Do the infected from 28 Days later qualify as zombies?

Question

It is my understanding that George Ramero created the first zombies and I guess he is entitled to define what a zombie is. From what I've gathered Ramero zombies are "living dead" which is in direct contradiction with the creatures from 28 days later because they are infected living. However, I tend to qualify zombies as displaying a certain core set of behaviors characterized chiefly by mindless blood lust and a complete lack of higher reasoning skill. What do you think?

Answer 1

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As a zombie lover and self proclaimed expert I feel obligated to weigh in here.

While Romero makes claims of bring zombies to the cinema and mainstream, stories of zombies predates him by a long shot. While I think he is credited with making them Hollywood stars, even in film they predate him.

That said, your question was about 28 days later and Night of the Living Dead...

Most dictionary definitions of zombie define them as mindless, and the walking dead. So lets look at 28 days later.

We have the Rage virus. It first kills its victims then reanimates them as living dead. While they are not totally mindless, they do seem to have lost much of it. So based on the dictionary meaning, I have to say that 28 Days Later does fit the Hollywood definitio of a zombie.

Night of the Living dead, you have zombies that again infect the living through biting. It kills them and they reanimate as the walking dead. Same thing. Who is to say that Romeros zombies are not infected with Rage as well?

If you go over the genere you will see anything from meterorites, to alien DNA as the cause of zombies.

What I find sad is that no one has created a thining man's zombie. While the walking dead is creepy and the sheer numbers poses some problems. In most cases, staying calm and outrunning them seems to work. Why? Because they are all dumb as can be. But what if a zombie retained just half of its reasoning. Imagine a zombie invasion then? You would have cop zombies and military zombies and all sorts of specialty zombies working together to zombify all the living. That is a far scarier situation.


I stand firm in thinking that the 28 days later zombies also displayed a core set of behaviors and were chiefly mindless.

Answer 2

Well if we went by that description then wouldn't that make our conservative government "zombies"?

Zombies are only things that we're dead and are now living. I guess that would mean frankenstein is a zombie... and maybe even spring bees and grasshoppers, for they thaw out and come back to live.

PS.... 28 Days was not a romero movie was it? I swear you mean Land Of The Dead.

Answer 3

Technically no. Zombies in classic sci-fi/horror are reanimated corpses.

Answer 4

Romero did not create the first zombies. They have been part of voodoo tradition and folklore for a very long time, and inspired Romero's zombies. See the source link.

Source(s):

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

Answer 5

Wow... Someone did some homework. I follow the rule of seconds... If infected... A zombie they will become. so take them out early in the game.

Answer 6

oh jeeze....here comes the rantings of the zombie queen. Listen, there is a huge diagreement in the zombie world regarding this very issue. Yes, George Romero did not 'create' zombies....but was the first to really put them into movies. His zombies are slow, living dead. They were reanimated by radioactive material. As his 'series' progress so do the zombies, as his movies are making a statement about society. but most zombie fans will tell you...28 days is not a zombie movie. In 28 days they do not feed on flesh, they are not dead, they are fast. They are infected with a disease. Yes, some say that a virus could create zombies...but they would be dead. A horror zombie is a reanimated corpse that's one purpose/drive is to eat human flesh. They are slow and decompose.

Source(s):

check out www.myspace.com/zombiegrrrl
check out the pics. That's my kid.