This week was a personal record for me. I saw two zombie related movies in the theatre in the same week. On Tuesday, Jeff, Larry, and I went and saw Resident Evil: Apocalypse (though it should have been called “Resident Evil: Nemesis”), a decent enough adaptation of the video game, and probably the first movie that the three of us have seen together which wasn’t “groan worthy”, we’ve seen some stinkers.
Milla Jovovich was excellent in the role of Alice, and Sienna Guillory was decent as Jill Valentine. Of course many of the performances were over the top campy, but it was all in good fun, and we knew going in that the film wouldn’t be “good” in the classic sense of the word.
On Friday night Char and I went with Jeff and Tiffany to see “Shaun of the Dead”, which is described as “A romantic comedy…with zombies”.
It was hilarious, and filled with a ton of homages to classic zombie films like Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead (We’re coming to get you Barbara), and even Reservoir Dogs (with a tragic, yet funny Mexican standoff).
I got to spend the rest of the weekend portraying the role of a zombie myself. I’ve got a head-chest cold (my first one in over a year), which has just kicked my butt, between all the sleeping, I get up to moan and make hoarking sounds as I try to get the crap out of my chest. Good times.
I find it interesting that horror films in general, and zombies in particular are part of the zeitgeist of the moment. It has a lot to do with the general environment of fear that our governments are perpetrating, where your next door neighbour could be a terrorist, and where even your family could be suspect. Zombies are the ultimate betrayal, our own bodies rebelling against us, and the slow, inexorable creeping doom of an army of zombies slowly stalking down a road is a perfect example of the nihilism in the media, and how we as a society feel we’re all doomed.
Plus, zombies are friggin’ cool. Now please excuse me, I do believe my brain is dribbling down my chin…grossest…cold…ever.