The Depiction of Zombies in this Film

I gotta say, I didn't care for the story. But, I will commend this movie for using a different type of zombie that the ones that are over-saturated now in horror fiction.

Personally, I'm a big horror purist, but I hate when a lot of times, rationality tries to ground fantasy or horror fiction to the point people seemingly can only accept horrific elements if they are somewhat scientific based(because that makes it more realistic). Yet, the concept of zombies, in themselves and how they are portrayed as more science fiction now really do a bad job in grounding them.

I guess the biggest complaint I have with zombies, as seen via science based virus outbreak is that depending on thew writer, they pick and choose what laws of nature they can include, and dismiss others. Particularly the concept of biodegradation(rotting). Rotting is used to break up the appearance of the undead corpses, making them look horrific and inhuman, BUT, one would also have to think, if a corpse rotted that much on the outside, what about their inner organs? More importantly, their most sensitive organs. To be frank, eyes are sensative organs, as are eardrums. When rot sets in and body decays, so would gums and teeth. You see a lot in zombie movies a stressed need to keep quiet or stay out of the line of sight of these shambling corpses, but if the laws of nature stuck true, you wouldn't need to worry. They'd probably be blind and deaf. Even if they managed to get a hold of you, who's to say they'd be able to bite into you without breaking off all their teeth(especially if you are prepared and are wearing something like a jacket or such). Maybe they can gum you to death, though one might worry about their saliva, if in fact, they can still produce it. Of course we can also get down to the biggies, like the muscles rotting to the point where zombies lack any ability to move. And if Walking Dead was to criticized, take into the account that they've lived through a few HOT Georgia summers. Dead bodies would NOT last that long without being picked apart but scavengers such as little beasties, but more importantly, insects that would make short work of those zombies in the increasing temperatures.

Now, that all leads me to this. The zombies depicted in this movie really went against the grain. First, we really aren't sure what the origin of transformation was. For all we know, it could've been viral, chemical, or even supernatural. Hell, I have nothing against magic zombies. I think they fair better against scrutiny than sci-fi ones(because they are given leeway to why they disobey the laws of nature). That being said, the turn into a rotting corpse is gradual in this movie. He dies and returns, but he's, for the most part, fresh and flesh. He can go by the rules I noted above because he hasn't rotted to the point of loosing function. And interestingly enough, the zombies in this movie, when they GET to that point, they produce the "zombie spew" that transforms others into zombies, then die(really die). I respect that concept a lot.

Personally, the sci-fi zombies aren't bad as long as they aren't taken as seriously as they tend to be. You have saps saying, "Oh yeah, if there was EVER a zombie apocalypse, that's how it will happen!!!". LOL, nature pretty much says it won't. There's higher probability that we have a mutant apocalypse than a zombie apocalypse. Now, if you want to pick and choose natural laws to follow and don't take yourself seriously(Shaun of the Dead's, "Let's pretend to walk like zombies so when zombies see us, they think we're one of them!"), that's fine. But it's when people get all uptight about being grounded and realistic(because that's the trend, to be all "dark, gritty, realistic, or nothing at all"), REALITY calls BS on your depiction of "grounded fantasy". If you want to try to go the zombie route without gimping the laws of nature, just go the "living zombie" route, like in 28 Days Later(they are alive, hence their body senses and functions are still working). If not, just go supernatural, like the REC series(basically demonic zombies).

So yeah, bravo to Zombie Honeymoon for a "different" kind of zombie!

PS: Forgot to mention how the headshot didn't even take the zombie out. Kinda love when any zombie movie seeks to disregard the tired "Aim for the head" because the brain is what keeps them going. The rotten, beyond repair, maggot filled brain matter with the consistency of tapioca(again, another very, VERY sensitive organ). Return of the Living Dead's another zombie movie that doesn't take itself seriously and I love it for that. It's rules are simple. You breath the Trioxin gas and you transform into a zombie. If you are bitten or killed by a zombie, you don't transform. Zombies don't die by gunshots. If they are dismembered, their dismembered parts keep active even away from the brain. The only way you can kill them is by incineration or electrocution. Those are mainly the laws in the first two movies(which are the most alike regarding the depictions of zombies and the fact both were horror movies with comedic elements), RotLD3 made zombism contagious through bite, and the last two(horrible horrible movies) basically made them typical zombies(but those movies are crap, so they don't count).