We're Coming to Get You, Barbara!

Well, since there was no Zombie Zone post last week, I have tons to talk about this week.

In Zombie Films, there were two terrific articles recently (via) about classic two classics of the genre. 

First up, this article by Joe Kane at The Warp, about how casting Duane Jones as the lead in the George A. Romero's original Night of the Living Dead changed the whole timbre of the film. As written, Jones' character Ben was originally a redneck trucker, complete with grammatically poor dialog. Jones insisted that the character appear educated and used the dialog written, but adapted it to 'smarten' Ben up. It's most definitely worth reading and a fascinating look at how the genre came into being.

Then there is this terrific interview in the L.A. Times with Bruce Campbell (damn, he was - and still is - fine!) on how Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead not only launched his, but Raimi's careers. The article is just in time to mark the newly remastered Blu-Ray release of the original 1981 film. Campbell is funny and articulate and the interview is a very fun read.

This week in Zombie Fiction, there is a new trailer for the book "Night of the Living Trekkies" that is both hilarious and gross, and the perfect cross-over for geeks of all kinds (via):

Personally, Uncle P can't wait for the inevitable movie version.

This week in Zombie Science, a Japanese scientist has found a new use for lasers (via):

Of course, why a Japanese scientist was looking to use a laser in this way, remains a mystery to me.

Let's turn to Zombie Art, shall we? The zombie-loving freaks over at BoingBoing shared this amazing typographic poster of a zombie arm, made up of the titles of 978 Zombie Films. Uncle P wishes he had the wall space to buy a copy for himself...

Finally, this week's Zombie Clip of the Week combines Zombie Art, Zombie Films and advertising all in one. The video below is a promotion for the Madrid premiere of the most recent Resident Evil film and is loads of fun, even if it is right out of one of Uncle P's childhood nightmares:

Sleep well, my fellow Zomboids.

More rotten flesh, soon.
Prospero

Live Long and Eat Braaaaiinnnns!

Lots to chew on tonight...

First, some Zombie Fiction:

Geeks of Doom has a sneak peak at the cover art for "Night of the Living Trekkies" which, as I am sure you can imagine, revolves around a zombie outbreak at a Star Trek convention. You can see the very amusing artwork here.

And in an amazing Zombie Music/Zombie Fiction/Zombie Film cross-over, a new novel (with the inevitable film adaptation) has been announced in which the Fab Four become zombies. The Film Stage has announced the plot of "Paul Is Undead," in which a re-animated John Lennon takes a zombie band "on a tour of terror across Europe and the U.S." Sounds kind of tasteless to me, and I can't honestly imagine the estates of Lennon and Harrison signing off on the project (McCartney and Starr became whores long ago, though). But the idea does bring this to mind:

In other Zombie Film news:

None other than Sir Ian McKellan (no stranger to Fanboy Fare, what with his appearances in the LOTR and X-Men films) is next set to appear in E'gad, Zombies! a zomcom set in 18th Century England. According to ReelzChannel.com, 22 minutes of the film have been shot and it is currently being shopped at the Cannes Film Festival. Here's the teaser trailer (via):

I don't know about you, but it looks pretty funny to Uncle P.

And the Godfather of Zombies, George A. Romero (whose Survival of the Dead is making the rounds OnDemand before its theatrical run) has announced that he has two more films left to make in his of the Dead series. While I (and many others) thought Land of the Dead was the least successful in the series, I thoroughly enjoyed Diary of the Dead and plan on checking out Survival soon. According to BloodyDisgusting.com, if Survival of the Dead does well commercially, he'll shoot the two-film finale of the series back-to-back. Romero also recently announced he plans to foray into 3D with a remake of Dario Argento's classic horror film, Deep Red. I say, enough with the 3D and the remakes, already!

And this week in Zombie Science:

Apparently, a broken satellite known as Galaxy 15 has gone rogue and may well interfere with transmissions from AMC-11, a satellite which transmits signals for Comcast. This could mean that millions of Comcast subscribers won't be able to see the "Lost" finale on May 23rd. yet another reason I am so happy to have switched to FiOS. The story is here at G4 and on BoingBoing, where I first read about it.

And, in Zombie Nonsense (see, I told you there was lots tonight):

Does Howard Johnson's hate zombies? Well apparently they do in Fargo, ND. Fargo's 3rd annual Zombie Pub Crawl was held today, with hundreds of folks dressed as zombies set to take part. But the Sidestreet Grille & Pub in the local Howard Johnson's hotel has posted signs reading: "NO ZOMBIES ALLOWED!" They claim they don't want to deal with the mess, but I suspect they're just a bunch of scared pusses. Read the full story here at Inforum.com.

