The Evolution of the Zombie
The Evolution of the Zombie
Forget what you remember about your slow, shambling, rotting, flesh-eating corpses, also known as zombies. What used to be bland, boring, and not that scary are now taking the place of the “sparkly love-struck vampire” and the hugely terrifying beast of a werewolf. Thus evolving in pop culture. Zombies, from the standards that we remembered were these slow, staggering and moaning undead that could not run or jump, they could not open doors nor did they have any sense of self-awareness. But through the years these standards have changed and modified and we are left with a whole new line of zombies, many of them very dangerous. In the event of a Zombie Apocalypse one of the first things we would need to know is what type of zombie we are dealing with, your typical slow moving Romero Zombies, the more dangerous, scary, and fast Berserkers, or the “new” Self-Aware Zombie. The Romero Zombies are your original, classic zombie from the man who reinvented the genre, George A. Romero, legendary filmmaker. These are the shambling, moaning, and very slow moving zombie from the bottom of the undead food chain. Imagine zombies that can have missing legs, arms, holes in their stomachs, and will still keep trying to eat you. They have lost all muscle coordination and dexterity. The Romero Zombie is not very scary looking, and is easy to outrun, but they can quickly overrun you in a large horde. Sometimes called Walkers, Biters, and Roamers, Romero Zombies are featured in Romero’s own film the “Night of the Living Dead”, and the television show, “The Walking Dead”. Although Romero may have originated the shambling and moaning undead that can only be killed by a blow to the brain type. He was not opposed to the idea of exploring new ways to keep the zombie genre fresh and changing with the times. He soon evolved as well in the film, “Land of the Dead” by introducing us to a type of zombie called the Berserker, or runners.
Forget what you remember about your slow, shambling, rotting, flesh-eating corpses, also known as zombies. What used to be bland, boring, and not that scary are now taking the place of the “sparkly love-struck vampire” and the hugely terrifying beast of a werewolf. Thus evolving in pop culture. Zombies, from the standards that we remembered were these slow, staggering and moaning undead that could not run or jump, they could not open doors nor did they have any sense of self-awareness. But through the years these standards have changed and modified and we are left with a whole new line of zombies, many of them very dangerous. In the event of a Zombie Apocalypse one of the first things we would need to know is what type of zombie we are dealing with, your typical slow moving Romero Zombies, the more dangerous, scary, and fast Berserkers, or the “new” Self-Aware Zombie. The Romero Zombies are your original, classic zombie from the man who reinvented the genre, George A. Romero, legendary filmmaker. These are the shambling, moaning, and very slow moving zombie from the bottom of the undead food chain. Imagine zombies that can have missing legs, arms, holes in their stomachs, and will still keep trying to eat you. They have lost all muscle coordination and dexterity. The Romero Zombie is not very scary looking, and is easy to outrun, but they can quickly overrun you in a large horde. Sometimes called Walkers, Biters, and Roamers, Romero Zombies are featured in Romero’s own film the “Night of the Living Dead”, and the television show, “The Walking Dead”. Although Romero may have originated the shambling and moaning undead that can only be killed by a blow to the brain type. He was not opposed to the idea of exploring new ways to keep the zombie genre fresh and changing with the times. He soon evolved as well in the film, “Land of the Dead” by introducing us to a type of zombie called the Berserker, or runners.