Types of Zombie Apocalypse Survivors
Tag Archives: zombie
Places to Hide During a Real Life Zombie Apocalypse
Places to Hide During a Real Life Zombie Apocalypse
A Christmas Carol + Zombies
A Christmas Carol + Zombies
A Zombie Christmas Carol
A Zombie Christmas Carol
We Wish You A Zombie Christmas by Mike Puccio
We Wish You A Zombie Christmas by Mike Puccio – review coming…..
World War Z by Max Brooks
I got an audiobook copy of World War Z by Max Brooks sometime … somewhere … each time I tried listening to it I got busy and lost my place. What I’ve heard I liked.
Lately I was given an e-reader toward my writing/book-publishing work, and with that I have been getting a bit into audiobooks … so… hopefully, ideally, I will SOON get to finally listen to this in its entirety. The cool thing though…. when I have listened to it before, I recognized a number of the voices to the character. If you look on Wikipedia, Max Brooks got quite the cast.
If you’ve seen the 2013 movie, staring Brad Pitt and a bunch of people who’s names I don’t recognize, this is very different. Having not read the book, it stands to reason that the audio book is more like the book. Don’t get me wrong, the film was KICKASS and it is one of my favourite Z-films.
The Devil Wears Prada – Zombie (EP)
Well, I listened to some metal today — Zombie (EP), the 2010 release by The Devil Wears Prada. Frankly … not my thing. I’m cool with metal but I think Sesame Street is a much better gig for Cookie Monster. Something a guitarist pointed out to me years ago – he said “I love distortion, but it also hides the poor playing of a lot of musicians.”
This album did feature a few things that I enjoyed – things that switched it up and gave it any redeeming depth and texture …
- Escape – Thunder at the beginning of track one … some speaking mid-track of a guy on communicating what he’s seeing over a walkie-talkie or a phone … a car (or some such) alarm being used musically … groaning zombies.
- Anatomy – Starts out with the sound of a nearby chainsaw. It’s also really sweet when they kick into sound like they’re backed by a late-80s/early-90s boy band. Way to bring it back guys, right on!
- Outnumbered – Starts with a report warning of danger (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, news agency, etc). Yeah, that’s about the only good thing I have to say about this track.
- Revive – There was a little bit of music and singing in here that wasn’t speed guitars and Cookie Monster. I’m good with metal speed guitars, drums, etc …. but the Cookie Monster thing …. bleh! Really there is very little good I can say about this track. Suffice to say, not everything is for everyone.
- Survivor – I listened to this track three times before typing here. I can’t tell anything special about this track. It’s all the noise of the first four tracks and nothing terribly interesting.
In Conclusion… I may listen to this album again for a few of the ‘texture’ ideas, but I don’t see myself listening to it out of interest, inspiration, or especially to feel anything other than frazzled out of my mind. To each their own, not my thing.
Cookie Monster at Wikipedia and his character profile at IMDB
Cookie Monster Metal at Wikipedia
The Devil Wears Prada and their 23Aug2010 album Zombie (EP) at Wikipedia
Lyrics to Zombie (EP) because I can’t tell what the heck they’re singing … maybe I’m showing my age.
Rammbock Berlin Undead (2011)
Once again, a review in note vrs essay form by DPScobie
Rated – Yellow Puss
I think this is the first non-English-language zombie film I’ve seen. When I saw this on the library shelf I grabbed it up precisely for that reason — in this case, Germany. Personally, I watch DVDs with the subtitles on because I find I follow the story better — I’m glad that this DVD also had English audio over-dub. Also, I found that I had a hard time doing what I usually do while watching movies — type or work on a small hand project — I really had to just-watch the film. Yeah, I know, actually ‘watch a film’ — what a concept — it’s how I prefer to view films and spend my viewing time.
Zombie bite + angry victim = another zombie
Potentially the human immune system can beat the zombie infection over time providing the victim stays calm while their body beats the infection
The zombies are rather rabid, including frothing and drooling at the mouth
Initially this doesn’t have The Journey” element (for the first 54 minutes of the film) — instead the people are trapped in their apartments
The zombies are repelled by strobes because their retina’s are sensitive to the light
Has a bit of a 28 Days Later vibe to it — like this is the B-team in the same story line or what’s going on around the same time but in Germany
I’m unclear if there are supposed to be some comedic elements — this could be the difference in the timing between the original German execution and the English over-dubs
Deals with the personal experience of a person changing from a human to a zombie
Shows people who aren’t able to handle the stress and emotions of the catastrophe, killing themselves in various ways
The film is shorter than what I’m used to — it ends (goes to credits) around 58 minutes
There’s a fun and campy video in the bonus features — a PSA on zombie identification and eradication
ENGLISH DIALOG
Ladies and gentlemen, The German parliament has authorized the immediate use of military force. A state of emergency has been declared according to article 35 of the constitution. It is now clear that a pervasive epidemic is spreading via a virus of unknown origin. The pathogen is thought to be transmitted by bodily fluids exchanged through bites from infected individuals. Within hours or perhaps minutes the virus spreads through the body. Infection does not mean a full blown illness. The pathogen only enters the brain when the body releases adrenaline. I repeat, adrenaline released under strong emotional stress activates the illness. If you think you may be infected, it is very important to stay clam. Stay away from others and, if possible, sedate yourself. There are indications that the immune system can conquer the disease if the illness remains dormant. If illness develops, seek safety away from the infected person. Under no circumstances should one attract their attention, even if they are family members or friends. Remain calm. If you are in an urban area do not try to leave on your own. All major traffic routes have been blocked. The army is preparing to evacuate large cities via waterways. Stay in a safe place. Barricade your doors and windows. Keep your radios on. As information becomes available this station will broadcast the latest updates. You are urged to stay tuned and, as we stated earlier, remain calm. Authorities are working to find a solution to the crisis and medical personnel are treating infected victims at make-shift crisis centers across the city.
