5. Fast Running Zombies
Unlike early zombie films, the modern undead can run down victims with ease. It gives rise to intense chase scenes where human characters are forced to catch their breath as they escape zombie hordes.
South Korea’sTrain to Busanran with this concept, featuring superbly thrilling zombies and non-stop zombie chase scenes. TheResident Evilfilm series also featured a kind of fast zombie, including zombie dogs that were more vicious than the zombie humans.
Fast zombies are usually better suited to thriller movies than horror movies, but some films skillfully combine dark atmospheres and eerie sound effects with fast zombies for terrifying jump scares.
For example, the filmPandemicfeatured a POV shot in a nightvision view that had an undead zombie pop out of nowhere. It’s the kind of horror that you’d normally expect in a ghost movie.
4. Infection Rather Than Reanimation
Traditionally, zombies are dead people who have been brought back to life via voodoo. That’s why early zombie movies had them rising from their graves after some kind of hellish ritual.
But modern zombies are no longer tied to spirituality. Instead, zombies are usually born from a plot involving chemical leaks or virus outbreaks. No longer are dead people raised back to life; now, live humans are slowly transformed into mindless, berserk cannibals.
Kingdom: Ashin of the Northhas parasites that infect human bodies and alter their psychological behavior, turning them into hostile cannibals.28 Days Later—despite its director saying it isn’t a zombie movie—has zombie hordes driven mad by a virus.
Sure, they’re still technically dead, and their behaviors might be pretty close to the original concept of a zombie (depending on how far the movie wants to twist them). But losing the spiritual source of zombieness fundamentally changes our experience of them as viewers.
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3. Zombies That Are Self-Aware
In the beginning, zombies were utterly mindless and without a sense of self. They werereanimated, notresurrected. Nowadays, zombies have started to have intelligence, consciousness, and self-awareness.
For example, the main character inWarm Bodiesis a zombie named “R” who’s aware of his surroundings and even falls in love with a human girl.Pet Semataryfeatures a family brought back to life (that part is traditional) but sentient and behaving differently (this part is modern).
And then there’sI Am Hero, a live-action movie adaptation of a manga series with zombies that retain parts of their memories and personalities. For example, one athletic zombie brings chaos on a human settlement with his crazy jumping ability from when he was alive.
2. Different Zombie Forms
For a long time, zombies were just zombies. All zombies in a zombie movie were equally dead, mindless, and bloodthirsty. Nowadays, movies may feature different forms or levels of zombieness.
Going back toWarm Bodies, there are zombies like “R” who are still somewhat conscious, but there are also “Boneys” which are more vicious zombies that arise when a normal zombie surrenders all of their humanity.
Another example: theResident Evilfilm series features special zombies that aren’t just undead human corpses, but further modified by bioweapons to be humanoid soldiers.
1. Zombies Are No Longer Horror
Contrary to early zombie movies, which really leaned into their horror elements, modern zombie movies have injected more action into their scenes. What used to be horrifying and otherworldly has now become little more than fodder for bullets.
Simply put, zombie movies are no longer horror movies; they’re just another of the many types of action thriller movies.
Films likeVersusandWorld War Zfocus more on plot, hand-to-hand combat, and fast-paced chases. You’ll find lots of guns, rockets, and bombs to fend off hostile mobs. In place of suspense and mystery, we get stunts and choreography.
What’s truly sad is that zombies aren’t even interesting enough to be the star of their own movies anymore. They’re usually throw in as dressing on top, like inArmy of the DeadandPeninsula, which are both heist movies that happen to take place in zombie-infested areas.
In some sense, the Hollywood effort to make zombies feel fresh has only made them less interesting. The further they’re taken from their roots, the less zombies have to offer to cinema.
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