@...RSIxidor:
Good point.

@...dieAntagonista:
Also a good point, though that is, in fact, the *only* way in which they differ from the old zombies. Beyond that all of these movies still rely on the same basic premise.

You will recall that even though the old school “zombie” is supposedly “dead” they can still be “killed” again via a shot to the head. Or something similar. In that respect they are the same as the new incarnation, that are not dead but simply infected.

In fact if you look back, you can see a progression occurring. It started with movies that had trainable zombies, and then Land of the Dead where you have now intelligent zombies. “28 days/weeks Later” and “I am legend” were, imho, the simply the next logical step in the zombie genre.

However I think they needed to further distance themselves from the traditional idea of the zombie because modern movie goers are much more educated, and frankly, the traditional zombie idea made no sense, and was full of inconsistencies that makes it harder for the thinking moviegoer to suspend their disbelief.

You eliminate that one detail (death) and suddenly every thing makes sense, and you can craft a “zombie” (even if they don’t want to call it that) movie that will keep even the streetwise masses quivering in their beds at night… 😀

@...dieAntagonista: I agree on that point. The T-Virus idea was genius. It made perfect sense. No sanity required. 😀

Though from my perspective, the purpose of fictional writing is not to necessarily portray things that are entirely unrealistic, but rather stretch the idea of what is impossible into something that is possible, using devices that appear highly plausible in the publics eye.

So while I can’t really disagree with you about the unrealism adding to the campy charm of the earlier movies, I also really enjoy sci-fi/horror moves that “go deeper” as you put it, and rely on a premise that, even just ostensibly, passes the common sense logic test.

And no apologies necessary, I probably couldn’t talk about it for hours, but as a Sci-Fi/Horror movie fan, I certainly do think about these things quite a lot, and could post about it for hours… 😀

@...dieAntagonista: I don’t think it’s that they don’t tell the truth. I think it’s just that everybody reacts to things in different ways.

Those of us who enjoy roller coasters, generally do so for the adrenaline rush we get because of our bodies reacting to our senses telling us that we are probably about to die.

Being scared triggers a similar fight or flight reaction that also gives people an adrenaline rush, as does the “hunt or be hunted” reaction that outofocus is describing.

I find it particularly interesting that both the hunter and the hunted can experience this. But though the adrenaline is intended to give you a little boost to assist you during your flight or flight, it is also quite a potent high…

Hence the term “Adrenaline junkie”… A lot of people are actually too intellectually consumed by the stimuli that initially caused the reaction to actually enjoy the adrenaline high.

Others, like you and outofocus, are more sensitive to it.