Excellent Dawn Discussion Podcast

[JDP]

Nifty. I have fond memories of first seeing "Zombie Flesh Eaters" on Channel 4 when Mark Kermode hosted a 'Censored' weekend ... or maybe it was called 'Extreme' ... he did two such weekends IIRC, and ZFE was shown during one of them along with Bad Lieutenant. That gave us plenty to talk about at school on Monday! I always liked Fulci's Zombie, one of the better non-Romero zombie flicks (even Romero himself admits that he enjoyed this movie.) One thing that bugged me about it, though, was how inconsistent it was with the amount of time the "zombification" process took place after a human character is killed by the zombies: 1- It takes at least several hours for the coast guard officer who gets killed by the bloated boat zombie to come back as a zombie (he gets killed in the boat, and does not come back until he is about ready for an autopsy at the Medical Examiner's) 2- Anne's father does not come back soon after he dies, it takes some time for this to happen, enough to be able to wrap his body in sheets and keep an eye on him with the loaded revolver ready at hand to dispose of him when he does come back 3- Mrs. Menard gets killed at night, yet the next day late in the afternoon the visitors find some zombies still munching on her corpse and she still has not come back as a zombie (and no, a splinter through your eye would not damage your brain so she should have come back) 4- Susan gets killed by one of the old conquistador graveyard zombies, and she does not come back in a couple of minutes or so after death 5- The two "patients" who die shortly before the zombie assault on the church/hospital take some time to come back as zombies, they don't come back in just a couple of minutes 6- Dr. Menard gets killed by his "zombified" friend (who must have died at some point during the zombie assault on the church/hospital), yet he does not come back any time during the entire final battle with the zombies (when the last 3 survivors escape through Dr. Menard's office, where he was killed, they encounter four zombies, none of whom is Dr. Menard) 7- Lucas gets killed by one of the "zombified" patients, yet it takes only a couple of minutes for him to come back as a zombie 8- The nurse gets killed by "zombified" Lucas, yet she does not come back as a zombie in a matter of minutes either (the entire battle with the zombies invading the church/hospital happens and she still has not come back when the survivors escape the burning building) 9- Brian dies from "zombified" Susan's bite, but he does not come back in a few minutes, there's enough time for Anne to calmly give the news to Peter and for him to decide what to do with him

[MinionZombie]

Yes, the reanimation is all over the place, but at the same time a virus affects people differently. Symptoms, duration of illness, and so on are all different in different patients - so, likewise, reanimation times would vary a lot. The Conquistadors are the most 'out there' aspect of the film's varied reanimation timescale. Initially I really enjoyed it, then I had a period of time where I kind of rejected it when I found out it so blatantly cashed-in on Dawn's Italian title by calling itself "Zombi 2", but then I was a reactionary teen at that time and subsequently calmed the fudge down and came to view it far more favourably again, and saw that, despite the element of cash-in that its title engenders, the movie itself also does its own thing and returns to the roots of the genre in Voodoo.

[JDP]

Yes, the reanimation is all over the place, but at the same time a virus affects people differently. Symptoms, duration of illness, and so on are all different in different patients - so, likewise, reanimation times would vary a lot. The Conquistadors are the most 'out there' aspect of the film's varied reanimation timescale. A virus (and we are never 100% sure that it is actually a virus or bacteria that is causing the zombies in this movie, as Dr. Menard confesses all his failures in figuring out what the hell is going on after doing virology and bacteriology tests) might affect people differently when they are alive, but I did not get how come there are such huge discrepancies in how long it takes for people to come back as zombies after death. One should expect some degree of consistency here, like in the Romero trilogy, where people invariably come back in "a matter of minutes" after they die (the only strange exception being Dr. Logan, who mysteriously never seems to come back.) The rising of the conquistador zombies I explain simply by the fact that whatever is causing the zombie plague has just arrived to "the other other side of the island". Remember that Dr. Menard tells his wife that all the zombie cases discovered so far are coming from "the other side of the island". Roaming zombies had still not been seen on their side of the island, which is where the old conquistador graveyard is. When the visitors arrive, the zombie plague is also recently arriving to that same side of the island. What I have no explanation whatsoever for is how come 300-400 year old corpses can still have enough rotting flesh and tendons to be mobile! They should be down to their bare bones and thus never have come back as zombies.

[MinionZombie]

Resurrection is just part of the whole process. Some might succumb to the virus quickly, so in-turn it would make sense for them to resurrect quickly, others are slower to die from it, so they might resurrect slower - but even then there are inconsistencies here ... but I don't think anyone involved with the film was thinking that hard about virology.

[Moon Knight]

The death of the poor bastard....

