They actually referred the the living undead as "zombies". That is blasphemy. You call them "things" or the living dead, living undead, undead or any combination.
They said it twice too.
But it was worth a watch. Needed more main characters getting killed though.
Within their movie they can create any rules they want. They just can't break them.
Well I guess. In land of the dead dennis hopper says zombie creep him out. I guess it just threw me off because most zombie movies never refere to them by name.
sharei think they're referred to as "zombies" by the big black cop in dawn of the dead (1978).
shareNo I read somewhere about this. Let me try and remember.
Every zombie movie takes place in its own little universe where the dead have not risen ever.
That is why the characters scream and are so surprised, as they cannot comprehend what is happening.
land of the Dead doesn't really count because its a sequel in the romero universe, and they coin the phrase over time.
Zombie has something to do with voodoo. So it doesn't make sense to call them zombies when they are living undead in a movie.
That is why in dance of the dead, it seemed so cheesy that the characters mentioned them as if they knew them, and they already had a name for them.
Here's an example: The Descent. We call the creatures in the cave "Crawlers", now the female protagonists do not know what these creatures are, and if they were to all of a sudden say: "I hate these crawlers!" It would sound so lame and cheesy.
That is why zombie movies should never refer to the living undead as zombies.
The guys never call the shark JAWS
same goes for most vampire movies
What? There's no zombie movies in the universe of "Dance of the Dead"? Don't you think the Sci-Fi kids watched "Night of the Living Dead" and a thousand other zombie movies?
It's actually more of a stretch to think of a world where there has been no zombie movies. If people started rising from the dead today in real life, what would you call them? I would call them zombies.
Yes, because we are aware of what the living dead are.
If hellspawn demons came up from under the ground, would you instantly know what to call them?
No, probably not.
So in movies, they shouldn't call the creatures by their nickname because its too unrealistic.
I think it's more unrealistic to think these kids live in a world in which there has never been a zombie movie. This movie takes place in the real world, as if the dead just came back to life.
If hellspawn demons or any other unique creature attacked the prom, then you are right, they probably wouldn't know what to call them. But they were zombies, and everyone knows what zombies are from movies, books, and comics, especially Sci-Fi kids.
I think its better to have the unique universe where zombies do not exist before the initial outbreak.
That way you have the characters panic and there is utter chaos and no one is prepared, making way for awesome zombie action and drama.
Dance was still a good movie overall I think.
Yes, the unique universe is cool and either way works fine. The funny thing is that the world is so oversaturated with zombie movies and everyone knows what a zombie is, that it's actually a stretch to think someone doesn't know! lol
I agree with you that Dance was a good movie overall.
If I may add...
The Sci Fi Kids were already "True Believers" in virtually all things sci fi and horror from UFO's to Bigfoot. (I need to upload one of the flyers you see on the wall. They were very interesting reading, thanks Joe).
The Prom Queen states something at the end about seeing a UFO.
The conversation between Stephen and Gravedigger states that Gravedigger already knew about it and didn't tell anyone. "Hey, man, I'm just tryin' to keep my job." (Thanks Joe again).
So, those are a few takes on why things happened the way they did.
On a different note, there was a paperback that came out in the 80's or 90's where the plot involved aliens crashing in South Dakota or somewhere like that. The people who find them are "Sci Fi" type guys, Role Players (Dungeons & Dragons or similar). And it is up to the to "save..." whatever.
It stands to reason that those who believe would gather their wits quicker and respond accordingly. If you are a conspiracy theorist, you will see what you want to see very quickly and that's what happened. A zombie is a zombie and it is assumed the kids had seen zombie movies. After all, there are other modern movie references in the film.
Anyway, that's my take. This is a great conversation thread, by the way and this is just my opinion. So says...Gravedigger. J Out.
--
Tintallin
Where there is no dream, the people perish.
The term "Zombie" is politically incorrect and offensive to many. Please refrain from such hate speech and refer to them from here on as "Living Impaired."
Thank you for your consideration.
Zombie-Hugger...uh..."Living Impaired" Hugger! Sorry. Don't want to be insensitive.
--
Tintallin
Where there is no dream, the people perish.
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A unique universe where the concept of the walking dead never came into being? What did they make horror movies about in this universe?
