[Editorial] Zombie Movies With A Different Bite

You’ve seen a lot of zombie movies. You’ve seen the whole George A. Romero zombie back catalogue (even Survival of the Dead? Oh, you poor thing). You have seen both 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later and had the debate about whether it counts as a zombie movie, and you have taken that Train to Busan.

So, what’s next?

What do you watch when you want something other than those familiar favourites, (great though they are), or cheaply done pale imitators of them? Hopefully this list of recommendations will help to scratch that particular fleshy itch.

Anna and the Apocalypse 2017

dir. John McPhail

Starting with a Scottish Christmas Zombie Coming of Age Highschool Musical, because what’s more different than that? This film is an absolute gem to watch. Based on a short film by Ryan McHenry (who was unable to make the feature due to his tragic young death from Cancer) Anna and the Apocalypse gives a musical, not to mention seasonal, spin on the standard zombie plot as a group of teens try to find their loved ones after the undead rise. The three core concepts of Christmas, zombies, and sing-along show tunes, don’t immediately sound like a match made in movie heaven, but what makes Anna and the Apocalypse work so well is that each element of that triangle is executed so sincerely. The songs are such quality tunes that it’s hard to settle on a favourite – I frequently switch back and forth between Hollywood Ending and Turning My Life Around which takes the Shaun of the Dead walk to the shop scene up to 11. The zombie gore is great, none of the characters or their loved ones ever feel totally safe, and it also has that sweet Christmassy emotional core. There are two cuts of the film and both are great, but the longer Festival Cut has extra songs and gives you a fuller experience. Either way this will become a Holiday regular. 

Fido 2006

dir. Andrew Currie

We usually see the utter breakdown of society in the event of the zombie apocalypse, but what if society kept going and zombies became just one of those things we had to live with. In a town that is a vision of Post-WW2 Norman Rockwell Americana this is the case; with zombies filling in the role of unskilled workers and domestic servants. The Robinson family have acquired a zombie in an effort to keep up with the Joneses, and son Timmy quickly forms an attachment and names the zombie “Fido”. The problems start when Fido accidentally eats a nosy neighbour and things become a lot more complicated. This is a great dark comedy, all centred around a surprising but excellent Billy Connolly as the titular zombie pet. It holds back from exploring deeper the social structure of this post-“Zombie War” world, for example  it’s very telling that we don’t see any black people in town. However there is still a lot of fun to be had here with the mixture of gore, Tim Blake Nelson and his zombie girlfriend, and Carrie Ann Moss’ amazing array of retro dresses. There is also ultimately a sweet message of the importance of personal happiness over collective conformity. A twisted tale of zombie suburbia. 

Pontypool 2008

dir. Bruce McDonald

A radio station is a brilliant location for a horror story, and one that is not utilised nearly enough for my liking. It is a contained setting and one that is slightly apart from the wider world, but it’s one that exists to observe and report on the world at large. In a remote Canadian town, an aging Shock Jock (played with relish and aplomb by Stephen McHattie) struggles through the morning broadcast of traffic reports and missing local cats, when uncharacteristic outbreaks of violence start coming in which establishes that the virus in Pontypool is that it isn’t transferred by bite, but by sound. It is words that are themselves infected and any person who is affected finds themselves babbling incoherently or imitating noises.  There is something so intimately raw about the film; first the horrified confusion as only bits and pieces of what is happening trickle in, and then the trapped feeling of horror as the virus gets inside the station. Then there is the question of whether (because of the audio nature of the virus) by staying on the air the radio crew are in fact helping to spread the very disaster they are trying to survive. Thrilling and tense, you won’t be able to help talking about this.

