Zombies Don't Run - They Can't (Romero)

[dwatts]

Yeah, this has always bothered me a bit.

It all started with 2002 British movie 28 Days Later, in which a mystery virus turned people into shrieking, sprinting banshees.

The zombies in the Dawn of the Dead remake of 2004 were no less active - an acquired characteristic Romero, who did not direct the film, has strong opinions about.

"Zombies don't run," he states firmly. "They can't! Their ankles would snap.

"What did they do - wake from the dead and immediately join a health club? I don't get it."

Aficionados will be happy to hear that the zombies in Diary of the Dead conform to the usual shuffling, stumbling stereotype.

So there you have it from the master. Hard to argue.

Full story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7280793.stm

Horror director George A Romero reveals why he made his latest zombie film - and why the undead can't run.

When it comes to zombie movies, there is no man more revered than George A Romero.

Made for just $100,000 in black-and-white, his 1968 film Night of the Living Dead became a cult classic that spawned an entire genre.

It also generated four sequels, the latest of which, Diary of the Dead, is released in the UK this week.

Laden with gore, blood and apocalyptic doom, Romero's work is not for the faint-hearted.

Alongside the carnage, though, the 68-year-old director presents a telling and often satirical commentary on American society, culture and politics.

"All these films have been motivated by observations of what is happening out there in the world," he explains.

"If you look at the films in sequence, they reflect 40 years of what was happening in North America."

In 1978's Dawn of the Dead, for example, the shopping mall setting enabled Romero to allude to the dangers of rampant, soulless consumerism.

Land of the Dead's vision of a US metropolis under siege, meanwhile, can be read as a parable about America's post-9/11 isolationism and paranoia.

So what was the thinking behind Diary of the Dead, which follows a group of film students documenting a zombie attack?

"I wanted to do something about emerging media," says the director, citing the phenomenal success of video sharing website YouTube.

"All of a sudden we're all somehow electronically connected to one another."

Diary, of course, is not the only picture this year to present its escalating horror from the point of view of a camera-wielding observer.

Recent monster epic Cloverfield utilised a similar technique, while Brian De Palma's upcoming film Redacted - about US soldiers stationed in Iraq - is entirely made up of so-called "found footage".

"We thought we were going to be the first ones out there," says Romero.

"But now we have to settle for being part of a trend. I guess there must be some sort of a collective subconscious."

Some critics have been less than kind about his latest effort, though that has not stopped the director putting a follow-up into development.

Suggest he has the artistic monopoly on this bleak horror sub-genre, though, and he is quick to demur.

"My work is my work, and I don't particularly care what other people are doing," he says.


"But I certainly don't think of my films as being more pure than the others."

On one matter, however, he is prepared to take a stand - the vexed question on whether zombies can run.

It all started with 2002 British movie 28 Days Later, in which a mystery virus turned people into shrieking, sprinting banshees.

The zombies in the Dawn of the Dead remake of 2004 were no less active - an acquired characteristic Romero, who did not direct the film, has strong opinions about.

"Zombies don't run," he states firmly. "They can't! Their ankles would snap.

"What did they do - wake from the dead and immediately join a health club? I don't get it."

Aficionados will be happy to hear that the zombies in Diary of the Dead conform to the usual shuffling, stumbling stereotype.

It will also no doubt tickle them that Romero has taken pains to devise new and inventive ways of despatching them.

"Every time I do one of these, I spend all my time in the shower thinking how I'm going to knock these guys off," he laughs.

"That's where the applause comes from in my films - good zombie kills!"

[Dave]

Hey George: People don't suddenly reanimate after death, either. Get over it.

[maybrick]

Yeah, he's mentioned this both times I've seen him talk in person. Personally, I don't mind the idea of running zombies, but I wish they'd handle it more realistically. For instance, given the amount of power they use, when they smash through doors I'd like to see/hear them break their wrists. Little things like that would be nice.

On the subject of running/fast zombies: why do people always conveniently forget about RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD? There are a lot of folks on message boards that absolutely HATE running zombies, but then routinely cite ROTLD as one of their favorite horror movies. I just don't get it.

[X-human]

Considering every time you use a muscle you basically damage it, it's frankly impossible for a zombie to maintain any kind of strenuous activity. They would almost literally come unglued.

