Just a quick note- Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster, also of Monster’s Ball and Finding Neverland, has been announced as director of the upcoming film adaptation of Max Brooks World War Z, according to Variety. This is one of the few times a non-horror genre director seems like a good bet to me. With a short, but solid history in the director’s chair, including of of my favorite non-horror film of 2006, Stranger Than Fiction, I’m looking forward to seeing what Forster can accomplish with J. Michael Straczynski’s screenplay.
Danny Boyle was quoted today in a interview over at MTV Movies Blog as saying “It’s not a zombie movie, everyone. It’s not a zombie movie…They’re infected. They’re not zombies.”, in regard to Simon Pegg’s recent request that zombies be slow again. Where was the esteemed Mr. Boyle during our ZMON? 28 Days Later? He also had just a few words on the next 28 Days film, “It don’t think it will be called 28 Months Later, that’s all I can say…I mean, it’s absolutely not written yet, but there’s a prospect of an idea and the way these ideas start is you just suddenly get a little glimpse”.
EDIT: This story is a few years old. A lot of sites, including Boing Boing, also ran it today as NEW, which it isn’t. Sorry…we got suckered, along with everybody else!
William Poole, a Kentucky high school student, was arrested this week after turning in a short story he wrote for an assignment. The story was about a high school overrun with zombies and authorities took this to be a threat and quickly arrested the student.
“My story is based on fiction,” said Poole, who faces a second-degree felony terrorist threatening charge. “It’s a fake story. I made it up. I’ve been working on one of my short stories, (and) the short story they found was about zombies. Yes, it did say a high school. It was about a high school over ran by zombies.”
It’s a sad world where acts of fiction are treated the same as acts of terrorism. Regardless of whether or not he should’ve known better in a post-columbine world, I feel bad for the kid.
We owe a lot to Lucio Fulci. I can think of few other directors whose works in any genre were subjected to more censorship than Fulci’s gore-riddled works. He pushed the envelopes of gore, special effects, and at times, even good taste. His vision was unique, and it should come as no surprise that Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Hostel director Eli Roth all list him as a major influence.
Fulci’s zombie movies include Zombi II (1979), City of the Living Dead (aka The Gates of Hell (1980), The Beyond (aka Seven Doors of Death)(1981), The House by the Cemetary (1981), and Zombi III (1988). For creating this impressive list of zombie cinema, the ZRC salutes Lucio Fulci!
With just one zombie soundtrack album, Italian prog-rock band Goblin managed to secure their eternal place in zombie culture. From their first note in Dawn of the Dead’s opening theme L’ Alba Dei Morti Viventi, I knew I was ready to crap my pants for the next couple of hours. That song gave me such an uncomfortable feeling, I knew something horrible was about to happen. It’s part of the reason the original ’78 Dawn of the Dead has always been my favorite zombie film and Goblin one of my favorite bands.
Goblin, who have done numerous horror soundtracks, before and after Dawn, were a truly amazing band. Unfortunately, they called it quits in the early 80′s. They would occasionally get back together for a musical project here and there, and even a few reunions over the next couple of decades. One of the bands “founding fathers” (as the original members are known) Claudio Simonetti has another band Daemonia, formed in the 2000′s, which are very similiar in concept to Goblin, and have even covered Goblin material. And that’s why the ZRC salutes Goblin.
You can listen to a sample of the track L’ Alba Dei Morti Viventi here.
Just a quick note…Charlie Adlard, artist on Image’s The Walking Dead, has a new website! Or, we should say, his first website. Go check it out and see some great black and white versions of his Walking Dead covers.
Okay, so they were not actually lost, I just never posted them! Just take a gander at Nate and Jef (the zombie!) having some “personal time” with their favorite zombie/ horror actors, directors and even some fans at Motor City Nightmares…
Take some time and go listen to the Zombie Reporting Center’s very own Erik Zempel talk about the ZRC, zombie films, the state of the “zombie industry”, ZRC Radio and much more with guest host Corey over at the Midnight Podcast. It’s all part of their 2nd anniversary show, Episode #96. Give it a listen!
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