Zombies

[Little Horn]

I'm a huge Horror Movie nerd. The way I see it, the more violence and gore, the better. Don't get me wrong, I love really good movies with a solid story line and good characters but gore and violence are a sure way to make up for a poorly executed/written script and horrible actors. If I can get both elements in one movie... what a treat!

My favorite kind of horror movies are movies that really make you think and have some foundation in reality. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is my all time favorite horror movie because of how "real" it is. Granted, to my knowledge there has never been a family of sadistic cannibals that chase young kids down with chainsaws and hack them to bits but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. The idea for Leatherface is based off of serial killer, Eddie Gein. He killed women and used their skins to fashion articles of clothing, lamp shades and various pieces of furniture much like Leatherface and his family did in the movie. There have been numerous other serial killers in American history that have kept parts of their victims as trohpies. To me this is by far, more terrifying than the idea of killer clowns or some supernatural creature picking a group of clueless teenagers off one by one.

Within this type of horror movie I feel that zombie movies are truly the horrifying. I lose a lot of people here as they view zombies as just another supernatural creature in the save league as vampires or werewolves but I fail to see them as such and I'll explain why.

I am currently working on a book that examines the realistic possibility of a "zombie oubreak" like the one that we see in the 28 Days/Weeks Later or Flight of The Living Dead movies. As I see it (and keep in mind that I am NOT a Microbiologist or Virologist) is that it is a very realistic idea.

Rabies is virus that causes irrational behaviour and increased aggresion in most animals. While this is not a common side effet of rabies in humans, with the advancements that we have made in genetic engineering it is not entirely out of the question that a "super strain" of rabies could be developed and acidentally/purposely released to the public. This would produce symptoms very similar to the "Rage Virus" the we see in the "28" movies.

Another potential possiblity is the ebola virus. While this is a less likey candidate as rabies the virus as it is now produces a lot of the symptoms that we see in the 28 movies like vomiting blood, and bleeding from just about every orifice of the body to include pores. While it does not really produce increased agression this is something I would think that scientists would be able to add to it with a little engineering. Or perhaps creating a deadly rabies/ebola hybrid of sorts.

Yet another possibility would be mad cow disease. While this virus is mostly seen in cattle it has been known to effect humans although it does not produce the same symptoms in humans as it does in cattle. In cattle, one of the biggest symptoms at later stages of the disease is a change in behaviour particularly agression.

While the incubation periods for these viruses is much longer than the 20-30 seconds that the Rage Virus take to incubate in the movies this is all a matter of engineering and altering the virus to make it's inubation period much shorter.

While zombies in the traditional sense of corpses rising from the dead is a little far fetched the idea of virus born zombies is a real possibility and quite frankly it is a possibility that is pretty damn scary when you really think about it.

Don't ask me why, after knowing all of this, I still love zombie movies because I've tried on many different occasion to try an explain why the feeling of psychological terror is my idea of a fun filled evening and I've yet to find a reasonable answer that doesn't make me sound like I'm mentalliy unstable.

I've cured my boredom for the moment. Does this sound reasonable to anyone else? Am I taking a giant leap or does anyone else agree with the idea that we could potentially face the zombie onslaught at some point in our existence? Does anyone else enjo zombie movies or even horror movies for this same reason?

[Marshillboy]

I need one of these.

[umisguy]

while theoretically possible, it won't be a likely "breakthrough" of science and technology until 2020 or later, and by that time, weapons technology and AI functionality will also be more potent and viable, so we'd likely have something akin to a concept of Skynet Vs Zombies going on in "quarantine zones" or whatever else would be likely and / or possible. Other than that, we have our resident Zombii around here and she's real(at least in some ways).

[Little Horn]

I agree... I won't be tomorrow that we start reading headlines about the zombie horde ravaging the countryside, but within the next 10 - 20 years I think it's not only very real but very likely that we will have developed some sort of super virus that will cause people to react in the same manner that we have seen in these movies. I know that the nazis were really big into trying to develop a biological weapon that would not only kill the infected but cause them to react violently and kill each other off. We would be nieve to think that this goal stopped with the end of the nazis and that other governments have stopped trying to accomplish this.

I honestly think that long before we see a human vs. robots war like the one in the Terminator and Matrix movies we will see movies like 28 Days Later come to reality.

Marshillboy: Where did you find that "In Case of Zombies" thing at? Is it a novelty item that someone is selling or did someone make it themself?

[Carlos]

Actually a Book Similar to yours is done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Z

It's called World War Z, read sometime it's really good.