[MinionZombie]

Interesting episode of the podcast. This is only the second one I've heard, but there's some interesting things being talked about - the issue of the closed eyes, about being driven by some other force so that they don't even really need to look, made the zombies even creepier. I will say, though, that it took far too long to get going. It wasn't a long episode, so to be almost 1/3 of the way through and you've still not got onto the subject at hand, is a bit silly - too much stuff littering up the start before it gets underway. I loved the stuff when they talked about the iconography of the movie - of seeing that VHS cover in the rental store. That whole bit of discussion reminded me of good times in my formative years sneaking glances at the horror section (which was opposite the Sega Mega Drive games section). There was a porno section in its own little enclave, but I was barely aware of what that was, with its beaded curtain thing covering the entrance - I was all about those gruesome and intriguing horror movie VHS covers! I looked at them with wonder and thought of what sights they'd show me when I was eventually able to see them, hehe.

[JDP]

Interesting episode of the podcast. This is only the second one I've heard, but there's some interesting things being talked about - the issue of the closed eyes, about being driven by some other force so that they don't even really need to look, made the zombies even creepier. I will say, though, that it took far too long to get going. It wasn't a long episode, so to be almost 1/3 of the way through and you've still not got onto the subject at hand, is a bit silly - too much stuff littering up the start before it gets underway. I loved the stuff when they talked about the iconography of the movie - of seeing that VHS cover in the rental store. That whole bit of discussion reminded me of good times in my formative years sneaking glances at the horror section (which was opposite the Sega Mega Drive games section). There was a porno section in its own little enclave, but I was barely aware of what that was, with its beaded curtain thing covering the entrance - I was all about those gruesome and intriguing horror movie VHS covers! I looked at them with wonder and thought of what sights they'd show me when I was eventually able to see them, hehe. Sega Mega Drive did not even exist when I was going through the same experiences. Try more like the Atari/Colecovision/Intellivision games section. - - - Updated - - - The death of the poor bastard.... Yes, very technical lingo, as used by all Medical Examiners worth their salt. - - - Updated - - - Interesting episode of the podcast. This is only the second one I've heard, but there's some interesting things being talked about - the issue of the closed eyes, about being driven by some other force so that they don't even really need to look, made the zombies even creepier. Not all the zombies in the movie had their eyes closed, though. I thought this was a bit of an inconsistency too. And also: the underwater zombie moved way too fast for a zombie. He was too agile compared to the on-land zombies, which I thought was weird. Water slows down motion since it is a denser medium than air, yet the zombies moved at a turtle's pace on land while the underwater zombie was fast enough to be able to put up a fight with a shark!

[MinionZombie]

And also: the underwater zombie moved way too fast for a zombie. He was too agile compared to the on-land zombies, which I thought was weird. Water slows down motion since it is a denser medium than air, yet the zombies moved at a turtle's pace on land while the underwater zombie was fast enough to be able to put up a fight with a shark! Considering the stunt actor was facing off with a shark and having to hold his breath, it's plenty fair to let his agility slide.

[Moon Knight]

Sega Mega Drive did not even exist when I was going through the same experiences. Try more like the Atari/Colecovision/Intellivision games section. - - - Updated - - - Yes, very technical lingo, as used by all Medical Examiners worth their salt. - - - Updated - - - Not all the zombies in the movie had their eyes closed, though. I thought this was a bit of an inconsistency too. And also: the underwater zombie moved way too fast for a zombie. He was too agile compared to the on-land zombies, which I thought was weird. Water slows down motion since it is a denser medium than air, yet the zombies moved at a turtle's pace on land while the underwater zombie was fast enough to be able to put up a fight with a shark! Haha classic scene! The shark even changed sizes mid fight!

[kidgloves]

Day of the Dead - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctoro...e-zombie-films Return as well as Reanimator. Direct link to mp3 - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctoro...mbie-films.mp3

[EvilNed]

Re: the reanimation in ZFE; If it is a virus or bacterii then these do not die. The host dies in the way we think of death, but the malign disease does not. That could account for some of the variation in reanimation.

[JDP]

Re: the reanimation in ZFE; If it is a virus or bacterii then these do not die. The host dies in the way we think of death, but the malign disease does not. That could account for some of the variation in reanimation. The assumption of the cause being a virus or bacteria still does not explain why it takes such a huge lapse of time for some dead people to become zombies, while for others the reanimation just takes minutes.

[Neil]

Day Return as well as Reanimator. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctoro...mbie-films.mp3 Seems Day didn't get much discussion/time really And have to say, I completely disagree with his comments on the score. I looooooooooove the music to Day!

[MinionZombie]

Seems Day didn't get much discussion/time really And have to say, I completely disagree with his comments on the score. I looooooooooove the music to Day! I've not listened to this podcast yet, but I'm with you - the Day of the Dead score is one of the best scores of the 1980s, even of all time. It has so much identity to it, it doesn't fade into the background at all, and yet feels totally appropriate to the film. I listen to it frequently.

[kidgloves]

Seems Day didn't get much discussion/time really And have to say, I completely disagree with his comments on the score. I looooooooooove the music to Day! Agreed. He sounded like he's lost his enthusiasm for the podcast.