Identifying Fresh Meat

[SRP76]

How do they do it?

We've seen a load of zombie films, and none of them (to my knowledge) ever address this.

You've got hordes of dead shambling around, leaving one another completely alone. They don't attack each other. Yet, if a live person shows up, they converge on him or her immediately.

How the hell can they know the difference?! The dead are just regular human bodies; if anything, being dead should dull their five senses. So how can they possibly tell the difference between another dead ghoul and a live meal?

They shouldn't be able to smell them. Especially from range. Think, can you smell a person's perfume from across the street? No.

Live people sound exactly like dead people. When the dead people are able to move, anyway.

They don't come over and check for a pulse before biting, or anything else.

So, does anyone have a logical theory about this? How can it be possible?

[Andy]

I Always assumed it was becuase we are warm blooded, and zed's somehow detect this.

remember an aligator roams freely amongst them and none of them bother with it in day?
(admittedly with its mouth taped up lol)

[SRP76]

I Always assumed it was becuase we are warm blooded, and zed's somehow detect this.

remember an aligator roams freely amongst them and none of them bother with it in day?
(admittedly with its mouth taped up lol)

True, they do seem to ignore non-humans, as well. I guess they could do that much by sight, though, since an alligator looks nothing like a person.

[Andy]

Well in the original dawn script, which was never filmed, they had dogs which the zed's attacked and killed.

In night of the living dead, we see them eating a spider and a mouse in the remake..

In day, a aligator walks among them and they pay no attention.

This is what made me think it was becuase they where drawn to attack warm blooded creatures, humans included.

[MoonSylver]

H The dead are just regular human bodies; if anything, being dead should dull their five senses.

Not necessarily. Whatever process reanimated them in the first place could have made who-knows-what kind of changes in their physiology. We already know one: that the rate of decomposition has been slowed. So who knows what else? Maybe they smell/detect warm blooded creatures. Maybe it's just a "sence" or instinct of some kind.

The same kinds of changes could explain why they:

Aren't riddled with/consumed by maggots (maybe they're "unappetizing" now)
Don't seem subject to rigor moritis (something keeps them limber)
Don't bloat/split/explode with gasses of decomposition (agin, maybe because of the slowed decomposition)
Don't freeze solid in the winter (maybe their blood acts as some kind of "antifreeze"?)

[Mike70]

another idea could be motion - the way living people move could trigger some sort of predation response (lots of animals hunt this way). noise would also be another way that they could zero in on people, since they seem to be drawn to any sort of noise that is associated with human activity.

[hadrian0117]

...Don't freeze solid in the winter (maybe their blood acts as some kind of "antifreeze"?)

Do they? None of Romero's Dead films are set during winter and Land's the only one we can be sure that the zombies went through winter. If zombies don't breath then how can they smell anything? It makes sense that zombies can't tell cold-blooded animals apart from other zombies, but we've also seen corpses reanimate withing minutes of death. I'm not a pathologist, but I know it can take hours for a corpse's core temp to drop from 98.6/37 to room temp. Why don't zombies then attack fresh zombies who are still warm like people?

[MaximusIncredulous]

So, does anyone have a logical theory about this? How can it be possible?

Maybe the phonomenon gave the living dead senses like that of a mosquito. They zero in on exhaled carbon dioxide and scent from mammals. Zombies may function on a similar level.

[Legion2213]

How do they do it?

We've seen a load of zombie films, and none of them (to my knowledge) ever address this.

You've got hordes of dead shambling around, leaving one another completely alone. They don't attack each other. Yet, if a live person shows up, they converge on him or her immediately.

How the hell can they know the difference?! The dead are just regular human bodies; if anything, being dead should dull their five senses. So how can they possibly tell the difference between another dead ghoul and a live meal?

They shouldn't be able to smell them. Especially from range. Think, can you smell a person's perfume from across the street? No.

Live people sound exactly like dead people. When the dead people are able to move, anyway.

They don't come over and check for a pulse before biting, or anything else.

So, does anyone have a logical theory about this? How can it be possible?


I've pondered on this, but at the end of the day, I think that zombies are the most outlandish and illogical creatures ever created (they are like living dead things, right?). So, I just accept that they can tell the difference between living humans and dead humans by some weird mechanism/ability/sense.

[EvilNed]

I've pondered on this, but at the end of the day, I think that zombies are the most outlandish and illogical creatures ever created (they are like living dead things, right?). So, I just accept that they can tell the difference between living humans and dead humans by some weird mechanism/ability/sense.

