20 Facts About Essential Zombie Movies (of Both the Slow and Running Kind)

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20 Facts About Essential Zombie Movies (of Both the Slow and Running Kind)

Quick, name your favorite zombie movie. If you said Peter Jackson’s Braindead, you’re a person of fine taste. If you said Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond, then nice, foreign movies, we like you. And if you said Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, then… who are we kidding? That movie was awesome – whatever happened to that promising director, though? Hopefully he didn’t become a total hack. The point is: your favorite zombie movie may be a classic, but is it an essential classic? Ah, now you get it.

In this Pictofact, we’re examining 20 facts about essential zombie movies. Indeed, following the recent work of an Argentinian scholar, we might call the following films ‘the backbone of the zombie genre.’ This means you are going to complain that we forgot some obscure Italian movie or some underrated American gem, but we’re going with the main markers of the genre, the films that installed its tropes, that set its broadest templates, and that are the true inescapable references when dealing with zombie movies. Yes, exactly how we couldn’t possibly finish this intro without reminding you of that kickass Cranberries song. You get it.

'28 Days Later's Cinematography

Essential Zombie Movies The movie was not shot in a traditional way. Instead of 35 mm cameras, DV Canon XL1 cameras were used, which were very popular with indie filmmakers at the time. This allowed the movie to have that grungy, harsh, almost documentary-like look. 28 DAYS LATER CRACKED.COM

Screen Rant

Social Commentary on '28 Days Later'

Essential Zombie Movies 28 DAYS LATER Danny Boyle wanted to insert social commentary. His goal with the Rage virus was to comment on the way society does little to confront the spread of anger and violence. CRACKED.COM

Screen Rant

Dario Argento and 'Dawn of the Dead'

Essential Zombie Movies Dario Argento was heavily involved. Besides inviting Romero to Rome and helping with the script, the giallo master agreed to со- finance if he could get international distribution and editing rights. Argento's version, and has faster pacing and trippy music by his collaborators, the band Goblin. DAWN OF THE DEAD CRACKED.COM

Wikipedia

'Dawn of the Dead's Ending

Essential Zombie Movies DAWN OF THE DEAD The blown head was meant to be used for the film's ending. Also, Francine was supposed to kill herself by putting her head in the rotating helicopter blades. That ending, which also entailed Peter shooting himself, was tested but scrapped during production. CRACKED.COM

Wikipedia

'Night of the Living Dead' and 'I Am Legend'

Essential Zombie Movies The movie drew heavily from Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. Romero changed the vampires to ghouls, and moved the time frame to the beginning of the apocalyptic event, instead of the last man's survival. Ultimately, Matheson said Romero's take was kind of cornball. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD CRACKED.COM

Wikipedia

'Night of the Living Dead' and Public Domain

Essential Zombie Movies The movie became public domain due to an oversight. The distributor changed the title from Night of the The Flesh Eaters, but forgot to put the copyright notice on the new title card. After the screw-up, the film immediately passed into the public domain-and Romero and his crew saw little of the $30 million earnings. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD CRACKED.COM

Wikipedia

Rating of 'Night of the Living Dead'

Essential Zombie Movies Theaters let little children see the movie. Today's MPAA film rating system went into effect one month after the premiere, meaning that children actually got to see a little girl eating her parents. Roger Ebert said in his 1969 review, The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAR CRACKED COM

Wikipedia

'The Return of the Living Dead' and Dan O'Bannon

Essential Zombie Movies THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD The movie was directed by Alien writer Dan O'Bannon. The first choice was Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Tobe Hooper, who opted for Lifeforce, another O'Bannon script. O'Bannon had already done rewrites for Return, and accepted the directing gig on the condition of making it different from Romero's movies. CRACKED.COM

Wikipedia, IMDb

Fast Zombies in 'The Return of the Living Dead'

Essential Zombie Movies THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD The director had to fight to have running zombies. It's just so familiar the other way, director Dan O'Bannon said. I wanted to surprise the audience. Producers hated the idea and wanted the traditional, lumbering ones. CRACKED.COM

Film School Rejects

Bela Lugosi in 'White Zombie'

Essential Zombie Movies WHITE ZOMBIE Bela Lugosi was a diva, apparently. It is not clear how much he was paid to be in this indie production by inexperienced people, but he rewrote and even directed some scenes. Не was allowed to do so was because of his previous hits: 1932's Murders in the Rue Morgue, and of fcourse, 1931's Dracula. CRACKED.COM

Wikipedia

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