JUNKFILM

Hey guys, just dropping in to wish you all a happy and safe Zombie Day 2009. I thought instead of simply wishing a happy ZD, why not venture down Junk’s top 10 Zombie pieces and see what we find…

The trouble with Zombie stories is that they are done in the abundance, yet rarely done well. While you might be able to find 40 or 50 zombie titles at your local video chain store, only a small handful of them are worth a watch, or read.

It has become overtly obvious in the last couple years that if you want a good zombie story, you either find the old zombie films or you get to reading…

Now…

All hands inside the cars please, they have been known to nibble.

10: DEAD NEXT DOOR (film)

Now, there is a reason this one is at number ten. Like I said above, there are some really bad zombie films, and truth be told, this one is fucking pitiful, but… there is a ray of light. This was the first movie, that I know of, to shed light on a different side of zombie-worldly-ness: and that is activist. While every zombie film you see, every book you pour through, everyone on the planet simply wants these things dead and gone. Well, not Dead Next Door. The movie displays zombie rights activists trying to help out the zombies, because hey, “They’re people too.”

9: WILD ZER0 (film)

A, excuse the pun, WILD zombie flick from Japan about rockers who just can’t stand to see the dead come back from the grave. It’s fun, it’s witty, it’s a freaking good time.

8: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (film)

I think it was designed as a spoof of Night of the Living Dead. Hell, they even mention that Night was just a movie to shadow the true events of the zombie outbreak. This was the first zombie film to show that zombies wanted brains rather than their previous desire for all flesh. Grave dancing, tits and tar zombies, can it get better?
Best line from the movie: Zombie on walkie talkie - “Send… more… paramedics.”

7: DAWN OF THE DEAD (film)

This is the remake we are talking about here. While the remake of Night sucked ferociously, and the remake of Day was more so retarded, this remake was done perfectly and stylistically. Freaky from the get go, relentlessly not letting up the tension and a good cast of characters to keep the humanity alive.

6: 28 DAYS LATER (film)

Ok, let’s clear the air right now… This is not a zombie film, technically. Yes, it encapsulates all the necessities that drive a zombie film: alone protagonist, stress of everything collapsing, a horde of baddies trying to eat you, and running your ass off trying to find shelter. BUT… there are no zombies in this movie. The films states very clearly, they are infected with Rage, they are not dead… however, this is as close as you can get to being a dead stroller. And the movie fucking rocks! The sequel was surprisingly good as well.

5: DAWN OF THE DEAD (film)

As much as I love the remake (probably the only remake worth a shit) the original delves more into the psyche and extrapolates the moral conundrums that much clearer. Plus, who doesn’t want to be in a mall during a zombie invasion?
Best Line from the movie: “When Hell is full, the dead will walk the earth.”

4: DAY OF THE DEAD (film)

For a long time this was my end all be all of zombie lore. The characters were awesome, the story was riveting, the gore was done exquisitely, but most of all, the stress among the living was top notch. This, my friends, is what makes a good zombie story, not the walking dead, not the blood shed, but how normal people deal with the situation that Hell has opened up and now the dead walk the earth

3: WALKING DEAD (comic book)

You’re going to be hard pressed to find anything remotely as good concerning character arches and just plain old fashioned good story telling. The Walking Dead transcends the purely horror-seeking fan and makes the story into a drastically well developed character piece. This proves yet again that a good zombie story doesn’t have to do with the dead, but the living.

2: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (original film)

This is the birth of the modern day zombie. No voodoo, no magic, just good old fashion space radiation waking the dead in order to feed. Beautifully shot, excellent paced and wonderfully acted, this classic is just as intense as it was 40 years ago.

1: WORLD WAR Z (book)

There is no book, no movie, no game better to discuss zombies than the faux documentary-like novel that is World War Z. A detail oriented telling of the coming, happenings, and the aftermath of the great Z War where humans had to fight for their very existence. Ranging from politics to medical, military to mundane, the stories are intricate and perfect. As we would all love to see this one make the silver screen, we are hesitant because we feel it would have to be told as a documentary to be done successfully. Buy this now.