Agreed. While it helps aid the horror to portray these things as natural and realistic in a "this could happen!" sort of way, let's remember that there's really noway this could happen. I mean, sure they re-animate. That's outlandish enough. But why do they turn cannibalistic? That's just as illogical, but none of us care. Why? Because it's horrific and terrifying. So we accept it.

I view zombies as the most terrifying creature ever created by popular fiction, and that's why I like zombie films. Zombies, unlike vampires, werewolves or mummies, can actually crush mankind. Or eat them, rather. They instantly become part of human everyday life. I could go on and on about this, but this is really what fascinates me about them as a fictional creature. Sure, one by one they're not that scary. I'd rather face one zombie than one vampire or werewolf. But zombies are still more terrifying because of all the factors that come with them. Either if it's anyone bitten/infected, or if it's anyone who dies: It still adds up to a ****load of zombies.

Since we're already on the discussion of what would zombies do, I have two other questions I'm wondering about, that hasn't really been dealt with yet:

1. When does a zombie loose interest? Theoretically they could just keep walking towards where they last saw a human, but surely they've got to lose interest sometime or another. What if they hit a river, a wall, or a cliff? That's got to be a situation where they just turn around and start shambling endlessly again. Or what if they're chasing someone who gets lifted off with a helicopter that disappears into the cloud?

I mean, sometime a zombie has got to loose interest right, because undeniably most zombies have seen a human person once in their "life"time. But most zombies we see are still shambling endlessly.

2. Can zombies crouch or crawl to get into tight spots? If they loose their legs, they can pull themselves along with their arms. But that's sort of a last ditch resort for them just to get to their victim. But can they reason enough that they know that if they reach a really tight spot, they can crouch or crawl through it?

[SRP76]

Agreed. While it helps aid the horror to portray these things as natural and realistic in a "this could happen!" sort of way, let's remember that there's really noway this could happen. I mean, sure they re-animate. That's outlandish enough. But why do they turn cannibalistic? That's just as illogical, but none of us care. Why? Because it's horrific and terrifying. So we accept it.



That's true, but the issue of them being able to tell us apart from their dead buddies is a major thing, because it's central to the survival of the heroes.

If we were being attacked by the dead, one of the first things we'd think about is "how can they tell?". For the simple reason that, once we figured that out, we'd know how to hide from them (which would help us stay alive a lot longer). So it's not just irrelevant information; it's a big piece of knowledge that the heroes could use to great effect.

As far as "losing interest", I don't know that they do. Every time we see them "peel off" from a pursuit, it's because something else comes along to distract them. They then take off after that new thing.

And crouching and crawling should happen automatically; zombies tend to lead with their heads and arms. If a space is low to the ground, their natural pursuit would make them fall right down and into that space.

[Deadman_Deluxe]

Let's face it ... number one it doesn't really matter, and number two it was never meant to be broken down and analyzed.

In reality. Dead is dead. No living creature which dies ever comes back to life. Period. Ever. Full stop. Never gonna happen. Amen. Case closed.

Once you are past the fact that the dead CAN come back to life because it happens in the movies then anything after that shouldn't be THAT hard to swallow, right?

In regards to how and why they are able to distinguish the living from the dead, i guess all we need to know, is that they just can!


While we are going there, maybe someone can explain how come vampires never contract the AID's virus? How does Freddy Krueger "really" get into your dreams? How does Predators cloak actually work, and where can i buy one? And finally, the classic comic conundrum, how come the incredible hulk's trousers never ever fall off?

[sandrock74]

"And finally, the classic comic conundrum, how come the incredible hulk's trousers never ever fall off?"

Being the comic book geek that I am, I can tell you that Spider-Man once referred to this very problem. He referred to it as, "The Incredible Hulks incredible pants". He couldn't figure it our either.

[SRP76]

Let's face it ... number one it doesn't really matter, and number two it was never meant to be broken down and analyzed.

In reality. Dead is dead. No living creature which dies ever comes back to life. Period. Ever. Full stop. Never gonna happen. Amen. Case closed.

Once you are past the fact that the dead CAN come back to life because it happens in the movies then anything after that shouldn't be THAT hard to swallow, right?

In regards to how and why they are able to distinguish the living from the dead, i guess all we need to know, is that they just can!


While we are going there, maybe someone can explain how come vampires never contract the AID's virus? How does Freddy Krueger "really" get into your dreams? How does Predators cloak actually work, and where can i buy one? And finally, the classic comic conundrum, how come the incredible hulk's trousers never ever fall off?

If you have that much problem with the question, why did you bother posting in this thread?

Yes, we should all just never try to talk about ANYTHING, because "it doesn't matter".

Forgive me for trying to spark some conversation around here. Silly me, I thought this was a message board, or something.

