# Movie Zombies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [October 28, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199 "2006-10-28T02:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/1 "2006-10-28T02:06:36Z")
Re: [What happens if a werewolf bites a vampire? What’s the minimum daily requirement of blood for a vampire? Can you get zombified by having sex with a zombie?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/061027.html) I know it seems picayune, considering how informative and thoughtful the rest of Cecil’s column is. . . But this is technically wrong on one point: > [@](#): > > Movie zombies are another matter. Judging from the Romero oeuvre, zombie infection is spread by bites and other wounds. I can’t fault Cecil for not being a fan of zombie movies, but if he wanted to use them as an example, he probably should have checked with somebody more familiar with them. As has been mentioned many times here on the SDMB, in George Romero’s zombie movies, everybody who dies of **any** cause – cancer, car wreck, choking on a hot dog – will rise as the flesh-eating undead (unless they’ve suffered a major brain trauma, such as blowing one’s head off with a shotgun). In these particular movies, the bite of a zombie carries a nasty infection (possibly just because walking corpses have really poor oral hygiene) which will kill the victim, but any other fatal illness would lead to the same sad end – unseemly post-mortem shambling and moaning. Of course, anybody can make a zombie movie with whatever “rules” they wish, but the statement was specifically about the Romero films. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/2 "2006-10-28T03:20:05Z")
I have to agree, it could have been phrased much better. It was \*28 Days Later \* where the infection was generally spread by ‘bites and other wounds’. The Master seems to have confused his zombie flicks, a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_And_Candy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/3 "2006-10-28T03:25:01Z")
I’m pretty sure it was spread via the bites in **Dawn of the Dead** (2004). Y’know, the one with Sarah Polley and that hot guy from **Medium**. And that’s a Romero film, right? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/4 "2006-10-28T07:37:24Z")
[QUOTE=Clockwork And Candy] I’m pretty sure it was spread via the bites in **Dawn of the Dead** (2004). Y’know, the one with Sarah Polley and that hot guy from **Medium**. And that’s a Romero film, right? [/QUOTE] No it isn’t. It’s based on a Romero film. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/5 "2006-10-28T18:20:32Z")
_Sean of the Dead_ (which despite its comedic presentation, could get pretty damn scary at times) also implied the zombie-virus was spread by biting, rather than just having the unbitten dead rise (well, except for zombie zero, I assume). ---
**Author:** ![Mandarax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Mandarax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandarax)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/6 "2006-10-28T21:26:25Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] _Sean of the Dead_ (which despite its comedic presentation, could get pretty damn scary at times) also implied the zombie-virus was spread by biting, rather than just having the unbitten dead rise (well, except for zombie zero, I assume). [/QUOTE] I didn’t get that idea at all; it looked to me like the bite caused death (due to the nasty infection **Baldwin** mentions), and that death resulted in zombification. Many of the bite victims lingered for quite a while before they became zombies. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/7 "2006-10-28T21:42:52Z")
[QUOTE=Mandarax] I didn’t get that idea at all; it looked to me like the bite caused death (due to the nasty infection **Baldwin** mentions), and that death resulted in zombification. Many of the bite victims lingered for quite a while before they became zombies. [/QUOTE] Well, that’s just the spread of the zombie infection. I just can’t recall anybody who _didn’t_ die of zombie bites who later came back. Other films typically show people dying of gunshot wounds or crushing injuries go zombie, but that’s absent in _Shaun_ (not “Sean” as I mistakenly wrote earlier) _of the Dead_. Besides, in the epilogue (showing zombies being used as reality-show fodder) there’s no indication that those dying of other causes are being affected. Rather, that the infection has been contained to the initial casualties, who are now being used for general entertainment. Besides, if the recently dead were being zombied solely for being recently dead, you’d think there’d be a lot of elderly people staggering around in hospital gowns, figuring that that’s where most people die anyway, and younger people in hospital uniforms, reflecting the first wave of bite-victims. And I mistakenly said “Sean” when the title character is “Shaun.” The movie is a little unusual because the bite can take a full day or more to take effect, during which the victims walk around normally complaining of little more than flu-like symptoms and headaches. Other films usually show bite victims “turning” much faster. Patricia Tallman’s character in _Night of the Living Dead_ (1990) had the best approach - rapidly walk past the slow-moving zombies, shoving or shooting as necessary and don’t freak out and you’ll be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Mandarax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Mandarax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandarax)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/8 "2006-10-28T22:18:13Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Besides, if the recently dead were being zombied solely for being recently dead, you’d think there’d be a lot of elderly people staggering around in hospital gowns, figuring that that’s where most people die anyway, and younger people in hospital uniforms, reflecting the first wave of bite-victims. [/QUOTE] Maybe, but neither _Night of the Living Dead_ nor _Shaun of the Dead_ had _any_ elderly zombies that I can remember. _NotLD_ specifically mentioned a passing satellite as the suspected jump-starter of the recently dead, and _SotD_ had a passing reference to a satellite on a TV news program as well. You would think that most of the recently dead would be elderly. For that matter, you’d think that the slow-moving zombies would have an easier time catching and biting the elderly rather than younger adults. I still say that the large variation in the time until zombie-like symptoms appear supports the OP’s statement. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/9 "2006-10-28T23:29:00Z")
Hospitals and nursing homes would definately be the worst places to be during a zombie crisis. Even a funeral home would be safer (fewer corpses). Night had what looked like hospital patients. Zombie films rarely show child zombies either (NolD & both Dawns were exceptions). Having everyone who dies come back is much darker than having only bite victims come back. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/10 "2006-10-29T17:14:07Z")
anybody wanna spoil how zombie plagues would end in Romero movies if everyone who died simply turned into one? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/11 "2006-10-29T21:20:03Z")
[QUOTE=Alex\_Dubinsky] anybody wanna spoil how zombie plagues would end in Romero movies if everyone who died simply turned into one? [/QUOTE] They don’t. His original script for Day had a subplot involving a character who died and _didn’t_ come back. In Land the dead are still coming back. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/12 "2006-10-29T23:35:10Z")
whoa… thats dark ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/13 "2006-11-01T00:34:37Z")
Yep, I’ve always liked (if that’s the right word) George Romero’s dark vision; if it spread like an epidemic it would be almost understandable, but in his movies, the world has simply . . . _changed_. Why? Nobody knows. Maybe God’s tired of our bullshit. Well, it’s Hallowe’en night. Got a Netflix DVD called _Feast_ to watch, then maybe I’ll put in the 1990 remake of _Night of the Living Dead_, which I actually like better than the original. Sweet dreams, everybody! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/14 "2006-11-01T13:31:05Z")
In the **Resident Evil** games and films, Zombie-ism is caused by a virus and is spread though bites and wounds inflicted by the walking dead. As such, Cecil’s conclusions seem valid at least for this subset of the undead. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-zombies/378199/15 "2006-11-02T03:30:24Z")
[QUOTE=Lord Il Palazzo] In the **Resident Evil** games and films, Zombie-ism is caused by a virus and is spread though bites and wounds inflicted by the walking dead. As such, Cecil’s conclusions seem valid at least for this subset of the undead. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but Cecil said “Judging from the Romero oeuvre, zombie infection is spread by bites and other wounds.” Of course, bites and other wounds causing death result in zombification, so what Cecil said wasn’t wrong…exactly, just misleading, and invoking Romero wasn’t the best example to demonstate the point. In the Romero films, all Dead become Zombies, bitten or not.