"Zombies In Movies: Fast Or Slow?" Topic

I know that this has been discussed before, but in the context of wargaming.

However, in this case, I was wondering which ones inspire more of a fear reaction in most viewers, the slow ones or the fast ones?

CC

Slow!! Fast zombies have all the horror effect of a video game!

LOL.

CC

Watch that scene in Dawn of the Dead when Peter splatters those two kids, then turns and we see that feature zombie slowly enter! Thats where music, lighting etc. make for a scary scene. Then look at that remake, no time for angle, POV, music, lighting, scenery, etc. Doesn't work.

I know that my logic sounds wierd, but I fear the slow ones the most. With the slow ones I imagine that I would be in constant fear because I would be fighting to survive on a daily basis. With the fast ones, however, I am resigned to the fact that I would not stand a chance at all. Game over man.

Just for comparison's sake . . .

In the "Alien" films (particularly the "Alien Resurrection" one with the human/alien Baby Huey), did slow aliens do it for you?

Or did you find the fast ones more thrilling?

CC

People keep discounting the fact that even though Zombies are animate, they still decompose. Decomposing bodies bloat as they fill up with gas. if a zombie can avoid a brainshot for long enough, it would eventually start to float around like a man-sized dirigible

It makes scientific sense, and 'you know it is true, because it is a fact!'

( bonus points if you can tell me where that quote came from )

fast at first for the reason that they have not decomposed too much yet.

seeing how they would not be restrained by torn muscles, need to breath…..it just makes them more terrifing.

slow zombies are nice classic and altogether wonderful.

oh yes, and i am very much looking forward to 28 weeks later…..see you guys there may 11

Both! It all depends on the storyline.

Check out The Walking Dead comic -- great stuff.

But the fast ones in 28 Days Later were appropriate for the story and scary as all get out too.

And, to be honest, 28 Days Later ones weren't really zombies -- they were humans infected with a virus. They die on their own eventually.

I knew that would come up sooner or later.

However, Dawn of the Dead's (2004) did have fast ones.

CC

The 2004 Dawn of the Dead was a scary film, but not for the same reasons as the original.

I like my gaming zombies to be slow, but the "fast" ones are scary in a "pack of wild dogs" sort of way.

I like slow ones myself. They just seem like they should be slow for some reason.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the ultimate Fast Zombie movie… Return of the Living Dead.

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The first one (I haven't seen the others) had punks, zombies, great music and a hiot nekid punk chick. ; )

Plus who can forget the great line "Send more cops."

Definitely slow ones.

Fast ones make zombies too much like many other action movie monsters/creatures. Exciting and occasionally shocking. Slow ones give you a much quieter and constant dread.

You can't really compare to other scary creatures, the whole reason zombies are scary is because they are different from what we usually fear, or asked to fear in movies.

I consider Return of the Living Dead zombies "comical fast", it had more to do with the comedy and pace of the movie, it just moved along at a very fast pace. One of my favorites, with NotLD, DotD, Day of the Dead, Zombie (Z2) and Shawn of the Dead! I do like the zombie movies :)

Crust Punk wrote "seeing as how they would not be restraid by torn muscles"

Of course they would. It's still a human body and all the locomotive parts still have to be in place and function for the zombie to move around. If you shatter the kneecaps with a bat it's not going to just get up and still walk. The torn muscles still need to be atached to something in order to move that arm or leg. As the joints begin to stiffen from death and decomposion take place things just aren't going to work like they did when that person was alive. Thus the slow, herky-jerky movements of the zombies. But I can see them being fast if they were a fresher kill. But as time went on I think they would start to slowdown as the body slowly broke down.

I think the fast ones scare me more. They don't give you much of a chance to get away.

There is some comedic value in the fast ones. Just set up a pane of very clean bullet-proof glass in a doorway, let them see you, and watch them run full tilt into it (like a bird flying into a window) as they try to get to you. (I feel sorry for the birds when this happens.)

Slow zombies would be a bit scarier, as they wouldn't make as much noise while moving, and they can sneak up on you when you finally have to get some sleep. (And the "bird>window" trick wouldn't work on them at all. :p )

Cross zombies with "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and all is lost…. ;)

I was reading the other day (always a mistake) about human reflexes. The specific context was baseball games. Apparently, we are wired to react to fast-moving objects, but don't do as well with slow ones. An example would be to teach baseball to a young child. If you throw the ball too slowly, he or she will have more difficulty hitting the ball than if you were to throw it at a faster speed.

So, how does this relate to zombies?

Fast zombies become a reflexes problem. If something comes at you quickly, and you are in a mental state where you treat such things as dangers, you will simply react… you know, adrenaline, fight-or-flight, the whole reptile-brain programming for dealing with a world full of predators. The horror and gruesomeness of the situation won't really set in until after you live through it, assuming you do.

On the other hand, slow-moving zombies give you time to think about it. I would think that the impression of patience of a mass of slow-moving zombies would be very demoralizing. They are already dead, they've got plenty of time. You are the one who is short on sleep, running out of food and water, not to mention low on ammunition.

From a tactical perspective, fast zombies are more dangerous, but from a horror perspective, slow zombies are more effective psychologically.

According to the definitive historical text, "World War Z", they are slow.

Fast Zombies just don't hunt in my opinion. A good ole' fashioned load of buckshot to the knees and thats all she wrote for their "speed"!!!

