Comments on: Simon Pegg on why Zombies don’t run

By: Brandon

Brandon — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:07:32 +0000

There was a hilariously bad Italian zombie movie called City of the Walking Dead (also known as Nightmare City) where the zombies were quick, and used weapons to boot.

Also, I think the zombies in the Return of the Living Dead series were quick on their feet as well.

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:31:39 +0000

‘In the original Romero movies, zombies were this big dumb mass of stupidity. The protagonists always get complacent … then by sheer weight of numbers they get overwhelmed.

It’s a fear of an anonymous mass coming after you. Except, of course, modern day zombies have evolved. They learnt to run in about 2002. Which is probably good, it gives the genre a new lease of life. We considered having your old-fashioned, stumbling zombies in this, but it felt more in-keeping with a fast-paced TV thing to have running zombies. There’s something visceral about having a bunch of zombies running at you.’

– Charlie Brooker justifies the speedy zombies in Dead Set, full interview and episodes: http://www.e4.com/deadset/charlie-brooker.html

Were zombies ever fast before 28 Days Later? When they were running around on fire… excellent!

By: Matej

Matej — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:49:44 +0000

Great piece, but I’m not entirely sure I agree with Pegg. I think variation keeps genres fresh. I love vampire lore and vampire movies, but I cringe at the thought of always seeing the same kind of vampire. Modern incarnations are great, even if sometimes misguided and unsuccessful. Maybe zombies and vampires are different in this respect. Also, I can’t believe I just typed this paragraph.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:24:24 +0000

I wholeheartedly agree.

That said, Dead Set was awesome.