SUBTITLES
a pervasive epidemic is spreading
via a virus of unknown origin
The pathogen
is transmitted by bodily fluids
via bites and bleeding wounds.
Within minutes or hours, the virus spreads
through the body.
Infection does not mean
a full blown illness.
The pathogen only enters the brain
when the body releases adrenaline.
I repeat, adrenaline released under strong emotional stress
activates the illness.
If you think you may be infected, it is very important to stay clam.
Stay away from others.
If possible, sedate yourself.
There are indications that the immune system
can conquer the disease if the illness remains dormant.
If illness develops, seek safety
away from the infected person.
Under no circumstances
should one attract attention,
even if they are family members or friends.
Remain calm.
If you are in an urban area do not try to leave on your own.
All major traffic routes have been blocked.
The army
is preparing to evacuate large cities via waterways.
Stay in a safe place. Barricade your doors and windows.
Keep your radios on.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The German parliament has authorized immediate use of military force.
A state of emergency has been declared according to article 35 of the constitution
Links
Day Of The Dead (1985)
Whaddayaknow — George A. Romero wrote and directed another zombie film! And I’ve rated it as Yellow Puss.
What’s the significance of Day Of the Dead? I’m still trying to figure that out myself. Heck, 30 minutes into the film I asked “Where’s this film going?” After an hour and thirty-seven minutes I asked myself that again and then the credits started rolling.
- Music that was used in Shaun Of The Dead, which SOTD did intentionally drawing from a number of Z-films to pay homage to their predecessors
- Yelling “Hello?” that sounds like the same delivery I first heard in 28 Days Later and suspect that Day Of The Dead was the original
Experiments with cognizant zombies – most notable in the film is “Bub”, a male zombie who at a base level shows memory of things from when he was a human (ex applying a disposable razor to his face for shaving)- In some cases over-the-top campy acting, which can be characteristic of B/Z-films, but in this case struck me as poor acting &/or directing choices. I think the film could have had better execution & resonance in the same scenes (ALTHOUGH I NOTE – it was only the military AKA government characters that acted in this ‘ridiculous’ way, which may start to make some sense when you understand that this is supposed to be representative of a conflict between the public and the government.)
- Questionably gay straight guy or straight gay guy
Oldest private in history, Private Steele – so did he join late, has this zombie conflict been going on that long and there was no one around to promote him, or is that he joined young and remained a career private?- Better make up and effects than Dawn Of The Dead
- Instead of being held up in a shopping mall (Dawn Of The Dead) with a helicopter they’re holed up in an underground facility of some sort with a helicopter
I happened to have a collector’s edition of this film when I viewed it, so I also had all the extras — including the ‘interviews with the cast members X#-of-years later’ AKA ‘today’. One of the things said (by Romero) was that the two parties of people in this film — scientists & military — stuck in the underground bunker was meant to represent the public and the government of the time (mid-1980s) and how there was a distrust between the two.
Perhaps this film had that significance then (in 1985) but viewing it in 2017 it has no staying power.
This film could probably be good with a re-write & re-make, not unlike how Total Recall was grossly improved.
Cemetery Man (1994)
This is perhaps one of the worst reviews I could give. I put this DVD in my player, watched the trailer, and popped the disc back out. The preview looked so-so, but being a zombie film my think is to watch it still — because if I only watched the well-made Z-films then I’d only have about a dozen reviews and all of them would be on my Favourites List. The issue that I had with Cemetery Man was that it was subtitled and did not have a language over-dub option, and at the time I didn’t have time to watch a film that required me to read (I usually work on something while I watch a film at home, usually my laptop). I’ve been told that an over-dub version followed the 1994 release a few years later — so I may try to get my hands on that and give this film another go. Still, IMDB indicates that this film had a $4-million budget (which is not just low but it is LOW) and grossed $253,969 at the US box-office ….. so how much of a film am I missing here really?!?