Author Topic: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011  (Read 58778 times)

Junior

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #80 on: October 07, 2011, 12:45:46 AM »
Day also has that killer opening.

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Bill Thompson

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #81 on: October 07, 2011, 07:26:32 AM »
So let's get to the thematic point. On this I think you are wrongly pedantic as you are in insisting that 28 Days Later isn't a zombie film.

Well, they aren't zombies, they don't die and come back to life, they are infected with a virus that affects the control parts of their brain.

To limit the definition/capabilities of a zombie so extremely takes a lot of the potential away. Considering zombies have enough brain activity for motor functioning, I don't see why it is so implausible that they would be conducive to Pavlovian conditioning and some residual motor memory. If you aren't willing to go along with it that far, you aren't trying hard enough.

It's not implausible, and that wasn't my point of contention. I don't want to see it, it doesn't interest me, it isn't handled well, and it does not fit within the universe Romero has constructed. Why should I go along with it though? Just because a filmmaker puts an idea in a film I have to go along with it? I don't think that's the case, I'm not willing to go along with the direction Romero takes zombies in Day and Land, it's not because I'm not trying hard enough it's because I don't care for said direction.

Bondo

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #82 on: October 07, 2011, 07:56:52 AM »
So let's get to the thematic point. On this I think you are wrongly pedantic as you are in insisting that 28 Days Later isn't a zombie film.

Well, they aren't zombies, they don't die and come back to life, they are infected with a virus that affects the control parts of their brain.

In many of the original zombie stories, the zombies were living people whose minds were taken over by voodoo and the like. Being undead is not even remotely a necessary or sufficient condition to be a zombie.

smirnoff

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #83 on: October 07, 2011, 08:39:52 AM »
I'm sorry you had to experience Witchfinder General, 1SO. It stands out in my mind as one of the most terrible films I've ever seen (30 minutes of).

I put it in the marathon because it's a very acclaimed cult film, and is sometimes mentioned in conjunction with The Devils, a film I really like a lot. Plus, with Vincent Price I expected something classier. There is a great quote I found while doing post-film research.

According to Kim Newman in his book, Nightmare Movies, when director Reeves made a suggestion on the set, Vincent Price objected and told the director: "I've made 87 films. What have you done?" And Reeves responded: "I've made three good ones."

Hah, good one. :)

jim brown

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #84 on: October 07, 2011, 10:30:57 AM »
So let's get to the thematic point. On this I think you are wrongly pedantic as you are in insisting that 28 Days Later isn't a zombie film.

Well, they aren't zombies, they don't die and come back to life, they are infected with a virus that affects the control parts of their brain.

In many of the original zombie stories, the zombies were living people whose minds were taken over by voodoo and the like. Being undead is not even remotely a necessary or sufficient condition to be a zombie.

Okay - I just did a lot of research into the origins/definition of zombies (i.e., I looked it up on Wikipedia) and contrary to what I previously thought (I'd been in agreement with Bondo), apparently in Haitian folklore zombies are the dead reanimated.  As far as I can tell, Zora Neale Hurston lent anecdotal credibility to the psychotropic drug folklore, which was burnished by ethnobotanist Wade Davis (The Serpent and the Rainbow) several decades later. 

It's a silly but fun argument to have.  Regardless, I still consider 28 Days Later to be a zombie film. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie
« Last Edit: October 07, 2011, 10:36:48 AM by jim brown »
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Bondo

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #85 on: October 07, 2011, 10:54:07 AM »
The first zombie film ever, White Zombie, has people becoming zombies via potion, not death. That's what I was referring to.

1SO

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #86 on: October 07, 2011, 11:53:48 AM »
Bondo, if you're interested in furthering this debate, please add Wes Craven's underrated The Serpent and the Rainbow to your marathon.

(Junior, if you haven't seen it, this is a solid recommendation.)

jim brown

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #87 on: October 07, 2011, 12:09:48 PM »
Bondo, if you're interested in furthering this debate, please add Wes Craven's underrated The Serpent and the Rainbow to your marathon.

(Junior, if you haven't seen it, this is a solid recommendation.)

Very solid recommendation.  Good Bill Pullman and Paul Winfield.  Great Zakes Mokae and Brent Jennings. 
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Junior

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #88 on: October 07, 2011, 12:17:36 PM »
Seen it. Good stuff.
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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #89 on: October 07, 2011, 02:34:17 PM »
Y'all should watch Jacques Tourneur's I Walked With A Zombie.  It's the best Jane Eyre ever.
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