by Jimmy Mcgregor

Created on: August 05, 2009

To survive in the world of the box office, zombie movies had to evolve. In turn so did the zombies. In order for a movie to be a hit, it must be entertaining, believable and in the case of zombie movies; the movie must strike fear in the audience. As a fan of the original Night of the Living Dead movie, it is hard for me to side with the faster zombies; however, today's world is very different. Zombies had to evolve, making the faster zombies more effective.

In 1968 George Romero stunned the public with his movie Night of the Living Dead. The audience was shocked as they watch the dead rise and raise havoc on a group of people using a farm house as shelter. We watched as the humans did more to destroy their own lives than the zombies. Mistrust, racism, and paranoia were greater threats than the zombies. This movie could have been successful with any adversary; the zombies could have been replaced with lions and the humans would have still torn their world apart. Having the zombies react and walk slowly helped prolong the tension between the characters. In fact slow zombies were more effective for this story line; however, that was in the 1960's.

The slow zombies are not scary in today's world. If you don't believe me, just turn on the news. Better yet, read an international newspaper. Most current world events have a greater impact than a group of zombies wobbling toward you at the speed of syrup. Slow zombies are not scary. Next time you watch the original Night of the Living Dead, put yourself in their shoes. What would you do? Most people with some common sense could walk their way out of any confrontation with these inept slow zombies.

If I close my eyes I can still see it and it isn't pleasant. I see Cillian Murphy, in 28 Days Later, standing in the church, hello it creeps me out every time. Why? Because I know that I cannot outrun these zombies that will catch me, they will kill me and eat me or eat me and kill me. That is what is scary. They will jump out and catch you. This is a real threat. The remake of Dawn of the Dead, in 2004, took zombies to a whole new level. These zombies were just as fast as the 28 Days Later variant; however, something is different. There are hundreds of them; they are fast and extremely violent. Police, the military and even a gun shop owner are no match for them. While these zombies aren't thinkers, they do find and exploit errors and weaknesses of the humans, one of these zombies in more effective than a hundred slower zombies. They strike fear not only because they are the walking dead but because the can catch you and even if they only scratch you, you will die.

In order for zombie movies to stay popular they need to be retooled for the audience. It is not the zombies fault; they just had to evolve to stay popular. I feel bad admitting it; however, the slower zombies are gone. Just like evolution, the slower less effective zombies have gone the way of the Dodo Bird and the faster zombies are here to stay. I am sure we would all visit their grave, if it weren't for the threat of the faster modern zombie.

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