I've always kinda had a problem with that in even Romero's world. Logically zombies would fall apart after only a few days. Suspension of disbelief is fine but the idea that hoards and hoards of zombies would envelope the earth for all eternity is a hell of a stretch. The remaining living would realistically only have to contend with zombies made within a span of a few weeks prior to any given point in time.

[onebyone]

No of course they couldn't run, but as long as they don't do it on shaky cam, I really don't care one way or the other.

[boycrieswolf]

On the subject of running/fast zombies: why do people always conveniently forget about RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD? There are a lot of folks on message boards that absolutely HATE running zombies, but then routinely cite ROTLD as one of their favorite horror movies. I just don't get it.[/QUOTE]

Amen brother! Return Of The Living Dead is one of my all-time favorites and to the best of my knowledge is the first zombie movie to feature sprinting zombies. I personally don't mind either way. The first time I saw ROTLD I never once said to myself, "what a crock, zombies don't run." I was too overwhelmed with cinematic joy to bother picking it apart. So Romero's zombies don't run. Cool. Good for him. If other films want to have running zombies, whatever. It's all make believe anyway, right...? On a side note, I have to defend the ground breaking brilliance that is 28 Days Later on account of Danny Boyle's undead are not actually zombies. The whole concept of the recently deceased becoming infected with a 'rage' virus was a nice change of pace that the genre really needed in my humble opinion. Of course now there's a shitload of copycat films copping that style, but at the time it was released, 28 Days Later was a breath of fresh air in a rather stagnant genre. I saw it in the theater 3 different times and it left a huge impression on the audience every time. Say what you will but I'll defend that movie tooth and nail, running zombies or not!

[KGBRadioMoskow]

IMO a zombie's mobility should be a factor of its "freshness". And the more mobile it tries to be, the more its mobility degrades. There just isn't enough caloric intake or cellular regeneration to allow for anything else - if there was, they wouldn't be dead / undead. Or else they'd starve off and effectively be "dead" again.

And a common factor in zombie films hasn't just been their physical stability, its their mental speed. Run, walk, or stumble, they all have been fairly slow to react. So even if they did run, it would take them a while to take notice of something to go after, a while to get to speed, and they'd tend to be very late to correct their course to match evasion by what they're running after. What you'd have is a bunch of semi-guided decaying meat missiles.

In any case if you add up all the above (as has been said by others) over a fairly short period of time they'd basically all end up shambling or crawling around slowly.

Part of the horror of the zombie / ghoul film genre is the slow moving, mindless swarm aspect. If you want fast moving undead, go watch a vampire flick. Personally I don't see the appeal of trying to mix the styles.

[wago70]

THANK YOU GEORGE!!! All those running, hopping zombies ... just didn't do it for me. No scarier than the Boston Marathon but they appeased the short-attention span lot. Keep them slow but menacing. What I loved is that people underestimate the Romero zombies and, in doing that, fall right into their jaws.

[Hellbilly]

I don't care as long as they eat people. Digestion might be another problem though

[Roo]

Love George and respect his view. For me, I don't care if they walk, run or wear mini skirts (like in the movie FIDO) as long as the movie entertains me.

[SEANVALEN]

I think he feels the running zombies took away the scare factor of the slow zombies, and he wasn't behind it.

To be honest, I found 28 weeks later more scary in parts then any zombie film I've ever seen, just because the zombies are fast enough to make you run like mad. But the slow zombies are still cool for enclosed areas-smaller stories etc

The Dawn of the Dead remake was a major shift in the zombie film history, that film and 28 weeks later are my favorites, as much as I respect George's creations for starting it all off.

[Paff]

Originally Posted by Dave

Hey George: People don't suddenly reanimate after death, either. Get over it.

Not to mention, if ya wanna be technical, rigor mortis would freeze their joints. And when you take that into account, you only end up with this:

[satans-sadists]

I much more prefer the slow moving zombies, but can't deny my enjoyment of films like 28 Days Later and Nightmare City. Wouldn't consider myself a fan of Dawn of the Dead 2004 and especially the remade zombies.

[HAEMORRHAGE]

There's 2 things I really don't like with modern horror. 1 is remakes. 2 is fast moving zombies. I grew up knowing them being as slow beings that'd creep up on you. Now I see ones that are faster than they were when they were living. As if they have super powers or something. That just ain't for me.

[allmessedup]

I like both, and both are equally scary in their respective ways.