28 Days Later: Zombie Movie Or Not?
Where do we draw the line on what is and what is not a zombie movie? We just can’t decide on our own, so every Monday we’ll post a new movie to be debated by, you, our readers and ask the question: Zombie Movie Or Not? Every Sunday we’ll post our findings and possibly strike that movie off our Zombie Movie List. The week should give you enough time to rent the movie if need be or you desire.
What every reader must keep in mind is that there are two basic types of zombie that every zombie movie based off of – the Voodoo Zombie and the Romero Zombie. The Voodoo Zombie, while not always raised by Voodoo necessarily, is basically a person, either undead or entranced, that is controlled by a person or entity for the purpose of completing tasks, often killing. Romero Zombies are basically mindless, flesh-eating undead whose bite will turn victims into zombies. Now, not all movies adhere to all of these rules, but if the basics are there, you got a zombie movie.
This weeks debate is over Danny Boyle’s 2002 hit 28 Weeks Later starring Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson.
IS: While the zombies in 28 Days Later are not actually dead, they are considered dead by the uninfected as there is nothing to bring them back. The only difference between Romero Zombies and zombie in 28 Days Later is the running and that only serves to heighten the terror.
IS NOT: The “infected” are not zombies, they’re not dead, therefore not zombies. They run because they’re not undead, they’re just infected with Rage. 28 Days Later is about a disease outbreak, not zombies.
Now it’s up to you, reader. What do you think? 28 Days Later: Zombie Movie Or Not?
Comments(19)
Not a Zombie movie, They are not the living dead. At the end of 28 days later the “infected” die off. Also they don’t eat the flesh or brain of the living. So they just really pissed of humans.
Not.
NOT A ZOMBIE MOVIE.
does anyone else want to beat some ass because of this movie and the people who watch it and are suddenly big time zombie movie fans.
In any interview I’ve read with director Danny Boyle, he’s denied calling it “zombie movie”. HOWEVER, I really think it is.
The “zombies” are not undead, however I think they meet the criteria for a “voodoo zombie” in that they have no free will and are dangerous as heck. Throw in the end of civilization, a handful of survivors and you got yourself a zombie movie.
this is not a zombie movie they dont feed on the flesh of humans to turn them they just have to get the infected blood into the non infected and the same ramero esque rules like kill the brain or disrupt the spinal cord like any good zombie it is just shoot until they stop moving
Saying that this movie isn’t a zombie movie is just silly. Of course it’s a zombie movie. The last of our kind being chased by humanoid figures that have lost control of their bodies and have no free will? That’s no Western.
Yes. Zombie Movie.
Not a zombie movie. IS a great movie, lots of fun and thrills. Great effects.
I truly believe this is a modern adaption of a zombie survival story. The details aren’t there, they’re not dead, they do die off somewhere down the line. But, the basics are there. People that get bitten by one of these infected, become them, die from it (if they don’t eat), become mindless killing machines and destroy society as we know it. So they run, that makes it actually terrifying in this new age. It’s makes the zombies actually scary, not just the humans that you hole up with that may fuck it up for you.
Not calling this a zombie movie (albeit loosely so) is to become so bogged down by the details that you miss the big picture.
@ Chance: The “infected” and Zombie are quite different. The “infected” are still human in everyway, just are suck in a state of uncontrolable rage. If time was give, there is a chance that you could cure them. On the other side of things, If you become a Zombie there is no turning back as you are dead.
The movie is in the Horror genre true but still not a zombie flick.
Yes this is a Zombie movie.
I would say that these zombies are of the Voodoo zombie genre. I wouldn’t call this the best representation of zombies but I do think it does a decent job with they story it has. This movie also keeps me on my toes, what would all of your zombie plans look like if you thought there was a chance zombies could run?
Infection:
The zombies in this movie are taken over by a virus (called Rage in the movie), now there not directly controlled by anyone, but someone made that virus and used it to study the effects of ‘Rage’ in those monkeys, which in turn ended up in the humans. I would say that this could fit into voodoo zombie territory. Now I’ve never been a firm believer of the fact that a voodoo zombie could infect someone, but because this is a virus and not some form of mind control that makes this defiantly possible.
Running zombies:
Zombies are people, People can run. Anything a person can do, a zombie can do… to some extent. Now I would believe zombies would lack the coordination needed to run long distances, like they do in this movie, but that’s not saying it couldn’t happen. I wouldn’t expect an undead zombie to be able to run, but a voodoo zombie… under the right circumstances, could run. In my opinion, they ran Way too much in this movie… but what can you do.
