IMO “magic” is a word used to describe science that isn’t understood yet.
“One man’s “magic” is another man’s engineering. “Supernatural” is a null word.” - Heinlein.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - A.C. Clarke
The comparison I was going for was how people are converted over to the enemy side. Unlike most horror genres where the heroes are only at risk of being killed, when zombies or pod people are involved, any of the heroes who are lost end up reappearing as one of the enemy. So by the end of the work, the handful of surviving heroes are surrounded by an army of monsters who used to be people just like them.
I’d say there are two (probably 3 now) major versions of zombies: The Dead or The Rabid (recent variation is The Possessed/Damned, which arguably are both).
The traditional Romero zombie is The Dead. Need to be shot through the head, otherwise not alive. Some variations have them slightly alive, but the brain dead. Pretty much magic according to most normal rules though. They are animated without life, so magical. Magic because normal rules do not apply: Flies would devour them. Staying in the cold or the warm would freeze them, or dry them out making them dust. They don’t drink water, so don’t seem to rehydrate so would dry out. Thus normal life rules just don’t apply to them. Origins have become disease, and religious myths. Dead and Non intelligent. From: Romero zombie movies. The Walking Dead. Road to Busan. Most recent zombie movies.
Seem not to be able to open door handles.
The second type is the The Rabid. Original zombie movies did come out around the time of a fear of rabies so are a rabies outbreak where the people become crazy, but are still alive but become cannibals. Might need shot through head because oblivious to pain, but are alive. Usually caused by disease. Basically any where they are not really dead dead. Probably will drink water to survive and maybe die of starvation without food. So Not Dead, but not Intelligent. Going to somewhere they die of thirst or freeze to death is possible. So not Magical. From: Rabid (1977), 28 Days Later, The Crazies.
Mostly don’t seem to be able open door handles. But sometimes might.
The arguably third one is The Possessed. I’m not sure how long these have existed, but they’re a variation on the Rabid, but might be from the religious background. Alive. Mad. Cannibals (and other things, such as sexual appetite and enjoy being harmed). Intelligent. Can speak, and not just that have horrible things to say about the host’s memories. Spread by body fluids (be it disease). These can form into groups, can use weapons and will attempt to spread their disease (using poisoned bullets). Will survive in cold and warm places because they can put on clothes, drink water, and can have dominant members of the group. Can use non rabid as bait to get more victims. The main one talking about there are The Crossed (comic book, not in films). Exorcist is possibly one of them.
Have smeared door handles with their disease.
“Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from technology.” - Phil Foglio
“Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced”
In The Girl With All The Gifts, it’s a fungus that affects the brain, and may be alien in origin, and in the second generation they are intelligent and lucid - except when they can smell the uninfected.
I had dinner with Davis once. I can’t speak to the accuracy of his research but he’s a very interesting conversationalist.
The Serpent and the Rainbow movie is one of the most ludicrous distortions of a non-fiction book I’ve ever seen. I laughed out loud at it.
I always thought in modern movies the zombies were just an excuse to show the worst in human beings and the moral of the story was humans were no better that the mindless killers they were fleeing
“When did zombies change from magic to science?”
When Umbrella scientists started mucking about with viruses while trying to make bio organic weapons and fucked it up and wound up unleashing outbreaks all over the place.
DAMN YOU BIG PHARMA!!!:mad:
