Zombie Films: American vs. European

[DjfunkmasterG]

Well they were mostly filmed overseas or in Canada, their financing is from german investors... so I would say European. However, HOTD was a video game property I believe developed in Japan.

[Yojimbo]

Yojimbo, that is actually a good point. It's not always where the money comes from that makes the difference. Tho I do wager that a large part of the crew were american, so it's probably a mixed effort. EvilNed speaks the truth. Technically it is an American film. I would guess that Boll is so detestable a director that the Euro industry would rather he not be lumped in with them, AND he is so bad that only a tasteless American hack producer would back him. (NOTE: after initial posting, I stand corrected thanks to DJ. This was funded by Germans and filmed in Canada, and came about from a Japanese property as DJ pointed out, so it is definitely more euro than american, though I still think that neither the Americans or the Europeans would be likely to call this crapfest their own!)

[MinionZombie]

I will point out that 28 Days/Weeks Later aren't zombie films. It's a plague movie with "infected" people who never die during the transformation. It's basically a movie about super-rabies. Also, the filmmakers - i.e. those who wrote and directed them - have continually insisted they are not zombie films, they reference a couple of GAR's flicks, but that's it. They were never intended to be zombie films, they weren't made as zombie films, and if the people who made it said it isn't - it isn't. But I'm not getting into that friggin' conversation again, I just wanted to bring that up as it hadn't been mentioned here. Laters.

[clanglee]

A zombie film, by any other name. . . .

[jim102016]

I will point out that 28 Days/Weeks Later aren't zombie films. It's a plague movie with "infected" people who never die during the transformation. It's basically a movie about super-rabies. Also, the filmmakers - i.e. those who wrote and directed them - have continually insisted they are not zombie films, they reference a couple of GAR's flicks, but that's it. They were never intended to be zombie films, they weren't made as zombie films, and if the people who made it said it isn't - it isn't. But I'm not getting into that friggin' conversation again, I just wanted to bring that up as it hadn't been mentioned here. Laters. Minion, you know you aren't ever going to win an argument about 28 Days/Weeks being a zombie movie! But, I happen to agree with you. It did make me wonder...If you locked someone who's infected in a room with one of GAR's creatures, what would happen?

[Zombill]

If you locked someone who's infected in a room with one of GAR's creatures, what would happen? You'd probably get a raging zombie Oh no Dawn 2k4 all over again

[Mike70]

It did make me wonder...If you locked someone who's infected in a room with one of GAR's creatures, what would happen? eddie izzard would emerge?

[Yojimbo]

eddie izzard would emerge?

[jim102016]

Keith Richards?

[MinionZombie]

http://zombielore.com/index.php?opti...id=71&Itemid=1 That sums things up fairly nicely...tried to find an enterview with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland stating themselves it's not a zed flick, but I can't be arsed to search long enough.

[MontagMOI]

i would still say that the italian zombie movies are mostly walrus crap. fulci's in particular. aside from argento and soavi, i don't have a lot of love or respect for italian horror I would glady swap Fulci for Soavi's tepid efforts. Nice bloke - lame films. I know a lot of people dont get Fulci's films (and the later ones especially are VERY poor) but after watching The Church, The Sect and Dellamorte Dellamore i think i would rather have a load of excessive violence than a sleepfest. My personal pick of the Euro films is Manchester Morgue but that comes after ALL of George's movies (yes i not only like Land, i love it). But to be honest most US zombie films suck too

[EvilNed]

I will point out that 28 Days/Weeks Later aren't zombie films. They are not zombies, but the film is a zombiefilm. It uses the same conventions as zombiefilms, and genres are NOT defined by small, unimportant details. They are defined by conventions. 28 Days/Weeks Later uses horror movie conventions and also zombiefilm conventions. It therefore falls into the zombie-film genre.

[3pidemiC]

Yeah, regadless of the technicalities of it I still condier them to be zombie films.

[Loneshambler]

Well, I don't know that I've seen enough European zombie films to really make a fair decision. I love Fulci's Zombi 2, even if it IS a bit boring in spots. I wasn't too crazy about City of the Living Dead, and The Beyond is the only other of his films that I've seen (that features zombie's briefly, but can hardly be considered a "zombie flick"). Hell of the Living Dead is great simply for being so incredibly bad, and the fact that the creators of that film (including hack director Bruno Mattei) went to suck great lengths to rip off Dawn of the Dead (1978), that he even ripped some of Goblin's music from the film. Now THAT's bold. Seeing as Zombi 2 is praised as being one of the better Euro zombie movies, I can't imagine there is much else out there that is comparable to that, much less any of GAR's films. I'm going to have to side with American zombie flicks on this one, based on GAR's film's alone. The original "Dead trilogy" is just unmatched.

[clanglee]

"The Grapes of Death" Is a pretty decent psuedo-zombie flik. French film I believe. Really not quite zombies, but as EvilNed presented above, it falls into the zombie film category. If you haven't seen it, check it out. The cinematography is beautiful for a low budget horror movie. Gore is good. And there is nudity!! Always a bonus.