Zombie Health:
This is my main problem with classifying this as a zombie movie. The zombies get sick if they don’t consume blood, this kind of makes sense in the voodoo zombie genre, but would never fly with a true undead zombie. Undead zombies can stay alive for many years, and eating humans actually slows them down and causes them to decay faster.
I’m not a fan of the voodoo zombie genre, but I do like this movie, and would classify it as Voodoo zombie (its funny before I wrote all this, I was sure it would be closer to Romero… guess not :P)
In my opinion, it’s a zombie movie. I never thought otherwise until it was brought up on this site.
Granted, it’s not just like the other more older films, but I think it’s just the genre evolving into better/newer ideas.
I’m going to call it a pseudo-zombie movie. It’s clearly influenced by zombie movies, especially Romero’s. (Watch the scene in Dawn of the Dead where our heroes refuel their helicopter, then watch the scene in 28 Days Later where they refuel their car. Someone says “If we don’t do this now, we’re walking,” then someone wanders away, then he nearly gets his face gnawed off by zombie-tots.) As others have mentioned, the Infected have no free will, and they attack en masse. They transmit their condition by biting their victims.
There has been a precedent for viruses causing zombie-type infections. This is the first time the zombies aren’t actually dead (barring travesties like Astro-Zombies and Incredibly Strange Creatures…), but dead or not, they’re…all messed up.
Zombie movie. Mindless feeding hordes that attack normal humans, but not each other, and turn them into members of the mindless feeding horde. And yes, the infected do actually eat a number of the uninfected that they attack.
As for the running… Dawn remake has running zombies. And there is no debate that that is a zombie movie, so using the running as an example against is not a good one. Besides, NofLD zombies do run, too. Just not full speed.
I think 28 Days Later rationalizes how a zombie outbreak could plausibly happen, because space radiation and the fairy tale Hell filling up are not plausible.
NOT
its an infection movie, when it boils down to it…
they can be misteaken for zombies by the due fact that in a scene in 28 weeks later, after a large group of infected were leveld by that heli, some were severely mutilated and still alive, this constities zombie i feel, however at other parts, the infected are killed by a single gunshot, not to the head, which any zombie fan will hopefully agree that a headshot is all that matters with a zombie… last but not least, none of the infected are reffered to as zombies, rather as infected, which once again constitutes an outbreak/infection movie….
so yea…i still love the hell aout of that movie
In the Night Of The Living Dead, the “zombies” are only referred to as “ghouls” does that make it not a zombie movie?
although i agree, goul can be esily crossed with zombie, they all kinda fall into a ghost goul theme, the same can sorta be said fo the infected….however idk…its still shifty, to me a goul is dead, the infected in the movie were very much alive, when you thing about it in context “the rage” is a disease/infection that dosent kill, it just brings out the primal instincts of those it infects, and fills them with rage…causing them to attack other, no one really has a motive for the infecteds thoughts, but who cares…the point is, outside of voodoo zombies, the infected are very aliv.
so yea….
Anyone suggesting that these Rage creatures resemble classic interpretations of the “voodoo zombie” or have studied actual Voudon zombifictaion processes would know that a Voudon zombie is absolutely nothing like a Rage zombie. Voudon zombies are created and controlled by a master, they appear dead as they have slowed vitals (and thusly incredibly slow movements). Voudon zombies do not “get infected”. I think a few people are seeing movies with more traditional zombie archetypes set on Carribean islands ,with monkeys knocking around and a scientist saying that it’s a plague and consequently the audience is building this non-existent gap that voudon zombies are plague victims and therefore, any other plague/virus victims also qualify as zombies. Not true.
If 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later are zombie movies, they are in the sense that “The Crazies” or “Slither” are zombie movies. It’s not a zombie movie; it’s an apocalyptic scifi horror capitalizing on the string of blockbuster apocalyptic effects shows that have been shoved at us for the past few years (and eagerly gobbled up, just look at the box office totals).
I’ve always included this film with other zombie films. There are a lot of “zombie” films that people argue about (hence the creation of the series on ZRC), but I never truly understood this one. Sure, it’s not zombies created by outer space gases, or voodoo rituals, or mad scientists on carribean islands, but with all of there variations, why is this one so readily disposed of? I say “Zombie Film”…