Questions about Zombies

I just watched I am Legend. A cross between Land of the Dead and 28 Days Later, too bad it took off in 4 different directions (hard to do with only one character but they did it). This movie, however brought up the eternal mysteries of zombies and vampires:

1. Why don't they eat each other?
2. Why do they like to eat brains?
3. How can zombies tell who is a zombie and who is not?
4. How do they communicate with each other?

Feel free to add more questions or to provide some answers. :D

Jeremy loves zombie movies. We just watched two Resident Evil movies last night. (Yay. :rolleyes:)

I'm mystified by some of the same things, Sheila! LOL!

All I get in response is, "It's a MOVIE." :rolleyes: :p

I could never figure out why some turn into zombies and others die.

Did you ever see Shawn of the Dead? Good movie. Laughed my keester off! :p

Did you ever see Shawn of the Dead? Good movie. Laughed my keester off! :p

I loved it!!! My bf has the DVD! :D

1. Why don't they eat each other?
Zombies taste terrible.

2. Why do they like to eat brains?
Brains are tasty, nutritious, and easy to digest.

3. How can zombies tell who is a zombie and who is not?
The zombies are the ones going "uuurrrrggghhhh." They're easy to fool, though. Just put on some ratty clothes and walk around like you're in a stupor and they'll probably leave you alone.

4. How do they communicate with each other?
They have a simple language, mostly consisting of "uuurrrrggghhhh." Really, they don't have that much to say to each other.

:rofl:
OMG!!! This is so funny!
After so many scientific discussion we have had, the first thing I thought was... finally! A scientific explanation of Zombie behavior!

Love ya girl!

I have to show this thread to Joel, he is a Zombie nerd (or slayer if you ask him... for some reason he loves writing about zombies)!!! :D

I am really surprised that Dan hasn't entered into this discussion yet...lol...

The answers to all those questions are actually in one of the Dead movies...can't remember the name, it's the one at the University where the army has to sweep in and save survivors. Zombies know each other by smell. The living smell better than they do.

If you notice, they don't really just eat brains, in most of the Zombie movies, they bite wherever they can - the only movie where they truly focus on brains is the very first Romero movie and he's said he had no reason for that. (If you've ever seen the very first dead movie, they don't just eat brains, they eat mice and cats too...)

Zombies don't communicate with each other - at least not until Land of the Dead. They've become aware and a heck of a lot faster.


The thing about I Am Legend is it's a remake - Vincent Price did the second one, can't remember who did the first, and sadly, it's not a very good remake.

Considering how cheesy some of those original movies are, I'm glad I Am Legend didn't try to be a faithful remake, LOL!

I thought it was pretty good as zombie movies go.

I like this thread its fun,

Ok vampires can smell your blood and so can zombies. One movie said that zombies can feel the body heat that they lack and smell the blood. They only eat the living because our flesh is fresh and not rotting. Vampires will however feed on another vampire if they have to, usually to put the other vampire in their thrall and because it's yummy and it's what vampires do.

I dont think zombies communicate with each other but the Infected in 28 days later who were NOT zombies seem to have a pack animal mentallity. I would die in that movie because those things run very fast and can think. Within the first few minutes of that movie I was sitting there thinking oh my gawd I would so die quickly, Im scarrrrrrreeeed!:p

Vampires hate each other but do live in Covens.

I still havent seen I am Legend but it was based on the book written in 1954. Here's some Wiki info

I Am Legend is a 1954 science fiction novel by Richard Matheson.
The novel was a success and was adapted to film as The Last Man on Earth in 1964, as The Omega Man in 1971, and again in 2007 as I Am Legend.

My poor hubby is sick so he is not up too reply... just yet :p

He does however wonder where the zombies come from in I am Legend?
He just finished rereading the book and he says there is mention of zombies in the book... :confused:

My poor hubby is sick so he is not up too reply... just yet :p

He does however wonder where the zombies come from in I am Legend?
He just finished rereading the book and he says there is mention of zombies in the book... :confused:
They came from a mutated virus that was supposed to cure cancer but ended up giving them a rabies-like disease (like in 28 Days Later).
I hope your guy feels better soon. :)

P.S. I always wanted to be a vampire.

In I Am Legend, one of the zombies Will Smith faces seems to have been getting very cunning, although not really rational. He actually was smart enough to learn from a trap that Will's character set up and used it againt him.

So they weren't really zombies, because they never died. They were infected like rabid animals like Sheila said.

Didn't have time to reply to this thread earlier this morning before work...

1) Zombies don't each other because they only go after live tissue/organs. I forget the exact reasoning behind this...believe it had to do with what is in a live person versus what is in a cadaver.

2) They don't just eat brains. This was mainly something that started in the Return of the Living Dead series canon. In the Night/Dawn/Day/Land of the dead movies...they ate everything and anything. Most other 70's and 80's also did the "entire body" feasting. I think the ROTLD series was one of the first mainstream zombie series that really took the "BRAINS!" and ran with it, so to speak. Then came 28 Days Later...and others.

3) Once again, they only eat live tissue. Dead/necrotic tissue obviously has a different smell.

4)They don't communicate with one another. There are only a few zombie movies that made it canon that they are intelligent. Really, George Romero's zombies were one's of...."habit." They did things...out of habit. They went to a mall and wandered around because it was familiar to them. Basically a zombie is like an instant replay, so to speak. They wander around...and mainly, they just look for "food."

I think that covers it, and is somewhat accurate. Just got home from work w/ an Excedrin headache. Anymore questions, just ask.