[dannoofthedead]

Maybe through heat. They're dead so their bodies have gone to room temperature eventually. yes, there is a lot of heat coming from other things in the area. Buildings on fire or collecting warmth from the day, black top heated by the sun and even the sun itself. The biggest difference would be the movement. You feel something warm move by and you turn to see what it was same as with a cold draft.

Sound could come from breathing, especially since everyone in zombie flicks is always panting, breathless and anxious which, even whispering and trying to stifle these noises will still be audible in a room or even in an open area where there is absolutely no sound.

There is still some cognizant thought, at least the knowledge that you hunger for something and that you don't seem to move as fast as that for which you crave. The body is slow, shambling and jerky, often bloated, putrid and horribly wounded. When you see something that is none of these things you'll approach.

The warmth lets you know that its different.

The sounds of it panting, gasping, praying and/or crying tell you that it is nothing like you.

The sight of one rotted messy thing moving draws your attention in that direction and the rest of the horde follows.

I'm sure with a medical degree or even a better functional knowledge of the human body I could probably make a more convincing arguement. With out these thats all I've got for now.

I thought of more:
Black magic
voodoo
Alien Mind control
Robotic Programming
Al Gore (he invented the internet so I'm sure he has something to do with the raising of the dead)

[Trin]

It could be pheromones. Instincts that the human body has abandoned to higher forms of reason surely would re-emerge when operating at a lower level.

Ants & bees and other hive insects can sense things from great distances.

And the Hulk's pants never rip because all the extra mass needed to become the Hulk is stored in his pants in the first place. Specifically in the front. That also explains why he's so angry.

[Legion2213]

I think Bruce Banner wears really big stretchy leggings, like wot fat birds wear. :)



1. When does a zombie loose interest? Theoretically they could just keep walking towards where they last saw a human, but surely they've got to lose interest sometime or another. What if they hit a river, a wall, or a cliff? That's got to be a situation where they just turn around and start shambling endlessly again. Or what if they're chasing someone who gets lifted off with a helicopter that disappears into the cloud?

I mean, sometime a zombie has got to loose interest right, because undeniably most zombies have seen a human person once in their "life"time. But most zombies we see are still shambling endlessly.



I don't think they ever do myself, once again though, that "special instinct/sense" come into play, I reckon they would besiege a building for years if there were people in there, but within a few hours/days of the last person dying, they would start to drift away. They would then start to wander around in that way they do, until coming across some more food.

(we have also seen zeds in GAR movies who were lying down, I assume that some just give up searching before others).

[Zomby Woof]

Maybe it’s not that complicated. Maybe zeds just know, like in those Dr. Scholl’s Gel Sole commercials – gellin’ doesn’t give you the power to see inside other people’s shoes, you just know when they’re “sooo not gellin’.”;)

[clanglee]

Let's face it ... number one it doesn't really matter, and number two it was never meant to be broken down and analyzed.

In reality. Dead is dead. No living creature which dies ever comes back to life. Period. Ever. Full stop. Never gonna happen. Amen. Case closed.

Once you are past the fact that the dead CAN come back to life because it happens in the movies then anything after that shouldn't be THAT hard to swallow, right?

In regards to how and why they are able to distinguish the living from the dead, i guess all we need to know, is that they just can!


While we are going there, maybe someone can explain how come vampires never contract the AID's virus? How does Freddy Krueger "really" get into your dreams? How does Predators cloak actually work, and where can i buy one? And finally, the classic comic conundrum, how come the incredible hulk's trousers never ever fall off?

Yeah man. . . I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. Asking these questions and coming up with our own answers is part of what makes this fun to many people. Just to say its silly to begin with discounts the entire reason for these boards.

As for why they know? I always liked the warm blooded argument, although in the original Night you can see zombies eating insects. . .so go figure.

[Choas]

Maybe its because of the why we react.If you start yelling or crying when you see a zombie,then they'll know that your alive.

[MaximusIncredulous]

As for why they know? I always liked the warm blooded argument, although in the original Night you can see zombies eating insects. . .so go figure.

I've always assumed that was caused by a lack of food stimuli. When wandering about and with no food around, they revert to a sort of childlike state and when investigating things not understood or dimly remembered they sample those items much like very young humans do, by putting those objects into their mouths. Or something along those lines.

[Legion2213]

I've always assumed that was caused by a lack of food stimuli. When wandering about and with no food around, they revert to a sort of childlike state and when investigating things not understood or dimly remembered they sample those items much like very young humans do, by putting those objects into their mouths. Or something along those lines.

They do look like they are just "sampling/trying stuff out" when eating the mice in "Night 90" and insects in "Night 68"

Good call.