Zombie Madness – The Zombie cult
The sight of a dead person with smelly rotting flesh, out stretched hands, hunting for human meat, repeatedly saying a particular word after a set interval and walking at the speed of turtle with two legs, should be a dead give away that you are in zombie land. The mindless living dead a.k.a Zombies have captured the imagination of many people around the world.
So before i move on to the essential part of this gaming blog, i though i’d provide some background information on the zombie culture as I found it very intresting indeed. I hope you do too.
The Zombie culture was first introduced in movies with 1938 production called ‘White zombie’ and was later popularized by the 1968 film ‘Night of the living dead’. Which in turn lead to other famous productions such as ‘The evil dead’, ‘Return of the living dead’, ‘Resident Evil’ and the 2003 release ‘28 days later’.
An interesting theory that came to mind while writing this article is the small possibility that Zombie characters could have been inspired by one of the most influential names in horror stories and horror movies – Frankenstein. Although Frankenstein is more popularly referred to as a ‘Monster’ rather than a ‘Zombie’, it is difficult to miss the striking similarities. The question is not if Frankenstein is a zombie or not, rather, is Frankenstein the father of all Zombies? I’ll let you decide.
One of the most compelling reasons that led me to this theory while doing research on the topic was, the first Frankenstein movie with sound was released in 1931, titled ‘Frankenstein’. The sequel to the movie ‘The bride of Frankenstein’ was released in 1935. On the other hand, the first ever zombie movie ‘White Zombie’ was only released in 1938.
Frankenstein was born in 1818 through a novel written by Mary Shelley. However, the 1931 release of the movie ‘Frankenstein’ was modified from the original version of the novel. In contrast with the films adaptation, Frankenstein was not created out of dead body parts in the novel. There have also been references to the introduction of the word ‘zombie’ to American culture through the 1929 book ‘The Magic Island’ by W.B. Seabrook. The narrator describes his experience in Haiti, where Voodoo cults practiced the art of resurrection. This information adds another twist to the tale; could Frankenstein have been an inspiration from zombie tales?
Another interesting question that popped up was, if Frankenstein is not a zombie, then who is the most famous zombie of all time? Some rather strange names popped into my head when I asked myself that question I must admit. Could Jesus classify as a zombie? If he could then it would definitely make him the most famous. How about Eddie the head – the mascot of British heavy metal band ‘Iron Maiden’, Kenny from ‘South Park’, Michael Jackson in ‘Thriller’, Imhotep from ‘The Mummy’, or the girl in the well from the movie ‘The Ring’. Can you think of anymore?
I have tried to find a list of the most famous zombies of all time and could not find one. There are numerous others about top 10 zombie movies and such but none about an individual zombie. I urge you to please vote or suggest names so I can create a Top 10 list of famous zombies for my gaming blog.
This Zombie madness has not only found it’s way to the movie and music industries as mentioned above but also have a huge influence on the gaming industry. There have been numerous zombie shooting games made. Since I am writing this article with the games industry in mind and this is a gaming blog, I will post an elaborate article on the subject matter soon. The next article will contain insights on what regular zombie shooting games contain and features that can be included in them to improve game play : ) .
. The weapons in this game actually have a bit of recoil to keep it a little realistic. Over all it’s got some cool visuals and awesome game play.
