How a Living Dead manage to...

[The Alive Man]

... recognize an HUMAN from a similar Living Dead?

This question was inspired by the great 'SHAUN OF THE DEAD'.

How did they manage to recognize an Human? Did they somewhat "sense" the warm and living flesh? Is it something related to their altered smell (if they ever got one)?

[bassman]

I don't believe it's ever been officially covered. I know alot of people around here have theories, though.

I just look at it as "they just do".:p

[Philly_SWAT]

I don't believe it's ever been officially covered. I know alot of people around here have theories, though.

I just look at it as "they just do".:p
"They just do" is a good explanation. But as usual, I need to be a little more wordy than that.....

On multiple occasions in the series, in reference to the living dead, it is mentioned that "They're us". Which begs the question, how would you be able to tell the difference between a living person and a member of the living dead? You just could, using all the senses that you had at your disposal. Same with the undead. "They're you" after all.

[Gouldy]

like every animal or plant, they sense something about their prey and hunt it. It might not be the most sophisticated type of hunting but they hunt for what they need. Maybe through smell, sight or just a '6th sense' for zombies (:rolleyes: )

[Adolf Kitler]

I think it's related to voodoo. Really.

[Philly_SWAT]

I think it's related to voodoo. Really.

When there's no more room in hell, the spirits there will inhabit cats.

[The Alive Man]

Meaow-calypse NOW! :cool:

[capncnut]

No one has ever died and come back to be able to tell us if the living can be differentiated from the dead. Maybe when you die, a lot of things show up different. Maybe the living have a bright orange glow in the eyes of the dead? How are we to know right? I just accept it as given and I don't question the unanswerable. :D

[Adolf Kitler]

No one has ever died and come back to be able to tell us if the living can be differentiated from the dead. Maybe when you die, a lot of things show up different. Maybe the living have bright orange glow in the eyes of the dead? How are we to know right? I just accept it as given and I don't question the unanswerable. :D
How would that pertain to zombies who are blind? Do they go by smell? Kinda hard to buy that, since the stink of death would be overpowering all other smells.

You can laugh at this idea, and it's not my favorite theory (I like the idea of it being a total mystery) but Romero alluded to it being of a mystical nature not only in Dawn: "Something my granddad used to tell us. You know Macumba? Vodoun. My granddad was a priest in Trinidad. He used to tell us, When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth", but also in Day, from the closest thing to the moral center of that film, the Jamaiican pilot John: "You want to put some kind of explanation on all this? Here's one as good as any other. We're bein' punished by the Creator. He visited a curse on us."

It may have not been by design, but the moral center of each of GAR's Dead films have been black men, who had ties to the caribean islands, or looked like they easily could have. GAR may say otherwise, but I doubt it was an accident that Big Daddy was black. As much as the stereotype of zombies have been changed with NOTLD, I strongly suspect that GAR, consciously or subconsciously, has the traditional lore of the voodoo zombies as part of his mindset.

At least thats my theory, for whatever it's worth, and is one possible explanation why zombies can differentiate living humans with dead ones.

[Danny]

well ive been thinking this over since i started working on a short zombei film, which is quickly turning into a litle zombiesode kinda thing what with the incredibly long script.
anyway u had to get around the eating thing, becuase i just dont think it works in my opinion, so i kinda tweaked it so they dont actually want to eat the humans theyll just fight tooth and whats left of there nails to kill them and theyll swarm em till they stop screaming and flailing, cus then there not different, they aint a threat anymore, i think i was inspired to do that from the autumn novels, which give the best explanation, the zombies have a little of there mind left, and they can tell were different to them, but what do humans do when we see something different and dengerous, normally it end sup with violence which is a sad thing but a good analagy for zombies, they know were different and they attack su and beat the life out of us just because they see us as a threat, when we aint living they stop attacking, but they dont eat us hence why there are more zombies than the origional amount, i never dug the whole flesh eating thing too much i just think that its the whole "differences" scenario.


that or the flying ones have sonar.:rolleyes:

[The Alive Man]

Maybe it's not up to their "smell", for the reasons listed above. Maybe they recognize each other (and the Living) by "sensing", sort of that familiar "third eye" feeling that they can somehow catch. I don't wanna slide into the realm of spirituality or, even worse, religion. I just think they are structured to do so. I think it could involve the (scientific) cause which generated them in the first place.

I think their "sensing" is a sort of "biological sensibility", wherever you assume that the origin of the phenomenon is either radiation or a virus.

