Are zombies the new vampires in Hollywood?

I’ve talked about zombie movies before — for example, here, here, here, and here — engaging in some speculation re their current popularity. But this THR article offers perhaps the most detailed analysis of the sub-genre, comparing them to vampire movies:

What’s that shambling over the curb toward the local theater? No, behind the vampires. Could it be a stampede of the undead about to take over Hollywood?

AMC’s new drama series “The Walking Dead” debuts on Halloween, and more than a half-dozen zombie-related feature projects are on their way to theaters — including Friday’s “Resident Evil: Afterlife” — or in development at the studios. With this many flesh-rotting grave-jumpers on tap, could zombies be making a run — or, perhaps, a very slow, clumsy walk — at the pop culture crown?

“Zombie movies, much like zombies, could become this horde that just marches across the world,” said Rhett Reese, who co-wrote last year’s breakout hit “Zombieland” with Paul Wernick.

 — -

So there is money to be made, but, so far, not vampire money. And that’s because zombies are at a disadvantage in a number of ways.

Number one? Lack of sex appeal. Werewolves and vampires have an animal recognition that allows for treatment of hybrid sexuality and even — as “Twilight” has shown — teen romance. Brad Pitt or Robert Pattinson wanting to suck your blood is kind of a turn-on. But zombies by invention are dead, or undead, and thus far no one has found a way to make necrophilia hot (surely the CW is hard at work on this).

And this may speak to its second disadvantage: lack of appeal with women. While horror tends to draw strong numbers from the female ranks, zombie films are some of the least attractive to women and girls. Slashers, serial killers, demonic forces, sure, but the undead, and the rampant gore that tends to be endemic to cinematic forays into the zombie world, have been a serious turn-off.
“There’s a gross-out factor,” Reese said. “It could be that zombies never entirely get over that bar with women. They’re afraid of the gore, they’re afraid of the splatter. But there’s a long tradition of women loving horror movies once they get in there and see it — if they can just get convinced to go. We used comedy and romance as our hook to get women into theaters.”

As well as strong female characters, which may be part of the reason the “Resident Evil” films, with Milla Jovovich kicking so much zombie ass, appeal so widely. Wernick jokes that the way to widen the female demo is as simple as casting: “You just find the next Taylor Lautner and Rob Pattinson and put them in zombie makeup.”

Adds Sean McKittrick, producer of the upcoming adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”: “Vampires wouldn’t be as successful if they weren’t attractive. Vampires are objects of desire. Zombies, so far, are not.”

This echoes my basic theory as well, that vampire movies are for gals, zombie movies are for guys. But whenever there’s conventional wisdom, there are sure to be filmmakers testing the underlying premise:

Summit Entertainment, which has produced and distributed the billions-grossing “Twilight” franchise, is developing a project with “The Wackness” filmmaker Jonathan Levine based on Issac Marion’s novel “Warm Bodies.” It’s a story that takes the rare romantic tack in telling the story of a zombie who falls in love with a human woman whose boyfriend he’s killed.

“Zombies have fallen into a very narrow sub-genre, the post-apocalyptic zombie genre, and it limits the kinds of stories can you tell,” said Chris Roberson, author of the DC/Vertigo comic “I, Zombie.” In the comic, Roberson tries a “romantic dramedy” approach that follows a female zombie with a conscience that needs to eat brains once a month but seeks out the freshly dead instead of the living. In a twist that adds depth to the story, she absorbs that cadaver’s life memories and finds herself on a journey to explore the hows and whys of the person’s death.

“It’s about getting into the head of your protagonist and imagining what it would be like to be a zombie that’s a hero and not a sociopath,” Roberson explained.

This may be what the zombie trope needs: a new take along the lines of what Boyle and Garland created for “28 Days Later.” Zombies have always been pretty one-dimensional, constantly reinforcing the image of gray-faced goons stumbling forward awkwardly with their arms out while groaning, “Brains …”

“It’s going to take somebody to break that mold,” McKittrick said.

Do you think that can work? A zombie Protagonist? Better yet, a stud muffin zombie Protagonist? Justin Bieber as a zombie Protagonist?

And then there’s this:

We’ve noted the neverending popularity of zombie movies. Well, the author of “The Zen of Zombies” wondered what it would be like to put out this invite in NYC: “Bring a yoga mat. Dress like a zombie.”

Here’s what happened:

How about you? Do you prefer zombies? Or vampires?

Comment Archive