapped in closed spaces at all times, but only in those moments when inflicting horrors becomes the focus.
2. LAGGARDS AND OTHER SURVIVORS MAKE UP THE GROUP
Of course, survivors are an important element of every zombie movie. However, to contribute to the success of a zombie flick, the group of survivors should consist of the right combination of people with varying qualities, not all of which should be moral and good. Whether they are evil or not, viewers anticipate what will happen to all the living characters in a zombie movie. Well, it’s not necessarily that viewers should care for the characters and cry upon their deaths; however, the characters should possess unique qualities, albeit bad ones, to make them stand out.
The Night of the Living Dead is a great example of a good combination of its characters. The characters of the movie are basically strangers, and the situation they are in contributes to creating heightened tension among them and a sense of claustrophobia inside the farmhouse. Stuck in a very tight space, the characters in The Night of the Living can only shout and contradict each other, which does not necessarily help in resolving their problem. The tension in a zombie movie is understandable because there is no sense in uniting people and providing them with harmony in times of trouble. In fact, it can only lead to the demise of the movie. By contrast, when the characters fight with each other, the viewers are tempted to take sides and place their bets for survival. The Dawn of the Dead and The Walking Dead series recognised the importance of causing conflict in their characters and did a great job at it. The Telltale Games counterpart of The Walking Dead was also successful in this aspect, as was Rec. In the aforementioned examples, the appearance of hordes of zombies served as a tool to gather humans who have no relation to one another and who do not particularly relish the prospect of spending time with and relying on strangers for survival.
A little off-topic, another great movie, Frank Darabont’s The Mist, practises the principle of forcing strangers together in a confined space. In the movie, shoppers and strangers get trapped inside a supermarket when a mysterious and quite deadly mist covers an entire town and monsters start appearing and snatching people. The tension is further heightened when a religious zealot decides to take matters into her own hands and starts converting some gullible people into her followers and setting them on killing the protagonist and the other characters who are not siding with her. The Mist is a great example showing the effectiveness of ripping people apart with conflict, which sometimes leads to some unwarranted fates for some characters. The Day of the Dead also has such an element, wherein the survivors of the movie begin to split up as they continue to disagree concerning their viewpoints.
World War Z should be noted again for failing to effectively use conflicting characters. In the movie, Brad Pitt has to travel to various parts of the world in the company of some unremarkable characters. Brad Pitt met various characters, including a Jewish intelligence expert, an Israeli soldier, a soldier who always talks too much, and the scientist, whose character basically remained bland throughout the movie. Thus, as the movie concludes, Brad Pitt’s face seems to be the only one that seemed memorable, whereas the others just served as passersby.
3. GORE
Likewise, it seems that World War Z lacks blood and gore. Gore is an important quality associated with successful zombie movies. In most cases, the films show reanimated or infected humans setting about biting the healthy ones. In such cases, blood is bound to spill. A person may get bitten on the throat, the arm, and other parts of the body, and depending on the part bitten, blood may appear as a spurting liquid, a gushing river, or red blood cells. Moreover, human victims could be dismembered or gutted by the living thing. In fact, it has been customary for zombie movies to show some blood and unmerciful killings.
Leaning towards an R-rating
Though not all people give very much importance to the rating, it is indicative of how much gore, bloodiness, and horror can be seen in a zombie film. In fact, zombie movies that are aimed at showing guts and instilling indescribable terror should lean towards attaining a rating that is only meant for adults. Basically, it is the sense of danger that can help in achieving such status. However, in the case of World War Z, there seem to be only a few deaths and an inadequate sense of terror.
In conclusion, the things mentioned above are not the only factors determining the success of a zombie film. However, having a few of them in a zombie movie will greatly contribute to their success. Specifically, a great combination of any of the said factors will add to the overall terror brought about by zombies. Still, a very talented filmmaker may be able to pull off a movie without necessarily taking into consideration all those factors. Yet, the success of such a film may not be tantamount to that which was reached by the most notable zombie films of all time.
