Good Zombie

I consider myself to be a reasonable and sane individual with sufficient intelligence to add value to most conversations. However, I am now rather concerned that I can tell a good zombie movie from a bad zombie movie. Perhaps what is most worrying is that I believe there are good zombie movies!

How did this happen? This was not always the case. It all got started from an innocent ‘girl meets boy’ scenario.

When I started dating my husband, as with all new relationships, I tended to go along with doing things that did not really interest me. Being in a new relationship means that not all the neurons are firing as they should, and even if they are the hormones take centre stage. You will find yourself saying “Yes sweetie, we can watch any movie you want to.”

Next thing I knew I was watching remakes of the Hulk, vampires in Van Helsing, and any zombie movie that went straight to DVD. I did not see how slowly I had been eased into this ridiculous world of obviously fake blood and guts.

What became even stranger is that I could start identifying what was a good and entertaining zombie, demon, viral outbreak or vampire flick. I learnt not to look at whether this was a low-budget production but rather the storytelling process and how engaged I was during the screening.

I would never admit it publicly – so, please don’t tell anyone – but I have started enjoying some movies in these types of genres. It is a lot of hit and misses (and there are a lot of misses), but every once in a while I am thoroughly entertained, having escaped into this morbid world for an hour or two.

So now you probably want to know, which zombie movies are good? I can strongly recommend Shaun of the Dead for a comedic look into the ‘undead’. For a more dramatic, action version, you can watch Dawn of the Dead. Just remember that you can never, ever get away from the zombies in the end.

All of this has taught me a very important lesson. Be careful to judge something too quickly that you have not really exposed yourself to. Or maybe it has taught me a different lesson – love makes you do stupid things!