One Cut of the Dead (Kamera o Tomeru na!) 2017

dir. Shinichirō Ueda 

As much as this comedy film is a case of the less you know the better, it is also a movie you want to rave about. Made for $25,000 and initially released in one small screen in Tokyo, One Cut of the Dead proceeded to take festivals across the world by storm. The plot setup is a simple one; a film crew making a zombie movie are attacked in their remote filming location by actual zombies. Instead of heading for the hills, the director decides that this is a brilliant opportunity for method acting and throws zombies at his poor cast and crew who are trying to escape. The first act of the film is one unbroken take, but it’s after that that the film becomes something special by turning the entire premise on its head twice, building on everything you’ve seen in the film so far in new and hilarious ways. It leaves you wanting to watch the movie all over again when you finish to see if you notice new things. This film is a love letter to creative crafts, the sacrifices and compromises one has to make, and what it means to really care about a project. Unconventional as a zombie movie maybe, but a really rewarding watch.

The Night Eats the World (La Nuit a Dévoré Le Monde) 2018

dir. Dominique Rocher

This is the movie that unintentionally matched a lot of the things that people would go through in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic; loneliness, frustration at isolation, and a desire for human connection, but with zombies. A young man Sam falls asleep at his ex’s place and wakes up in a last man on earth scenario, with everyone else he encounters being violent flesh eaters. He then has to survive, and it is this focus on the minutiae of day to day living in the world of the undead that the movie portrays so well. There is none of the usual group build up and break down or lock and load zombie mayhem that we’re so used to seeing, it’s just one person  trying to get by which in some ways is the more realistic scenario. The movie isn’t afraid to let us just sit in silence as our main character has to work out how he’s simply going to make it through another day. It’s a small thing, but it feels so refreshing. As the film goes progresses its focus is about the difference between survival and living and builds to a satisfying conclusion. As for the zombies themselves, they are also different in a minor way that ends up feeling refreshingly unconventional; they are silent with no moaning and groaning like we might be used, to which serves to make them eerier, not to mention more dangerous, as it’s harder to know where they are. 

Blood Quantum 2019

dir. Jeff Barnaby

One of the things about zombie movies is that they are very white America/Euro-centric. The model of zombie movies is very much based around a breakdown of mainstream capitalism culture, so we don’t get a lot of views that sit outside of that. Jeff Barnaby, a writer-director who belongs to the First Nations Mi’kmaq tribe, very much brings that different point of view to the forefront with Blood Quantum, the title referring to the laws by the United States and Canadian governments to determine a person’s indigenous status and restriction of their rights based on the percentage of their indigenous ancestors. On a First Nations reservation, a police sheriff and his family are pulled into the growing chaos of an undead virus, one which the indigenous population are immune to. There are a few times where the film paints its themes in very broad strokes - the scene where someone loses it at a white guy trying to bring a blanket covered in infected blood into the safe zone feels particularly on the nose – but sometimes you need to swing that thematic sledgehammer. In the second act it starts to feel a little like the later series of The Walking Dead – exacerbated by the fact that star Michael Geyeyes had a recurring role in the third series of Fear The Walking Dead - but what it loses in momentum it more than makes up for in some great zombie kills and emotional guy punches. There are also some absolutely gorgeous, animated interludes that give a mythical quality to the film. 

The Girl with All the Gifts 2016

dir. Colm McCarthy

What if zombies had intelligence? What if they had the ability to reason, think, feel, and live their own lives? Traditional zombies of the living dead variety rarely have this ability, Romero’s Bub being one of the standout examples, but viral zombies, the technically living but in all other respects act like what we would term zombies, offer more wiggle room. Melanie is a sweet and curious young girl who happens to live on a military base and is constantly held at gunpoint by soldiers who seem terrified of her. When the base falls and a small group of survivors have to travel through devastated London, Melanie has to confront the reality of the world she lives in and her place in it. This movie is gorgeous, the score is eerie, and the cinematography is frequently hazy, giving things a dream-like quality. The shots of abandoned and overgrown London are beautiful, partially achieved through drone footage of the abandoned town of Pripyat. This is a film that definitely delivers more thoughtful moments than big set pieces or creative kills, but it works for the kind of story it tells, which can be seen as one of how one generation fails the subsequent one, focussing on preserving their world at the expense of an emerging one. Easily the most low-key film on the list, but it’s one that stays with you. 

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