Last, but certainly not least, the Zombie Zone Zombie Clip of the Week.

The loonies at RobotKitchen make these weird and wonderfully hilarious animated clips using toy cars, dolls and action figures. Please enjoy "Zombie Kill of The Week 3:"

Ah.... nothing like decapitating zombie Barbies, is there?

Well, I guess that's it for this week. Don't forget to check out Caliban's Revenge for your daily dose of weirdness; film; theatre and ramblings.

More living death, soon.
Prospero

Mmmm... Human Flesh... D'oh!

Not much to talk about this week, but let's start tonight off with some Zombie Ink, shall we? You all know of course, that I have a few tattoos. They are one-of-a-kind custom tatts that I thought very carefully about before committing them permanently to my skin. They are works of art and self-expression and they have very personal meaning to me.

And I'm not just a Zombie fan. I love lots of other things, including "The Simpsons," which even at its worst, is still better than a lot of stuff on TV. But other than the annual "Treehouse of Horror" episode, I would never have thought to combine the two. Especially not as a tattoo. I just cannot imagine walking into Living Arts and saying "I want a tattoo of Homer Simpson as a zombie. Oh, and I want it on the top of my foot."

First of all, the top of the foot is probably one of the most painful places to get inked. There isn't a whole lot of flesh there and the needle comes awfully close to the bone. And secondly, isn't getting a Homer Simpson tatt (even a non-Zombie one) a little like getting a Calvin and Hobbes or a Hello Kitty tatt? And even though it's probably not that big, the number of colors (I count at least 7) in this tattoo means it wasn't cheap, either. Seriously, if you're going to get a cartoon character tattoo, at least make it an awesome one. Remember folks, tattoos are very expensive to remove.

There isn't a whole lot of other Zombie-related stuff going on these days, other than this Zombie Fiction story over at BoingBoing about Amelia Beamer's novel The Loving Dead:

"...THE LOVING DEAD is about zombies, all right, but it's zombies with Xanax, zeppelins, Trader Joe's, iPhone apps, sex, humor, adventure, NPR, IKEA, and Indiana Jones! It's a rollercoaster ride of a read and a true original!" - author Connie Willis.

Sounds like a fun read, no?

Finally, the Zombie Clip of the Week:

This is an oldie, but a goodie:

I can certainly imagine that if Dick Cheney had told George that Zombies were behind 9/11, the moron would have staged just such a press conference. Though it would hardly surprise me to find out that the Bush campaign had actually recruited the Living Dead to vote for him. I mean, they're the only ones I can imagine were mindless enough to vote for that idiot twice. And on that very political note, I shall wish you all a good week.

More gore, soon.
Prospero

Dawn of the Dreadfuls

Sorry about the delay. I was a judge at a 24-hour play competition last night (more about that later tonight on Caliban's Revenge) and I got home way to late to post, so you get 'The Zombie Zone Lite,' this afternoon. So let's get started.

Tonight in Zombie Fiction:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, already slated for a film adaptation starring Natalie Portman, has a prequel. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls will be released this Tuesday.

"Readers will witness the birth of a heroine in Dawn of the Dreadfuls—a thrilling prequel set four years before the horrific events of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." Or so says the press release on Quirk's site. Now there's nothing wrong with promoting a new book, whether its good or bad. But I've noticed this very bizarre trend of filmed trailers for books.

The first one I really remember seeing was last year, with the release of Stephen King's Under the Dome. Then I remember seeing one for a Steampunk adventure novel. And last week, I stumbled upon the trailer for PP&Z: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (I refuse to type that whole, ridiculous title). I was just sort trolling YouTube for a suitable Clip of the Week candidate and there it was, in all its infinite silliness, complete with bad acting, silly stunt fighting and lots and lots of blood. Check it out:

What do you think? I the acting is my favorite thing about that trailer.

In Zombie News:

From True/Slant (via) comes this excellent essay by Mark Dery on Zombies, the econopocalypse, modern society and the loss of individuality.

"The zombie is a polyvalent revenant, a bloating signifier that has given shape, alternately, to repressed memories of slavery’s horrors; white alienation from the darker Other; Cold War nightmares of mushroom clouds and megadeaths; the post-traumatic fallout of the AIDS pandemic; and free-floating anxieties about viral plagues and bioengineered outbreaks (as in 28 Days Later and Left 4 Dead, troubled dreams for an age of Avian flu and H1N1, when viruses leap the species barrier and spread, via jet travel, into global pandemics seemingly overnight. Which may be why the Infected, as they’re called in both the film and the game, move at terrifying, jump-cut speed, unlike their lumbering, stuporous predecessors.)"

A truly fascinating read and one of the best essays I've read on the topic.

And tonight's Zombie Clip of the Week:

Yes, it's Lucio Fulci's Zombie 2, featuring the infamous Zombie Vs Shark scene. I remember seeing this in a theater filled with people who spent so much time screaming at the screen, we couldn't hear a word that was being said (not the dialog was all that good, or even important), so we left and got our money back. And Tisa Farrow is indeed Mia Farrow's younger sister. Tisa made a handful of crappy Italian horror movies and then retired from acting at the tender age of 29, to be forgotten and never heard from again. Years later I finally got to see Zombie 2 on VHS and learned that I really hadn't missed much. Some gruesome effects didn't make up for the movie's overall craptitude. I have no idea why this 1979 stinker is so revered. A bad movie is a bad movie, no matter what the genre. And Zombie 2 is bad, bad movie. What say all of you?

More, next week.
Prospero

I'll Take Zombie Ink for Five Hundred

I know I posted a Zombie Waldo tatt before, and since this is the second of what I am sure will be many more, and since I'm finally about to get that gorgeous Pre-Columbian Yin/Yang tatt that I posted about on Caliban's Revenge, I starting a new label: Zombie Ink.

This is from the very amusing (if not always SFW) site, Ugliest Tattoos, as was the Zombie Waldo ink. The folks at UT have determined from the "Forever Young" banner and the Zombie's hairstyle, that this is a tattoo of a Rod Stewart Zombie. Isn't that redundant? I mean, let's face it, Rod's a bit long in tooth these days. Just look at this. It's a far cry from this, isn't it?

Rod never really did it for me, despite that ridiculous rumor about the soccer team. In the 80's, at the height of Rod's popularity, I was more about Adam Ant; Paul Young; Cory Hart; Billy Idol (I wanted to imbed that Zombie-filled video, but its been disabled) and Bruce Willis. But that's a bit off topic. I would never get a portrait tattoo of anyone, let alone anyone as a Zombie, as much I love them (Zombies, that is). Tattoos are all about expressing one's self, fairly publicly (usually). Good ink is a like any good art, something one is proud to display. The two I have (and the third I am getting) are tasteful and artistic expressions about who I am and the symbols important to me, and I will never regret them. This particular tattoo is something someone spent way too much money on, to regret in 30 years.

Tonight in Zombie Fiction:

i09 does it again with this post about a 'Star Trek' Zombie novel, ala Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Night of the Living Dead Trekkies concerns a group Star Trek fans who take on a horde of our favorite cannibals. Publishers Quirk Books have not announced a release date.

Finally, tonight's Zombie Clip of the Week:

I know I've talked about Survival of the Dead very recently, but I just saw this particular clip for the first time, today:

If nothing else, the Zombie kills in Romero's films get better and funnier in every film. Up until now, my favorite (even though it wasn't technically a kill), was using the defibrillator on the Zombie Nurse:

But using a flare, with the cigarette lighting, is even better. So what do you think, fellow Zombiephiles? Are you as excited to see Survival of the Dead as your Uncle P is? Have any Zombie-related anything you'd like to share? Want me to talk about a particular Zombie subject? Let me know. I always love to read your comments.

More rotting flesh tattooed onto flesh that's going to rot, soon.
Prospero

Cartoons, Jane Austen. Tolstoy and Oz

Tonight, I thought I'd start with some
Zombie TV.

Comedy Central has a new animated show coming out called "Ugly Americans" about a social worker at the 'Department of Integration' who's job is to help people and 'other beings' adjust to life in New York City. His boss is a demon who is literally "The Boss from Hell" and his roommate is... a Zombie, of course.

The mad brain-chewers over at I09 have several clips and more of the story, so I thought I'd just embed the first one showing on Comedy Central's "Ugly Americans" page. It looks amusing, if nothing else. Of course, embedding codes don't always work, so all you get is this link to the show's page.

There isn't really any explanation given for the why the city has been overrun with supernatural beings (though I may be mistaken) and it looks like the audience is just supposed to accept the premise at face value. I'll be sure to check it out and give my thoughts after I've seen a full episode, either here or on Caliban's Revenge. Oh, the show's webpage has an amusing ad to text for help for your "cerebral consumption addiction." I don't text, so I have no idea what you get when you text "UGLY" to the number.