[Philly_SWAT]

As much as the stereotype of zombies have been changed with NOTLD, I strongly suspect that GAR, consciously or subconsciously, has the traditional lore of the voodoo zombies as part of his mindset.

At least thats my theory, for whatever it's worth, and is one possible explanation why zombies can differentiate living humans with dead ones.

I dont think so. Have you ever read and/or seen the movie of "I Am Legend"? This is where Romero got his idea from, and in that, they were more "vampire creatures" than zombies, and there is nothing "voodoo"-like in I Am Legend. If you havent seen it, you should, it is an interesting movie.

[The Alive Man]

Philly,

The title is 'The Omega Man' (1971), starring Charlton Heston.

[Danny]

noo....the omega man was another film based on i am legend.

[The Alive Man]

noo....the omega man was another film based on i am legend.


Ah okay.

Is this the only source which inspired ROMERO? :)

[Marie]

Philly,

The title is 'The Omega Man' (1971), starring Charlton Heston.

Naaa, he's talking about "The Last Man on Earth" with Vincent Price. The written story is "I Am Legand". That's also the probable title of the Will Smith movie when it comes out.

M_

[Deadman_Deluxe]

Ah okay.

Is this the only source which inspired ROMERO? :)

So far as i am aware, I am Legend was the original source which inspired GAR to make NOTLD.

I am Legend by Richard Matheson was a "novella" which inspired two other movies to date, firstly The Last Man on Earth, and later a "retelling" in the form of The Omega Man.

[Adolf Kitler]

Read the Richard Matheson book and saw both (poorly done) adaptations, and if you're going to use that book as GAR's launching point (as he himself noted as a inspiration) that's all good, but then why would GAR refer to voodoo in more than one film? Maybe it's to give everyone something to latch on to make the suspension of disbelief easier (much as the whole space probe scenario made it easier for the sci-fi oriented), but I'd like to think it's for reasons deeper than that. Mr. Monotone news announcer from NOTLD and the reactionary tv personalities from Dawn bring up all the other possibilities, but it's central characters, and the moral centers at that (In Dawn and Day) that bring up the possibility of something mystical. I kinda doubt that was by accident.

[Deadman_Deluxe]

Read the Richard Matheson book and saw both (poorly done) adaptations, and if you're going to use that book as GAR's launching point (as he himself noted as a inspiration) that's all good, but then why would GAR refer to voodoo in more than one film?

Most likely because instead of the "vampires" used in I am Legend, The Last Man on Earth, and The Omega Man, GAR used "zombies", which before NOTLD and the introduction of GAR's own particular brand of "zombie flesheaters", the word "zombie" was almost ALWAYS associated with the more traditional haitian voodoo zombie.

Virus from space, radioactivity from the returning venus probe, voodoo or a complete mystery ... take your pick or bring your own, doesn't really matter much.

[The Alive Man]

I still think that it's better to left out the voodoo issue, because they are *NOT* zombies, despite someone insist to call them this way in either DAWN and LAND... (of course, even the term "Ghoul" doesn't really apply to...)

To me, it's a scientific issue.

[Philly_SWAT]

Philly,

The title is 'The Omega Man' (1971), starring Charlton Heston.
Think about it. You are saying the 1968 Night of the Living Dead was inspired by the 1971 The Omega Man? I guess that would fit into your mulitple dimension/time shifting theories......

Marie already corrected me, I was referring to the novel I am Legend, and the movie The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price. I was trying to forget about the upcoming Will Smith remake......

[The Alive Man]

Philly,

I supposed that you were a little bit confused at the time, having mistaken the novel for the movie or something along those lines.

My convergence theory applies to digestive problems very well, if you're interested by it too :clown:

[HLS]

... recognize an HUMAN from a similar Living Dead?

This question was inspired by the great 'SHAUN OF THE DEAD'.

How did they manage to recognize an Human? Did they somewhat "sense" the warm and living flesh? Is it something related to their altered smell (if they ever got one)?


I do not think there is an answer to that since its a movie and only a movie. Nothing about it is real. If the dead could ever rise in real life I would suspect they would eat anything they come accross, not just humans for it will be all on instinct. Sorry for my typos. I can not download the spell checker here at work.:skull:

[Danny]

... recognize an HUMAN from a similar Living Dead?

This question was inspired by the great 'SHAUN OF THE DEAD'.


actually i believe this actually origionates from the film redneck zombies it being the earliest example.

[The Alive Man]

Yes, but it was in SHAUN that they spoofed the specific issue we're talking about, pinpointing the problem... (IMHO).

