J.R. Why We Love Zombie Films

Horror Source 3 – Zombie Films

1. Read the BBC article - why are we so afraid of Zombie horror?  Summarize the article on your blog with related images.

A research project by the Open University's Stephanie Lay found a particular fear of "near-human" faces. It explains why blank eyes, automatons, masks and ventriloquists' dolls are common cinema devices to instill fear.  The research found that people were initially more receptive to robots which were made slightly human looking, but if they began to imitate humans too closely, people were repelled. For instance the empty eyes of a zombie figure in an otherwise human face are highly disconcerting causing an audience to become frightened. She says this uneasy reaction could be caused by the sudden disruption in how the human brain processes human faces, as it does not match their expectations of what they will see therefore they are then at unease at what they are seeing.

2. Read the pop mythology article - this is not an academic text, but a personal blog. However the author makes some interesting observations on audience appeal of Zombie films.  Make note of the key points on your blog with images.

·People love the Zombie Scenario because they believe they can survive it.  It has been presented to us in such a way that anyone can survive if they use their head and when necessary their fire axes and hunting rifles.

·It stands to reason that a huge part of the popularity of zombie stories is just, well, the all-out mayhem of the end of the world and being one of the super bad-ass skull crushers that can make it out there. For example the game ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ is a zombie game where people frequently play to get an adrenaline rush through the thought of a zombie apocalypse.

·Other end-of-world scenarios don’t provide the opportunity for anyone, old or young, of any race or creed, gender or hairstyle to survive the way slouching, moaning zombies allow us to.

·But the Zombie Apocalypse fantasy also presents an opportunity to be more honest with ourselves and recognize our own inanity. There’s nothing wrong with a little harmless fantasy, but when we start to actually wish the Zombie Apocalypse would really happen so that we don’t have to go back to our boring, humdrum lives, it’s time for a little reality check.

3. Watch the 'why do we love zombies' video - quite light heart, but worth embedding on blog and commenting on any key findings / observations.  Plus has lots of clips in montage

First ever zombie movie made in was 1968, and it was called ‘Night of the Living Dead’. The old vampire style horror movies have died down now therefore a new era of ‘zombie movies’ is now on a rise meaning in the last ten or so years many more zombie movies have been produced. It is becoming increasingly popular as people are able to relate to a zombie apocalypse and imagine themselves in that situation. However a zombie film would not be good if it weren't scary, therefore new TV series such as ‘The Walking Dead’ show that you are always vulnerable to zombies and that you are never safe, therefore zombies aren't a jumpy type of scary but a long term type of scary. This is why there is a huge attraction to zombie movies now days.