Next, in Zombie Films:

I'm not sure that After.Life really qualifies as a Zombie Film, but it's about a girl (Christina Ricci) who apparently dies in an auto accident and the mad funeral director (Liam Neesom) who can talk to her. Is she really undead, or is the loony old guy just a perv playing mind-games with her? Drag Me to Hell's adorable Justin Long once again plays our victim's boyfriend. It seems a little more than odd to me that Neesom's first film since his wife's death would be about this, though I am sure it was in the can long before Natasha Richardson's untimely ski accident last year.

Also in Zombie Films, you can catch my review of the remake of George A. Romero's non-zombie Zombie movie The Crazies, here. I really liked it. It's not an instant classic or anything, but it is a solid, taut horror movie with a likable cast and some fun scares. Definitely worth seeing.

And in Zombie Fiction, there will soon be a prequel to Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Steve Hockensmith has written Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls. It tells how the zombie plague started and how our young heroine became such a proficient zombie-killer at such a tender young age. PPZ: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is scheduled for release on March 24th and joins such re-imagined classics as Andriod Karenina; The Undead World of Oz and Emma and the Werewolves. It's a good thing that Austen, Tolstoy and Baum are all long dead. I can't imagine they'd be too pleased to see their works bastardized this way, though the books are really just all in good fun. Meanwhile, Graham-Smith's latest novel Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, has been reportedly optioned for a big-screen treatment. Now why didn't I think of doing something like that? No, I had to be all original and what. Damn!

And finally, this week's Zombie Clip of the Week:

From the fine, sick folks who gave us 'Happy Tree Friends' comes Zombie College, an animated series which follows the adventures of a freshman at Arkford College, which is apparently known for its Zombies. I, for one, love that Arkford references DC Comics' Arkham Asylum, itself a reference to H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham, MA, home of Miskatonic University. Miskatonic, of course, is the setting for 'Herbert West: Re-Animator,' Lovecraft's 1922 short story about a mad medical student who brings the dead back to life, which was made into the outrageous Zombie Film, Re-Animator in 1985 (a film I'll talk about, soon).

You can be sure I'll be posting more episodes of Zombie College in the future.

More flying, animated intestines, soon.
Prospero

Ink, Pastries and Hooters

First tonight, a bit of Zombie Nonsense:

As both a lover of zombies and tattoos (I have two and want a third), I was actually almost appalled by this exceptionally bizarre Zombie Waldo tatt I found on Ugliest Tattoos, one of the non-zombie blogs I visit regularly. Now, I don't know if this actually qualifies as an ugly tattoo, but it's certainly a weird one. And weird is what we're all about here at the Zombie Zone. And of course, by 'we,' I mean me. It looks like this particular tattoo is a on a leg and I'd love to see what surrounds poor Waldo, who undoubtedly died while waiting to be found. And that wasn't cheap. All those colors meant many hours in the chair (or on the table) and plenty of bucks. And unlike many of the things on Ugliest Tattoos, it is rather well-executed. And I'm sure it must mean something to the person who spent all that time and money getting it done. Still... I find it rather ironic that someone put a picture of rotting flesh on their own flesh, which will inevitably become rotting flesh, itself. Circle of life (or should I say "Unlife?"), I guess.

Next, in Zombie Fiction:

Those aliens over at i09 have done it again, with these fun maps of Zombie Outbreaks Throughout Alternate History. With Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (and it's sister book, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters) being so popular, it's good to see so many other clever takes on Alternate History zombie fiction.

Originally, I wanted to call this section "Zombie Food," until I realized that meant "People." I guess it's probably best then to call it Zombie Pastries:

From Oddee.com comes this Zombie Cake. Perfect for the Un-Birthday Party of your favorite zombie lover, it comes complete with a marzipan zombie and raspberry braaaaiins. Or how about these Left 4 Dead Gingerbread Zombie Cookies over at Technabob.com? Yummy!

And finally, in Zombie Music:

A Facebook friend, knowing my love of zombies and 80's music, posted this video of 80's One-Hit-Wonders, The Hooters (best known for writing the Cyndi Lauper hit "Time After Time"):

Ah, the 80's. Big hair, weird clothes and zombie songs. I miss them...

Until next time, stay hungry.

More rotting flesh, soon.
Prospero