In 1920, actor and humorist Robert Benchley opined: “There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who divide everybody into two kinds of people, and those who don’t.” Since then, there have been hundreds of iterations of two kinds of people. Pinterest weighed in with: “There are two types of people in the world: Avoid both.” Mark Twain responded with his usual rapier wit: “There are two types of people in the world. People who have accomplished things and people who have claimed to accomplish things. The first group is less crowded.” And Neil deGrasse Tyson quipped on Twitter in 2017: “There are two kinds of people in the world—those who divide everyone into two kinds of people and those who don't." I classify people into two categories as well: There are two types of zombie fans: Those who prefer fast zombies and those who prefer slow zombies. Me? I am all in with the slow, lumbering zombie. Quora asked its readers to pick between fast and slow zombies, too. The granddaddy of the modern zombie film, George Romero, agrees with me and saw fast zombies as a symptom of a film industry “obsessed with size and speed.” "Logically," he claims, "zombies can’t run! Their ankles would snap. What would they do—wake from the dead and
immediately join a health club? I don’t get it.” Director and writer Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and Peter Jackson (Dead Alive) of Lord of the Rings fame “[remain] stuck on the shuffle,” as they also prefer the slow undead. The fast zombie leaves no chance for the living to survive. It’s nerve-wracking. Remember that claustrophobic airplane scene from Marc Forster’s World War Z? Brad Pitt, even as a young and fit scientist, can’t outrun a fast zombie on a plane. Okay, so he did, but how believable was that? Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and the follow-up 28 Weeks Later leave Jim and Selena with little to no breathing room. One drop of zombie blood and the change to an undead flesh eater is immediate. Netflix’s “Black Summer” series features super-fast zombies, too. When the dead are unleashed at an airplane hangar, the living run between buildings dodging the turned-too-quickly walkers. The scene resembles a Bugs Bunny cartoon where that loveable rabbit runs down hallways, ducks into rooms, and bumps into Yosemite Sam along the way. Only Bugs’ nemesis isn’t the undead.
On the other hand, Shaun of the Dead’s shuffling zombies turn the genre on its head. A British zom-com, the movie’s protagonists, Shaun and Ed, can run faster than the undead, but they’re about as intelligent as them. But at least our beloved Brits stand a fighting chance! “The Walking Dead” television series revived the sleepy zombie genre with slow-moving walkers, too. I was introduced to Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead graphic novel series at the Miami Book Fair in 2004 and was excited when AMC picked up the series for one season. The executives at AMC thought the eight-episode season would be one and done. Viewers, however, devoured the episodes like so many ravenous flesh eaters. This year marks the eleventh season and final eight episodes. Regardless of the shuffling walkers, George Romero didn’t like the series calling it a “soap opera.”
Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead remains the go-to ghoul/zombie (Romero didn’t use the word zombie; he called his undead ghouls) movie. If you’re new to zombie films, you might want to start with this perfect film. Shot near Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget of $114,000.00, this black and white masterpiece surpasses current gore fests. An allegory for the Vietnam War and the civil unrest that marked the late 1960s, Night works on two levels. The film is brutal in its depiction of flesh-eating zombies. Romero’s crew, made up mostly of friends and clients of his production studio, pitched in and helped define the current zombie mythology. One of Romero’s friends owned a butcher shop, so the guts and livers that zombies chow down on are from butchered animals. Pittsburgh city police answered Romero’s call with authentic cop cars and German shepherds to hunt down and kill the ghouls. And Pittsburgh native “Chiller Theater” host, Bill Cardille, shows up with his real cameraman as a reporter. Friends acted as zombies and when they asked for direction from Romero about how to act dead, his advice was to "walk slow and drag your feet."
Pittsburgh University holds a yearly event honoring Romero’s legacy, and I was fortunate to attend the inaugural program in 2018. Sitting in the audience, I was rapt listening to the famous director’s friends, co-workers, and film historians discuss the mark that Romero left on the horror genre. When an audience member asked if Romero’s subtext of Vietnam and civil unrest was intentional in Night, all panel members agreed that “George knew what he was doing. The subtext was intentional.”
If you’re looking for slow-walkin’ zombies with a social commentary bite, I implore you to check out Night of the Living Dead this Halloween. Borrow it from the library and invite some friends over for a very scary movie night, or catch it for free on YouTube here. The final shot of Night remains one of the most shocking and sad in film history. Which do you prefer? Crazy fast flesh eaters, or lumbering I-have-a-chance-of-escape walkers? Let me know what you think of the film, as well as your preference for fast or slow zombies in the comments section!
Since classes were canceled on Wednesday, Sept. 28 due to Hurricane Ian, we canceled the book club meeting. We return on Wednesday, Oct. 26 on all three campuses. See you then!
Night of the Living Dead
A simple, peaceful countryside is being terrorized by killer zombies with only one thing on their minds--destroy all humans. A small stronghold of survivors must hold the zombies at bay outside an old, abandoned house for any future hope of humanity.
The Complete Night of Living Dead Filmbook by
World War Z by
The Walking Dead: Season 5
Rhetoric of Modern Death in American Living Dead Films by