Okay, they are movies (:dead: ), but there is nothing wrong if we want to make a sense out of them.

[capncnut]

noo....the omega man was another film based on i am legend.

Yeah and the book takes a giant turd on the movie too. :D

[Deadman_Deluxe]

I still think that it's better to left out the voodoo issue, because they are *NOT* zombies, despite someone insist to call them this way in either DAWN and LAND...

But they are.

They are actually Zombie Flesheater's if you want to get technical. What they are NOT, however, is your traditional haitian folklore zombie, hence your apparent confusion!?!

[The Alive Man]

Deluxe,

What's about "Revenants" ????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Real zombies are *NOT* flesh-eaters. REAL zombies are sick puppets in the hands of the magicians, they are mere and pathetic TOOLS.
Our "zombies" are entities driven by their once-suppressed primordial instincts... REAL zombies seem kinda hypnotized and dumb, rather than dead guys doing their own things... our zombies are DEAD, LIVING DEAD... and slightly (SLIGHTLY) intelligent.

And those ones I picked up are just few differences, there are many others out of there.

[Deadman_Deluxe]

1.Haitian voodoo zombie. (Folklore)

2.GAR's Zombie Flesheater. (Cinema)

Two different creatures. GAR's cinematic version of course being more extreme on account of it actually being A:clinically dead, as opposed to alive and in a trance, and of course ... B:eating the flesh of it's victims. Hence the appropriate tag:

Zombie Flesheater.

[Philly_SWAT]

Real zombies are *NOT* flesh-eaters. REAL zombies are sick puppets in the hands of the magicians, they are mere and pathetic TOOLS.

So, where would I go to see one of these "real" zombies?

[The Alive Man]

In the tube, Philly. Or... go to your local bank. ;)

[Deadman_Deluxe]

So, where would I go to see one of these "real" zombies?

I hear Haiti is nice this time of year ;)

[The Alive Man]

I hear Haiti is nice this time of year ;)

Really? That's a resounding news!;)

[Marie]

So, where would I go to see one of these "real" zombies?

Go to a bar. Order a Zombie. The bartender will layer an ounce each of several liquors in a tall glass and put a straw in it. Drink through the straw and look in a mirror. Having just drank a Zombie you'll then be one, at least until you pass out.:D

M_

[radiokill]

Ah okay.

Is this the only source which inspired ROMERO? :)

The Last Man on Earth (1964) Vincet Price.

I was actually shopping for that last night. Which print is the best? At amazon there is one solo print for $3.83, House on Haunted Hill/Last Man on Earth for like $4, and Hill/Last Man on Earth/The Bat for like $5. Ayone own any of these?

[minutes later...]sorry, thought I was on the last post when I hit quote button!

[Deadman_Deluxe]

The Last Man on Earth (1964) Vincet Price.

I was actually shopping for that last night. Which print is the best? At amazon there is one solo print for $3.83, House on Haunted Hill/Last Man on Earth for like $4, and Hill/Last Man on Earth/The Bat for like $5. Ayone own any of these?

[minutes later...]sorry, thought I was on the last post when I hit quote button!

Less than $15 for all three? The answer is an obvious one ... buy all three!

[radiokill]

Less than $15 for all three? The answer is an obvious one ... buy all three!

that's what I was thinking, but some people on amazon have really been b*tching about not being able to hear the spoken lines on some of these public domain reprints.....well, it's five bucks....guess I shouldn't worry.:skull:

[coma]

Go to a bar. Order a Zombie. The bartender will layer an ounce each of several liquors in a tall glass and put a straw in it. Drink through the straw and look in a mirror. Having just drank a Zombie you'll then be one, at least until you pass out.:D

M_

The bartender will say
You know how to make that, cause I don't.:)

[radiokill]

The bartender will say
You know how to make that, cause I don't.:)

yeah, every bar is "supposed" to have their own recipe...what a load of crap. I haven't been anywhere that knows about this tradition. but bacard does make that zombie drink that's like 12% alcohol and tastes like candy.....i could drink a 1/2 gallon of that stuff in like 30s...pretty good

[The Alive Man]

WE're all Zombie-coholic, after all.

The 100th post.:skull:

[capncnut]

Go to a bar. Order a Zombie. The bartender will layer an ounce each of several liquors in a tall glass and put a straw in it. Drink through the straw and look in a mirror. Having just drank a Zombie you'll then be one, at least until you pass out.

It's kind of ironic they call it a Zombie cos I tried one a while back and it blew my head off! :D