Originally Posted by Plot

Taking place in the 2010s, the book charts a war against the undead from global pandemic to mass panic, and then to an armed struggle to reclaim the planet. Rather than a grand overview or a single perspective, World War Z is instead a collection of individual accounts, each revealing an aspect of the larger plot and simultaneously presenting a very personal tale. These different accounts take the form of interviews. The book draws from post-apocalyptic and zombie literature. "The Great Panic" chapter describes the rout of civilization in a similar manner to H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. The tales cover many genres -- the story of a Chinese admiral who spent the war on a submarine would fit easily among techno-thrillers. The viewpoint is not exclusively American, but focuses on the global nature of the struggle. This use of small personal tales creates a patchwork tapestry of the larger events unfolding in the book. Brooks addresses current issues such as environmentalism, the War on Terrorism and international health care. He also offers an interesting juxtaposition between the modern world and that of postwar Earth. For example, Cuba becomes the world's leading economy, Great Britain becomes a major producer of oil, and Tibet becomes the most populous country. This vision of a postwar Earth is startling in its contrast to that of today. It is implied that tribal groups such as South American Indians, Zulu of Southern Africa and Māori of New Zealand fared surprisingly well. One character relates an anecdote about how 500 Māori took on half of the Auckland horde, using traditional tribal weapons, and fared much better than the world's various military forces or Western civilians.

[Little Horn]

Originally Posted by Faded

Actually a Book Similar to yours is done.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Z

It's called World War Z, read sometime it's really good.

I've actually read World War Z as well as Max Brooks' other book The Zombie Survival Guide. It's well written. They actually just gave the greenlight to start production for the World War Z movie. The book however, is written from a fictional point of view with some basis in reality. I'm not looking to write a book with fictional characters and a story line. This will not be a novel. This is going to be much like a book you might read when doing research on a particular subject in school. It will not only look at the possibilities of a viral outbreak but there is also a rather large section that focuses on Haitian Voodoo Zombies much like what Wade Davis outlined in his books "The Serpent and The Rainbow" and "Passage of Darkness".

[Carlos]

So it's more of a Informative read?

Looking forward to that then.

[Little Horn]

Originally Posted by Faded

So it's more of a Informative read?

Looking forward to that then.

Exactly!

[mr.handsomeman]

Originally Posted by Marshillboy

I need one of these.

I HAVE one of these.

[Alex]

that is my house

[133794m3r]

Originally Posted by Carlos

So it's more of a Informative read?

Looking forward to that then.

I'll be waiting too

Originally Posted by floorpuncher

I agree... I won't be tomorrow that we start reading headlines about the zombie horde ravaging the countryside, but within the next 10 - 20 years I think it's not only very real but very likely that we will have developed some sort of super virus that will cause people to react in the same manner that we have seen in these movies. I know that the nazis were really big into trying to develop a biological weapon that would not only kill the infected but cause them to react violently and kill each other off. We would be nieve to think that this goal stopped with the end of the nazis and that other governments have stopped trying to accomplish this.

I honestly think that long before we see a human vs. robots war like the one in the Terminator and Matrix movies we will see movies like 28 Days Later come to reality.

Marshillboy: Where did you find that "In Case of Zombies" thing at? Is it a novelty item that someone is selling or did someone make it themself?

And I would like to see it and by that time still the AI maybe greater... but wait where's the quote? Oh well... if enough ppl were to turn though and they were intellegent like in the movie "Land of the dead", they could essentially take us down. And as shown in there they were able to begin to shoot guns and develop some sort of intellegence as the virus develops it revives more of the brain function... as we saw they were able to shoot weapons... play an instrument and form small half cohesive groups... they even had a leader. This is a very possible outcome. And I say go for it... when you're done tell me... I'll preoder

[DjKaumi]

wow a group of people with similar "interests" in zombies!

-hell i am leader of a local group called "project Apocalypse" we all have a set plan and schedual for if a zombie infestation ever happens!
we have all read the zombie survival guide and have our personally selected weapons within easy access at all times! hell i even have a shotty mounted in my trunk!

may seem a little extreme but hell why not be prepared! and its not like im losing any sleep over it! hell it barely ever pops into my head unless some one talks to me about it!

and no im not obsessed its just like a hobby! fun but not overwhelming! and we all get some laughs out of it too!

[133794m3r]

Originally Posted by DjKaumi

wow a group of people with similar "interests" in zombies!

-hell i am leader of a local group called "project Apocalypse" we all have a set plan and schedual for if a zombie infestation ever happens!
we have all read the zombie survival guide and have our personally selected weapons within easy access at all times! hell i even have a shotty mounted in my trunk!

may seem a little extreme but hell why not be prepared! and its not like im losing any sleep over it! hell it barely ever pops into my head unless some one talks to me about it!

and no im not obsessed its just like a hobby! fun but not overwhelming! and we all get some laughs out of it too!

Hmm... it sounds like a great group...