The 21st-century zombie — a violation of the genre or bloody good fun?

It doesn’t matter if they run or walk

They are gory, they are terrifying, they are out for blood — modern movie zombies are just as captivating as their vintage counterparts.

The biggest misconception about zombie movies is that the horror comes from the zombies themselves. Sure, they deliver a few jolts and certainly bring the gore, but the true terror lies in the main characters’ actions and the audience’s investment in those characters.

Very few images are as haunting as watching Cillian Murphy wander the streets of a completely deserted London in 28 Days Later. Seeing Dawn of the Dead’s Francine and Roger fly away with “not much fuel” from decomposed shoppers is bleak and desperate.

Whether it’s the classic walking dead or their 21st-century counterparts, zombies are only overwhelming when two conflicting viewpoints meet head on. Often this is between the peaceful, scientific folk and the controlling, military crowd. When these two groups clash, the walking dead always break through any barricade that kept them out.

I’ll be the first to admit zombies aren’t the scariest creation in the horror genre. It doesn’t matter if they slowly creep around or if they sprint — they can always be defeated with as little as a cricket bat to the head. But modern zombie movies put a little more “umph” in the scare factor. Both new and old incarnations provide the same visceral experience that comes from watching these monsters rip open a poor victim’s stomach.

The genre has certainly changed from the time the undead came to get Barbara in Night of the Living Dead, but zombie flicks still provide the perfect combination of gore, social commentary, and jaw-dropping scares.

— by Tyler Lyon

Making folklore marketable

Yes, today’s zombies are spine-tingling and horrifying, but they are far from their origins.

Strike one: the foundation of zombie folklore is based on voodoo. In contrast to the typical Hollywood image of a suspenseful chase and rancid gore that makes even manliest of men turn away from the screen, zombies aren’t numb monsters who hunger for human flesh. Rather, voodoo says zombies are dead corpses brought to life by a sorcerer to be solely under their control. They are not mindless sprinters out to terrorize the public or scantily clad blonds.

Strike two: Hollywood does not even remain faithful to the pop culture icon it created in movies such as White Zombie. In the classic 1932 film, Bela Lugosi turns a beautiful woman into a zombie to “perform his every desire.” Current zombie adaptations stray from this classic story line to cater to a fast-paced, grotesque audience.

Strike three: Movie industry bigwigs simply know what is marketable. Modern zombie flicks are simply bigger, better blockbusters. Why have the focal point be just one entranced woman when it can be an entire city? Why make the dead be frozen in time and pale when they can be decomposed and disgusting?

Hollywood is selling viewers a product full of thrills and chills rather than the actual substance of zombie folklore.

— by Hanna Rosman