by Eric Gothens

Created on: September 03, 2009

It has been an awkward question that has been shrouded in mystery ever since George A. Romero released his first successful zombie flick, Night of the Living Dead. The question being; 'what makes a zombie film so great?'

The answer is actually quite simple; there is no real answer that caters for all of us. Everyone has their own reasons for their attraction towards movies where undead ghouls emerge from the grave, hungry for human flesh, slowly devour the remaining population of live humans. Some love zombie flicks purely for the fun, senseless gore and a brief experience of that tense instinct to survive that many get while enjoying a movie of this genre. Others like them because of the stress-free story lines that spare us the complicated messages about the harsh world we live in. In zombie movies, it's all about surviving. Nothing else. There are no messages in them, it's just do whatever it takes to prevail against the army of the undead. The only real message that was inside Romero's cult-classic sequel, Dawn of the Dead was that no matter what happens in life, you always have to keep a sense of humor and smile. As throughout the entirety of the movie, many viewers were giggling and cackling and overall just having a great time.

The genre practially re-invented and revived the horror genre, who, at the time, was suffering from agonising pain at the hands of some terrible movies that claimed to be 'horror'. Many debates, books, films and especially video games have been centered around zombies, enjoyed by the masses. The zombie genre was also a refreshment from the classic horror genre which had been exhausted with movies based around vampires, ghosts and wolves and wild Frankenstein-like creatures, as well as the extremely over-worked teen Slasher flicks. There was (or still is) nothing quite as terrifying as being one of the last remaining survivors that is forced to combat and defeat what seems like an endless amount of hungry undead zombies that have a craving for live human flesh and meat. Not to forget the pressure of living long enough to re-populate.

I think that zombie films are so appealing due to the fun that so many people have with then. During a decent film that falls under this genre, you should experience a variety of different emotions. You should often feel tense and frightened about your favourite heroine's fate. You should be able to laugh alongside the survivors, you should panic with them, share their depression or sadness and feel excited as they try to escape a horde of the undead or attempt to fend them off with their companions. All these emotions and feelings are what make zombie movies so addictive.

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