To those who believe NOTLD is not connected to the others..

[LoneCrusader]

Do you think they would've gotten the situation under control and that it wouldn't have gone to shit like it did in Dawn and Day? Also, how far did the radiation spread? They said that there were no reports of any of the "grisly murders" occurring anywhere west of the Mississippi River "except in the extreme South East of Texas". So it wouldn't have gotten to the point of Dawn or Day. It wouldn't have gotten that bad. Unless the radiation was still spreading.. Also, why did they bust out Ben's lights to his truck? Light doesn't possibly weaken them, does it? Maybe they just fear it.

[3pidemiC]

Well, you can't really use radiation as an argument because the actual source of the outbreak was never officially revealed.

[Philly_SWAT]

Do you think they would've gotten the situation under control and that it wouldn't have gone to shit like it did in Dawn and Day? This is a hard question to really come up with any kind of definitive answer. A lot of the answer would depend on your opinion of people's ability to co-operate with others, make real compromises when making decisions, make intelligent decisions under pressure, etc. In all honesty, Night kind of gives an impression that the situation is under control. The posse of guys that show up seem to be methodical, co-operating, following a chain of command, have knowledge of the situation even though it is still in the very early stage, etc. On the other hand, they are operating in a sparsely populated area (i.e., not as many zombies as there would be in highly populated areas) and they all seem to know each other. The sheriff is calling everyone by their first names. It seems likely he personally knows them. So a "good ol boy" network in a small community would be more used to each other, and probably naturally look to the sheriff to be in the leadership role. I think it is likely that the more population in a given area, and the more "decision makers" involved, the more likely conflict would arise. Also, we never really see the posse have to interact with members of the public. How would they react, and what would have happened, if they came upon some people that did not respect their authority, did not want to listen to them, and were going to do their own thing. Again, depends on an opinion of the human race. Also, how far did the radiation spread? They said that there were no reports of any of the "grisly murders" occurring anywhere west of the Mississippi River "except in the extreme South East of Texas". So it wouldn't have gotten to the point of Dawn or Day. It wouldn't have gotten that bad. Unless the radiation was still spreading.. As already mentioned, we can not assume that the problem was caused by radiation. It may have been, it may not have been. To try to answer the question, I would think that if the problem was happening near Day 1 in areas so far apart as Penn. and Miami, that implies to me that whatever caused the problem spread quickly, and/or existed in a huge area, so it seems likely that the outbreak would spread past the Miss, and perhaps the rest of the world. Also, why did they bust out Ben's lights to his truck? Light doesn't possibly weaken them, does it? Maybe they just fear it. Maybe since they were dead, they were hearing voices in theri head telling them to "head for the light"? Seriously though, I dont think that artificial light would have any greater effect on them than sunlight would, and they did not seem particulary effected by sunlight during the day. I think they smashed the lights mainly because GAR thought it would be a cool visual of camera. But as far as an answer within the context of the movie, I would say that they smashed them just because it irritated their eyes. Seeing how the zeds are "us", we dont like headlights shining in our eyes. Courtesy and fear of getting in legal trouble prevents most of us from smashing out lights as opposed to just turning our heads, or asking someone to turn them off. The zeds would have no thoughts of being polite, fear of arrest, etc, so acting on instinct, they would just lash out at anything that irritated them.

[sandrock74]

I always assumed it was a sign of spreading when they mentioned the cases in the southeast of Texas. Like, it had already gotten past the Mississippi River. Also, the effects were spread across many states, so it couldn't be considered "local" by any means. Now, I'm not sure (maybe I read this somewhere in fan fiction or saw it in another movie), but wasn't there a mention of cases begining in West Africa? Basically, directly across the Atlantic Ocean from the affected area of the United States. If that was the case...and not my mind playing tricks on me...that would lend credibility to the radiation theory. If the probe was destroyed over the Atlantic Ocean, that would be the proper "dispersal pattern". I never bought into the radiation theory myself, I'm just playing devils advocate. Also, I think the zombies bustin' out poor Ben's stolen truck headlights was just a simple case of the "zombie rules" still being figured out. They were explicitly shown to be afraid of fire in Night, but that seemed to be forgotten by Dawn. If the zombies were afraid of fire, then it would make sense that maybe they disliked sources of light in general. Maybe a part of the reason it looked as if the posse was "winning" at the end of the movie was because most of the zombies had hidden themselves away from the light of day and we just saw the stragglers being picked off. Think of the begining of Day. The city appeared to be empty (in daylight at least) because all the zombies were hidden away. Maybe they don't fear sunlight, but they have an aversion to it? Think about it thou...if zombies were afraid of light, you could keep a group of them at bay with a flashlight!

[MoonSylver]

Also, I think the zombies bustin' out poor Ben's stolen truck headlights was just a simple case of the "zombie rules" still being figured out. They were explicitly shown to be afraid of fire in Night, but that seemed to be forgotten by Dawn. Nah they didn't forget it: The flares! The propane torches! If the zombies were afraid of fire, then it would make sense that maybe they disliked sources of light in general. Exactly.

[sandrock74]

Nah they didn't forget it: The flares! The propane torches! Oh yeah...I forgot about that. Day completely ignored the whole fire angle. Land kinda/sorta touched upon it with the fireworks, but that was a curiosity/wonderment thing, not fear. It seemed like Romero couldn't keep his mind straight on how zombies felt about fire/light.

[C5NOTLD]

Well, you can't really use radiation as an argument because the actual source of the outbreak was never officially revealed. In one of the original press releases for the film the radiation was cited as the reason.

[MoonSylver]

In one of the original press releases for the film the radiation was cited as the reason. Apparently it's used in the TV Guide blurbs for the film as well, which Romero has stated in the past irks him because he did NOT want it to be the DEFINITIVE reason, & really never wanted it included in the film period.

[krakenslayer]

The bright lights were startling and dazzling in the darkness, so the zombies lashed out at this source of annoyance. Ever had a flashlight pointed into your face on a dark night? Nothing in any of the films contradicts anything in any of the others, as far as zombies' reaction to fire is concerned. You could piece together a coherent theory of their relationship with fire/light from what we see in Night, Dawn and Land: Zombies are confused and irritated by glaringly-bright light sources in a dark environment (the headlamps in Night). Zombies are repelled by fire at very close proximity, particularly if it is thrust toward their face (Night and Dawn). It is unclear if this is due to the visual stimulus of the fire or the sense of heat upon their cold flesh. Zombies are presumably attracted by lights/fire over long distances as they are evidence of human habitation (e.g. the lights of the Night farmhouse attracting more and more zombies). Zombies are distracted/mesmerized by visually stimulating pyrotechnic light-shows, at a distance (Land). In Day of the Dead, there is no point in the film at which both a zombie and any kind of flame (with the exception of muzzle flares) are on screen at the same time, so nothing to be learned there. In Diary of the Dead, we see a badly burned zombie which has ostensibly just emerged from a flaming vehicle. He is stumbling away from the fire, but his intent seems mainly focussed on the approach of the people in the Winnebago. He doesn't do anything that confirms or denies the theory already stated, so his presence is moot.

[MoonSylver]

Once again, agree 100% w/ Krackenslayer. All good points.