Try fast zombie clowns sometimes…

Coulrophobia, gtta love it :)

Fast! Try out running someone who wont get tired. Oh and dont forget theres about 50 more behind them! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Well, the fast ones are more scary… meaning if I had to choose between the two to exist, it would be the slow ones, because the fast ones just have that extra ability to be fast.

But the reason I like the slow ones is because they are less scary… There are moments in romero's films where you actualy feel a little sorry for the zombies, where they become victims. there is a balance between humans and zombies in romero that is lacking with fast zombies.

It's not more scary, but it makes a better story.

And besides, they are not all that slow, the very first zombie in night is pretty quick.

Well, something to consider is that there are basically three kinds of mainstream zombies: The slow ones; the fast ones; and the brain eaters which aren't too slow or too fast that can think for themselves and act like junkies going into withdrawal if they can't get a "fix".

There always seems to be an endless supply of the slow ones (Count that as an ability?). The fast ones would be good for a panic. But brain eaters… They could develop societies.

And none of them ever gets tired and none of them ever sleeps and they can get by being as smart as potted plants.

The slow ones are pretty quick when it comes to biting

Personally I find the fast Zombies scary… going back to 28 days later… There are three scenes where the film really manages to bring this fear to a peak.

When the main character first sees the old chap in the church. And you can hear the old man screaming as he rushes up the stairs… it is a fast zombie played slowly… I love it!

The second is in the tower block when the two rage victims are racing up the stairs behind the main characters…

And finally the scen in the tunnel with the rats…

All involve fast zombies but all manage to ramp up the fear through means other than "look its a fast Zombie" and these scenes just wouldn't work with slow zombies…

The factor that no movie can convey that would strike fear into anyones heart is the smell. Can you imagine a 150# bag of rotting meat lumbering towards you let alone 20 or more? I'd have puke coming out my ears. Anyway the walking dead don't run, they walk.

Don't ask me why this came to my mind but . . .

If I broke my leg and needed a wheelchair or crutches, would I be able to outrun the slow ones?

CC

In a wheelchair, yeah, downhill.

Slow zombies do it for me, too.

The whole point of slow zombies is that you can beat them if you don't panic and work together. It's an allegory ( or something)Of course there is always at least one guy who's only out for himself and screws the whole thing up.

With fast zombies, you are just going to get swarmed.

I'll get a "Scooter" chair then. :)

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CC

(RotLD)Thats Leana Quigley, who made a name for herself (of sorts) for being nakid in about a dozen 80's horror flicks.

Had a post about her as my favorite on "Zombie Hero" thread, but picked up too many stifles :( :(

Do you mean "Linnea Quigley"?

imdb.com/name/nm0001643
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WARNING! Some of these images may be inappropiate to view from work:

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linneaquigley.org

CC

Thanks Cacique, ya made my afternoon (rather, SHE did:) :) )

Coelacanth1938

here's one for you:

Ochlonecrocoulrophobia :)

28mmMan,

Is that the correct spelling? I can't pull it up on any of my searches.

Thanks.

CC

Fast "undead" are scary as hell in the (un)reality of escape, evade, and being the hunted…aaahhh run away, but it's only a rabbit…anyway…

Slow "undead" are creepy and that has a value. The recent direction as per Shawn of the Dead showed the slow "undead" and they were scary enough.

In the end, it all depends on the subject at hand. If you are asking me a real world "oh my god" setting…I would rather have the slow ones, no doubt.

In a game sense I like the idea of the walking "undead" to go through stages…hungry and deprived of food (brains, blood, life essense, etc.) then they are slow and sluggish…while the recently fed are filled with the urge to hug everyone and move about quickly.

In the same sense I would like to see the walking "undead" start to breakdown and be unable to halt the microbial war going on within them and fall apart without sustenence.

combined phobia:

ochlo necro coulro

"while the recently fed are filled with the urge to hug everyone"

LOL.

CC

crowds/mobs dead/dead things clowns

Nobody's explained adequately to me how a dead person, with their inner ear rotting, and their eyes falling apart into bags of slush, can see well enough or hear well enough to attack the living. Nor has anyone explained how zombies can differentiate the living from the non-living. In the recent remake of DotD, being a zombie gave that person the sprinting speed of an Olympic athlete on amphetamines, the endurance of an ox, the eyesight of an eagle and the hearing of a hunting hound -
perhaps I'm thinking too hard about this.

"perhaps I'm thinking too hard about this."

LOL.

CC

If someone could cross a pirhana with a maggot, and figure out how to fire them out of a shotgun, that would be the ultimate anti-zombie weapon…. ;)

Fast zombies would make me wet my pants in terror because they're so friggen, well, fast.

Slow zombies- well handled- make for better tension in films.

I prefer slow zombies in my games. Maybe with a random movement element so that a lucky dice roll means they make it those extra few inches towards you and _chomp_!

And who cares about whether or not there are enough biomechanical attachments for a zombie to move- if you're getting worried about that then you'll start thinking about biochemical cycles and the whoel thing falls apart. Just accept that there are zombies and fight back!

I have to go with slow, its part of the "Uncanny Valley" concept, where we find staggering, lurching form revolting on a very primal level.

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aghh the fast ones scare the outta me. like in dawn of the dead and 28 days later ( cant wait for 28 weeks later ).

the fact is with the slow ones u can beat the outta them with your bare fists. the fast zombies will be on top of you in seconds and ripping of your flesh as if they were kids unwraping christmass presents

well. it depends really. i mean look at the zombies in land of the dead. they learned how to use wepons

How about this?

TMP link

CC

Well, for once the reporters have it right about us. We (the feds) have no official contingency plan for a zombie plague:

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CC