I like it better when they DO know about zombies, but the truth is slightly more...twisted then they expected. Take "Return of the Living Dead" for example. They knew about zombies. That's why they tried pinning the zombie down in the beginning and putting a pick axe through its head.
There just needs to be a twist in there somewhere. Like if the zombie walks off and returns with a ladder to reach the survivors holding out on the roof. They're not supposed to be smart enough to do that. Or if they can scale walls. They're not supposed to be able to do that.
And THAT is where babies come from.
Horror movies are normally genre blind. That is, the people who inhabit them are ignorant of horror movies rules. That's why the girls always have sex in the creepy abandoned house in slasher fics, while most of us would never do it, especially after hearing someone escaped from the Asylum the night before Halloween. :D
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One day you will all work for me
Yes, but these young people live in a world where there have presumably been lots of "zombie" movies, and that's what most people refer to them as in real life. So it doesn't surprise me at all
shareBut everyone knows WHAT a zombie is. A zombie is a dead person who is moving again for whatever reason and has this bizarre tendency to bite people. We all know this. Vampires bite you on the neck. People know this. The creatures in Descent, however, are just people who have adapted to their underground enviroment, hence their blindness but enhanced sense of hearing and smell. The name "Crawler" would never come up.
There are countless sharks in the world. Why would one be called "Jaws" for no reason at all? Jaws was never the name of the shark in any manner. Its name was Bruce.
And THAT is where babies come from.
Most zombie movies do refer to them as zombies. Believe me. I own over 200 zombie movies and have seen probably another 150 more.
The whole thing about not calling them zombies is kind of like a an urban legend of sorts. Someone said it or wrote about it once and everyone believes it... just like how everyone believes Jason doesn't/never runs and just stalks people. Go back and watch the early Friday the 13th's and Jason was a damn track star. He run's like a mo fo.
zombie means to look or act like an automaton... i.e. appear lifeless and apathetic.. which applies to voodoo zombies, the walking dead, or sick/infected people
I agree with the poster whose arguement related to zombie films. It's unrealistic to expect the characters of a modern movie not to know what zombies are. If, in the unlikley event that the dead started coming back to life today then my first reaction would be to call them zombies (and then run like hell, obviously!) They've been referred to as such for decades in classics of the genre like Dawn of the Dead and Return Of The Living Dead. I prefer my horror characters to be a bit savvy about what's happening rather than the clueless types that we so often see
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This doesn't make any sense.
If they live in the real world, in current times then they obviously have seen zombie films - they're the sci-fi club!
If the living dead were to pop out of the ground tomorrow I would for sure call them zombies. And that's what I feel happened in the film. They know what zombies are from films but all of a sudden they happened in real life. Of course they know what to call them.
"...ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence."
-Alex DeLarge
With those bay doors open, there's going to be a thousand zombies in here. - Peter, Original DAWN of the Dead
They showed zombies taking over the world. - Freddy, RETURN of the Living Dead
Zombies. They creep me out. - Kaufman, LAND of the Dead
Are there any zombies out there? - Ed, SHAUN of the Dead
A BUNCH of uses of the word "zombie" in the movie FIDO
That's a silly zombie rule. I've never heard of it. These kids were sci-fi people and already had heard of zombies. I'd call them zombies.
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That 'rule' was broken in Dawn of the Dead (original version). The blonde cop, at one point refers to them as Zombies.
In Land of the Dead: Dennis Hopper: "Zombies... freak me out man."
Return of the living dead calls them zombies repeatedly.
It's a 'rule' that never really existed.
Return of the living dead wasn't a part of the traditional zombiverse and neither was this. You have zombies that drive cars, make out and jump like shaolin ninjas in here! It's closer to a film like Peter Jackson's Braindead if anything.
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Return of the Living Dead was part of of the Zombie Universe! It was at the beginning! Just because it wasn't created directly as only Romero and in his "____ of the Living Dead" series, people often misplace and forget that movie. It's my favorite zombie movie with Night of the Living Dead and after Romer and his partner broke off, they went and created their own zombie series. "____ of the Living Dead" and "Return of the Living Dead" which were the titles they could use after legal issues. I personally think that Return of the Living Dead series was better. Especially the first one.
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