Thank you Dan for the info, I suspect several of my neighboors are zombies... I will watch them closely. ;)

No problem! I'm here to protect and inform!

And if you suspect ANYONE you may associate with, as a zombie...might I suggest this LOVELY book...

http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/zombie-survival-guide.jpg

It may just save your families and loved one's lives. I own it, and have stocked my bedroom full of the necessary things...for when the zombified remains of our overlords come for us...

I WILL be blowing heads away....

Just a small point; the creatures in 28 Days Later and I am Legend are not zombies. They are infected living human beings. They transformed or became symptomatic (in this case zombie like) before death.

Zombies are infected humans who were bitten by zombies. So it's a similar thing, if not the same. Of course, it's all fiction anway. Well, maybe not. Doesn't rabies make animals and people act crazy and aggressive?

Zombies are zombies because they die and come back to life.

The "people" in 28 Days Later and I Am Legend, like Rozie, myself and Strwbrries mentioned, are NOT zombies because they don't die before freaking out. They are infected with a rabies-like virus that makes them act like zombies - but to be a true zombie, you have to die first!

Wes, your post cracked me up - it was so serious and thorough! LOL! ;)

I finally watched I am Legend. Yeah, I was not happy with the ending but I wont spoil it for those who havent seen it.

Vampires, depending on which book you read, do eat other vampires but human blood is richer in Iron, which makes me safe I guess because Im anemic. lol

I really didnt associate the Nightwalkers in the I am Legend movie with Zombies, they were more like Vampires to me since the sun affected them so much. So I can see why Joelstrouble's husband went back to look for the zombies in his book. Though Im not as prepared as DAN apparently for the hopefully never to happen Zombie infestation, my son does have a "game plan", we are apparently to go live at ...COSTCO. :confused::rolleyes:

I believe they called it a "mutated rabies virus" in the movie.

Wesley, some people eat croc and shark, Im sure I could think of another meat eater that people eat, hell there are even extreme cases of cannibalism for all species including human. Tastes like chicken? ;)

Isnt the Windego suppose to be a human who ate another human and turned into that monster? Hmmm.

ACTUALLY....

Zombies DO have a real world basis in origin...

(Yes, I am seriously prepared to defend my stance! *LOL*)

The zombie "myth" or so, actually has it's roots based in Haitian Voodoo. It is thought that a Voodoo Priest could use a special powder/potion. This would not actually bring a dead person back to life. However, it would put them in a very very very deep like trance....slowing their heart rate (if I remember correctly). They would be in, like I said, a very deep like trance...not knowing who they are...what they are....what they are doing.

This was the basis for the movie "The Serpent and the Rainbow"...and in a twist...I believe if you look it up online, a producer or director details how someone directly related with the movie had this happen to them.

So in a sense...yes, zombies are quite real.

And actually...zombies aren't always people who were bitten by zombies. In the "Return of the Living Dead" cannon...the backstory was that the government was doing some type of testing w/ a certain nerve gas. This was facilitated in the sequels and in the "Zombie Survival Guide" by Max Brooks...it specifically mentions the government playing a role.

And Strwbrries? Costco? NO! NO! NO! Do NOT go there! That WILL be over-run by zombies! Alot of times, Zombies go by "instinct"...they go with what is familiar to them. Guess where they are going to head? RIGHT TO COSTCO, Wal-Marts and MALLS....

I watched The Rainbow and the Serpent and I loved it! I would not be surprised if a drug would induce catatonia.

ACTUALLY....

Zombies DO have a real world basis in origin...

(Yes, I am seriously prepared to defend my stance! *LOL*)

The zombie "myth" or so, actually has it's roots based in Haitian Voodoo. It is thought that a Voodoo Priest could use a special powder/potion. This would not actually bring a dead person back to life. However, it would put them in a very very very deep like trance....slowing their heart rate (if I remember correctly). They would be in, like I said, a very deep like trance...not knowing who they are...what they are....what they are doing.

This was the basis for the movie "The Serpent and the Rainbow"...and in a twist...I believe if you look it up online, a producer or director details how someone directly related with the movie had this happen to them.

So in a sense...yes, zombies are quite real.

And actually...zombies aren't always people who were bitten by zombies. In the "Return of the Living Dead" cannon...the backstory was that the government was doing some type of testing w/ a certain nerve gas. This was facilitated in the sequels and in the "Zombie Survival Guide" by Max Brooks...it specifically mentions the government playing a role.

And Strwbrries? Costco? NO! NO! NO! Do NOT go there! That WILL be over-run by zombies! Alot of times, Zombies go by "instinct"...they go with what is familiar to them. Guess where they are going to head? RIGHT TO COSTCO, Wal-Marts and MALLS....

I remember reading that bit about the voodoo, and how the person would basically just be completely under the other person's spell.

When I think about zombies I think more of the Night of the Living Dead, the old black and white where the dead rise because it's armagedon.(sp) My favorite part is " They're coming to get you Barbara" scene. Honestly I am scared poopless of zombie movies. It is the one movie genre that is guaranteed to give me nightmares for days later, though I cant help but watch them.

But DAN my son has a PLAN. Costco!

Personally I would rather just shoot myself and become one of the undead, I dont know why all those people run and try to survive in the movies if the whole town was full of zombies, I would probably just join the shambling rotting group and go looking for some flesh to munch on.

Here's one that I just remembered watching as a teen....lamest zombie movie ever "My Boyfriends Back". :p